‘The Super Mario Bros. Movie’ Races Past $283 Million at Domestic Box Office

Universal’s The Super Mario Bros. Movie will retain the top spot in its second weekend of release at the domestic box office, after a solid $22 million on Friday. The blockbuster animated video game adaptation is currently eyeing a modest 45% drop for an $80 million sophomore weekend, after busting numerous records in its debut frame.

The film’s current domestic tally stands at $283 million after 10 days of release; globally, the film passed $500 million yesterday. By Sunday, Super Mario will have passed $340 million domestically, and approximately $660 million globally. Super Mario is already the highest-grossing movie of the year at the domestic box office, and it recently overtook Warcraft ($439 million worldwide) to bag the title of the highest-grossing video game adaptation of all time.

In its extended five-day opening weekend, Super Mario grossed an astonishing $204 million domestically, exceeding expectations by nearly $80 million. Featuring the voices of Chris Pratt and Charlie Day as the iconic plumber brothers Mario and Luigi, the film is on course to becoming yet another billion-dollar franchise-starter for Illumination, the animation house behind the hit Despicable Me and Sing series.

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A slew of new releases will compete among each other for the remaining spots at this week’s box office chart. But the number two film this weekend will probably end up grossing a tenth of Super Mario‘s eventual haul. Currently, the second spot seems to be going to Screen Gems’ horror film The Pope’s Exorcist, in which Russell Crowe plays the late Father Gabriele Amorth, who claimed to have performed hundreds of thousands of exorcisms in his career. The film made $3.4 million on Friday (including Thursday preview grosses), and is expected to generate between $8.5 million and $9 million in its opening weekend.

Universal’s vampire comedy Renfield, starring Nicholas Hoult as the titular character and Nicolas Cage as Dracula, is coming in slightly under expectations. The film was projected to take second place heading into the weekend, but will now have to settle for the third spot, with an estimated finish between $7 million and $8 million. Renfield made $3.1 million on its first Friday, including just under a million from Thursday previews. Holdover hit John Wick: Chapter 4 and Ben Affleck’s acclaimed sports drama Air will compete for the fourth and fifth spots. Both films are currently eyeing $7.3 million this weekend, after generating $2.1 million each on Friday. John Wick 4 has now grossed $154 million domestically, while Air will pass the $30 million mark by Sunday.

Another Animated Blockbuster Debuted Domestically This Week

Elsewhere, Japanese anime director Makoto Shinkai’s new film Suzume will make around $5 million from over 2,000 domestic theaters this weekend, after a $2.1 million Friday. The film has already grossed over $250 million worldwide, more than $100 million of which has come from China. Bleecker Street’s crime comedy Mafia Mamma will likely gross under $3 million in its first weekend, while A24’s release of Ari Aster’s divisive new film Beau Is Afraid is looking at a record-breaking per-theater average of $80,000 as it debuts at four locations in New York and Los Angeles.

Expect Super Mario to continue dominating the box office, at least until Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 debuts early next month. You can watch our interview with Renfield stars Hoult and Cage here, and stay tuned to Collider for more updates.