THE Super Mario Bros Movie easily held its first-place position on North American movie screens this weekend while its accumulated global total pushed past the US$1 billion (RM4.5 billion) mark, analysts said Sunday.
The video game-based film earned an estimated US$40 million for the Friday-through-Sunday period in the United States and Canada for a domestic total so far of US$490 million, industry watcher Exhibitor Relations reported.
With overseas earnings now at US$532 million, its accumulated global total has hit US$1.02 billion.
That makes Super Mario – a joint project of Universal, Nintendo and Illumination studios – the year's first film to pass the billion-dollar mark and only the 10th animation ever to do so, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
Second place, for the second straight weekend, went to bloody horror film Evil Dead Rise from Warner Bros., at US$12.2 million. Lily Sullivan and Alyssa Sutherland play sisters battling a demonic crew known as the Deadites.
In third was Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret, a new comedy-drama from Gracie Films and Lionsgate Films, at US$6.8 million. Analyst David A. Gross called that only "a fair opening" for a coming-of-age film, while adding that "reviews and audience scores are sensational."
Based on the beloved Judy Blume novel of the same name, it stars Abby Ryder Fortson as Margaret Simon, a sixth-grader navigating the challenges of that awkward age. Rachel McAdams and Kathy Bates also star.
Still strong in its sixth weekend out, Lionsgate's neo-noir John Wick: Chapter 4 placed fourth at US$5 million. Keanu Reeves plays the titular hitman.
And showing the enduring lure of the Star Wars franchise, Disney's re-release of Return of the Jedi placed fifth, taking in US$4.8 million.
The film starring icons Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher marks its 40th anniversary in late May. It sold more than 80 million tickets in its initial run. – AFP, May 1, 2023
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