411 Box Office Report: Super Mario Galaxy Movie Reigns Again In Holdover-Heavy Weekend

The Super Mario Galaxy Movie continued to soar at the box office this weekend, leading the way as holdovers held the frame. The Illumination-produced Super Mario Bros. Movie sequel held on strong in weekend two, bringing in $69 million. That’s down a very solid 48% from its opening weekend numbers.

To be clear, that is a higher drop than the first film, which eased just 37% in its second weekend back in April of 2023. But it’s still a very good number, especially considering how sequels tend to drop heavier than their originals as a rule.

Mario Galaxy how has $308.1 million in the US and $628.8 million worldwide. It is the highest-grossing film of the year domestically with ease, ahead of Project Hail Mary (more on that in a moment). It’s the second-highest grossing film of the year worldwide behind only the Chinese sports comedy Pegasus 3 $641 million), a number it will surpass in short order. Mario Galaxy is still looking likely for around $425 million or more in the US, making it a massive hit against a $110 million budget.

Speaking of Project Hail Mary, it had another great hold as it was down a mere 23% in its fourth weekend. The Amazon MGM film took in $24.6 million, bringing its totals to $256.7 million domestically and $510.7 million worldwide. That puts it well on the path to profit, even with a $190 million budget, and it should be able to top out at around $300 million by the time it finishes up.

The Drama also had a good hold, with A24’s darkly comedy/drama scoring $8.7 million in its sophomore frame. The film held up better than expected and is holding pace with Zendaya’s 2024 pic Challengers. The Drama has totaled $30.8 million stateside and $42.7 million worldwide. It’s in very good shape against its $28 million budget and should be able to leg out to $45 million or so in the US.

The first new release came in at #4 as You, Me, and Tuscany launched to $8 million. That’s a perfectly fine start, though less than what was expected as of last weekend. The romantic comedy, which stars Halle Bailey and Jean-Rene Page, found itself slightly clipped by The Drama’s hold.

Romcoms have been making a comeback in theaters over the past few years, but there are levels to it and Universal’s film was always going to be a moderate performer. The film scored okay with critics, bringing in a 69% aggregate at Rotten Tomatoes, though its audience has been enchanted with a 94% RT audience rating and an A- CinemaScore. Those numbers will be important for its legs as word of mouth will determine how this film does. It added $1.1 million overseas for a $9.1 million worldwide start and should be able to get to $22 million at least. It may not make its $18 million budget back in theaters but will be good enough that once digital revenue comes in Universal can consider it successful.

Hoppers was off just 30% in its fifth weekend, bringing in $4.1 million. The Pixar film is fully a hit now with $157.1 million stateside and $354.2 million worldwide against a $150 million production budget. The film has surpassed 2023’s Elemental to become the best domestic-grossing non-sequel for Pixar since 2017’s Coco. $165 million remains its likely target for the finish line.

Coming in at #6 was Trafalgar Releasing’s live showing of BTS’ Arirang world tour stop. The concert event took in $2.4 million. Never bet against K-Pop, folks. The film was a special event screening and so we don’t have reviews, budget or the like but the distributor is happy here. The event is kind of a one-and-done; this weekend’s live airing was from Goyang, South Korea while a separate one from Tokyo is set for next weekend. This is all just extra money, and everyone comes out a winner here.

IFC Entertainment Group’s Faces of Death film came in at #7 with $1.7 million. The metatextual revival of the horror “film” performed right about where it was expected to do. That’s better than last month’s IFC horror films Forbidden Fruits ($1.2 million) and Dolly ($474,000), though to be fair Dolly had a smaller opening.

Faces Of Death was never going to be a massive breakout hit. Its source material is infamous but exceedingly niche; this new version is a full-on narrative film whereas the originals were exploitation mockmentaries that features faked death scenes interspliced with footage of deadly accidents and the like. Not many people were going to be interested in rushing out to see this one.

However, it has garnered solid reviews (67% on RT) and while word of mouth is mild (68% RT audience rating, C CinemaScore), that’s to be expected considering how it deviates from its source. IFC always releases its films in theaters but has its eye on the eventual streaming revenue, and that’s where this $7 million budgeted film will make its money. The domestic total probably won’t top $5 million.

In other specialty horror news, Exit 8 scored a decent start at $1.4 million in just 495 theaters. The NEON-distributed film is a foreign horror film based on an independent video game, making it very niche for your casual filmgoer.

That said, it’s also a big hit with critics (95% on RT) and fans (82% RT audience rating). It’s also already made bank overseas with $39.2 million, mostly from Japan. That gives it a $40.6 million worldwide total so far. It will be profitable for all the studios handling their various territories.

Roadside Attractions’ A Great Awakening was down 41% to bring in $1.2 million. The faith-based drama is in fine shape with $4.9 million total. Not much more to say here; it should probably finish in the high single digits before leaving to digital.

Reminders Of Him closed out the top 10, slipping 55% in its fifth frame to $1 million. That carries the romantic drama’s totals to $47.5 million in the US and $84.2 million worldwide against a budget of just $25 million. It will just top Regretting You’s $48.9 million domestic total, with probably $50 million final.

It will likely be a third weekend at #1 for Super Mario Galaxy Movie as horror makes another go in Lee Cronin’s The Mummy. The Warner Bros. film (not related to the Brendan Fraser franchise) is looking at $15 million to $20 million.

Box Office Top Ten (Three-Day Domestic Numbers)

1. The Super Mario Galaxy Movie – $69 million ($308.1 million total, $628.8 million WW)
2. Project Hail Mary – $24.6 million ($256.7 million total, $510.7 million WW)
3. The Drama – $8.7 million ($30.8 million total, $42.7 million WW)
4. You, Me & Tuscany – $8 million ($8 million total, $9.1 million WW)
5. Hoppers – $4.1 million ($157.1 million total, $354.4 million WW)
6. BTS World Tour ‘Arirang’ – $2.4 million ($2.4 million total, $2.4 million WW)
7. Faces Of Death – $1.7 million ($1.7 million total, $1.7 million WW)
8. Exit 8 – $1.4 million ($1.4 million total, $40.6 million WW)
9. The Great Awakening – $1.2 million ($4.9 million total, $4.9 million WW)
10. Reminders Of Him – $1 million ($47.5 million total, $84.2 million WW)