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Gladiator II doesn't do enough to set itself apart from the original. It justifies its existence but could have been better.
Posted in: Box Office, Movies | Tagged: evil dead rise, the super mario bros. movie, Weekend Box Office
Mario Continues Record Run, While Evil Dead Rises At Box Office
The Super Mario Bros. Movie continues to dominate the Weekend Box Office, with Evil Dead Rise also impressing this week.
The Super Mario Bros. Movie continued to break records and etch its place in history at the weekend box office, as the Nintendo/Universal/Illumination collaboration added another $58.2 million to its total. That is the best third weekend for an animated film ever, and the film has now crossed the $400 million mark at the domestic box office. It now sits at $434.3 million, which is the third highest total for a Universal film all-time behind only Jurassic World and the lifetime gross of E.T. Staggering numbers, as the film is also approaching $900 million worldwide, which it should achieve mid-week. $1 billion is getting closer and closer.
Mario & Evil Dead Would Be A Hell Of A Family Double Feature
Mario was not the only big story this weekend, as yet another horror film debuted to higher than anticipated numbers. Evil Dead Rise, the latest in the long-running franchise, scored $23.5 million for a second-place finish. Not bad for a film that, up until a few months ago, was supposed to just debut on HBO Max. In third place was Guy Ritchie's Covenant with $6.2 million, followed by a fourth-place finish for John Wick 4 with $5.75 million. Rounding out the top five was Air, still hanging in on strong word of mouth with $5.5 million.
Gone from the top five were last week's openers, The Pope's Exorcist and Renfield. Some this week pointed out that they were two of the worst horror openings in the last couple of years, and while that is true, it doesn't tell the whole story. If you dig into the numbers, the mistake for both was opening on the same weekend. Had they opened, let's say, two weeks apart, all signs from their performances say that they would have at least doubled their debut number. In a few weeks this year, that would have put them at #1 for the weekend. That release date is key. They were never going to beat Mario, but why the studios decided to keep them on the same date is a head-scratcher.
The weekend box office top five for April 21st:
- The Super Mario Bros. Movie – $58.2 million
- Evil Dead Rise – $$23.5 million
- Guy Ritchie's Covenant – $6.2 million
- John Wick 4 – $5.75 million
- Air – $5.5 million
Next week will be Mario's swan song on top, as Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 opens the first weekend of May, kicking off the summer box office. Next weekend, the only major new film opening is the YA adaptation Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret, which should not pose much of a threat to Mario. Also opening and looking to make noise, though is a re-release of Return of the Jedi, celebrating its 40th anniversary. Look for that to make a bunch.
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