“Super Mario Galaxy Movie” easily retained its box office crown in its third weekend of release, topping the charts with $35 million. Universal and Illumination’s release is already the year’s highest-grossing film, earning $355.2 million domestically and $747.5 million worldwide, and looks destined to cross the $1 billion mark worldwide. As things stand, the hope is that studios will put more Mario into production as soon as they can level up, and that Nintendo will allow it.
Amazon MGM Studios’ “Project Hail Mary” also shined in its fifth weekend of release, coming in at No. 2 with $20.5 million. This brings the sci-fi adventure’s domestic box office total to a whopping $285.1 million. However, the continued success of Super Mario Galaxy Movie and Project Hail Mary made it difficult for new entrants to gain much attention.
“Lee Cronin’s The Mummy” finished in third place in its opening weekend, earning a modest $13.5 million. Warner Bros. and New Line’s film cost a modest $22 million to make, but the final production budget will likely be a far cry from the nearly $150 million that Cronin’s 2023 film “Evil Dead Rises” raked in. Horror titans James Wan and Jason Blum continue their string of monster movies with Hamunaptra, produced through their Atomic Monster and Blumhouse Productions production companies, slotting somewhere between 2020’s well-received The Invisible Man ($144.5 million worldwide) and 2025’s disappointing The Wolf Man ($35.2 million worldwide).
Another new wide release released over the weekend, Magnolia’s “Normal,” reached No. 7 and earned $2.5 million. This action movie stars Bob Odenkirk as a small-town sheriff who stumbles upon a larger conspiracy after robbing a local bank. The film is directed by Ben Wheatley, who has a reputation for pushing the boundaries of ultra-violence in films such as “Free Fire” and “High Rise.”
In its third weekend of release, A24’s much-talked-about romantic comedy “The Drama” earned $4.8 million and came in fourth place. The indie film starring Zendaya and Robert Pattinson grossed a whopping $39.7 million. This is good news. Zendaya and Pattinson are set to co-star in three movies this year, including Dune Part 3 and The Odyssey, and these blockbusters aren’t as good or bad as their chemistry alone.
Rounding out the top five was Universal’s romantic comedy You Me and Tuscany, which earned $3.8 million and grossed $14.4 million after two weeks in theaters. In limited release, Focus Features’ “Loan,” a documentary about “SNL” creator Lorne Michaels, opened with $270,000 in 415 theaters, while A24’s “Mother Mary” earned $168,063 in just five theaters.
