Weekend Box Office: (Studio) Movies are Back!

By Ben Miller

For the seventh straight week, a new film at the box office is the new number one.  There was little doubt The Super Mario Bros. Movie would dominate, but I don't think anyone saw how much it would make.  The Nintendo/Illumination film make a whopping $166 million over the long Easter weekend.  That's good for the third-best Easter weekend opening ever behind Furious 7 and Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice.  Elsewhere, the numbers two, three, and four film were all real close with John Wick: Chapter 4, Ben Affleck's Air, and Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves around $15-16 million.  Those are some pretty solid numbers for counterprogramming to the kid-centric Mario.  (Big-budget, studio) Movies are back, baby!

Weekend Box Office (actuals) April 7th-10th 🔺 = new or expanding /  ★ = Recommended
WIDE (Over 800 Screens)	LIMITED / PLATFORM
THE SUPER MARIO BROS. MOVIE	HOW TO BLOW UP A PIPELINE
1 🔺 THE SUPER MARIO BROS. MOVIE $166.4 (cum. $224.7) 4,343 screens	1 🔺 LA USURPADORA: THE MUSICAL $128k *NEW* 313 screens

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Review: "The Super Mario Bros" is a Fun, Candy-Colored Confection

By Christopher James

Is the Nintendo world the most untapped piece of IP? Mario, Luigi and the rest of the crew have dominated video game culture for over 40 years. Yet, a theatrical feature film has not been attempted since the ill-fated 1993 campfest starring Bob Hoskins, John Leguizamo and Dennis Hopper. Gone are the steampunk influences and live action hamminess. Universal’s new foray into the mushroom kingdom is a bright, glossy and impressive animated tale that bears appropriate semblance to the game, while also having the zany plushness of an Illumination tale...

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