Smashing second weekend makes 'Mario' 2023's top movie
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The Super Mario Bros. Movie (NASDAQ:CMCSA) became 2023's top-grossing movie with a dominating second weekend, holding more business than expected and grossing a hefty $87M.
That brings the animated hit's two-week take to $347.8M, according to Comscore, and with another $330M internationally, its worldwide total rises to $678M.
The movie, based on iconic Nintendo (OTCPK:NTDOY) videogame characters, fell off just 41% for its second weekend, uncommon for a big-opening film (which usually shed more than half their business in a follow-up weekend).
It also pulled the best second weekend ever for an animated film, and the seventh-best second weekend of all time, Universal said.
The scramble for a distant second place was won by one of a number of openers: The Pope's Exorcist (NYSE:SONY), starring Russell Crowe in the title role, grossed $9.2M over the weekend in a little over 3,000 locations, Comscore noted.
It was enough to get past a tight pack for the next five spots, all drawing some interest from moviegoers. A fourth weekend from John Wick: Chapter 4 (LGF.A) (LGF.B) drew $7.93M, edging out the debut of Nicolas Cage in Renfield (CMCSA), with $7.77M, and the sophomore weekend of Air (AMZN), with $7.72M.
Behind them were Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves (PARA) (PARAA), with $7.35M, and another film opener, Suzume (SONY), with $5M.
Cinema tickers: AMC Entertainment (NYSE:AMC); Cineworld (OTCPK:CNNWQ); Cinemark (CNK); (IMAX); Marcus (MCS); Reading International (RDI); Cineplex (CGX:CA); National CineMedia (NCMI).