Several new films hit theaters across the country this weekend, from a light-hearted trip to Italy starring Jane Fonda, Candice Bergen, Diane Keaton and Mary Steenburgen to a detective thriller starring Ben Affleck. However, the top two spots again went to Marvel and Mario.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 grossed $60.5 million from North American theaters, according to studio estimates as of Sunday. That’s a small drop of 49% from the start, which is rare for big superhero movies, which tend to start over and see big drops of 60% or more in their second weekend. As the smallest Marvel drop since the pandemic began, it also answers the question ” Superhero Fatigue ” question that floated some last weekend. Including $91.9 million from international screenings, “Vol. 3″ has grossed over $528.8 million worldwide.
Second place went to “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” with $13 million in its sixth weekend, for domestic sales of nearly $536 million. Since Mario hit theaters, families with younger children have had almost no other options in theaters, leading to repeated showings and continued dominance at the box office, where the film still runs in 3,800 locations domestically. Worldwide it is 1.2 billion US dollars.
With Chris Pratt starring in the top films, as the Star Lord in Guardians and the voice of Mario, debates erupted over how much star power versus brand power matters.
It’s been a particularly crowded weekend for new films of all genres and all qualities, both big and limited.
“The second weekend in May is traditionally very notable for bridging the gap between a big summer prelude movie (“Guardians 3”) and the next big blockbuster (“Fast X”),” said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for Comscore. “Everyone in the industry knew the Guardians would dominate the weekend, but it presented the opportunity for many films that hit the sweet spot between two giants.”
” Book Club: The Next Chapter ” was the top performer on the charts at $6.5 million from 3,508 locations. The sequel, which was released by Focus Features over Mother’s Day weekend, reunites the cast with director Bill Holderman and his co-writer Erin Simms. The audience was mostly female (77%), Caucasian (59%) and over 45 years old (66%). There is hope that Mother’s Day will see a rebound and a decent follow-up to the $20 million production. The older crowd doesn’t usually flock to the opening weekend in a hurry. The first film grossed $13.5 million in 2018 and went on to gross over $104 million.
Meanwhile, Robert Rodriguez’s “Hypnotic” is taking off. The crime thriller, starring Affleck as a detective whose daughter is missing, reportedly cost $65 million to produce. Kicking off with poor reviews (32% on Rotten Tomatoes) and limited marketing from distributor Ketchup Entertainment, the weekend grossed just $2.4 million from 2,118 locations.
Other mid-tier releases didn’t make much of a splash, including Charlie Day’s Hollywood satire Fool’s Paradise, which grossed $443,140 in 784 theaters, and the anime-inspired film Knights of the Zodiac, which grossed just $535,000 in 586 theaters made dollars.
“BlackBerry,” Matt Johnson’s well-reviewed portrait of the rise and fall of the popular smartphone, starring Glenn Howerton and Jay Baruchel, got off to a rocky start, grossing $473,000 in 450 theaters.
Sony Pictures Classics also released his Yogi Berra documentary It Ain’t Over in 99 theaters, grossing $106,000.
Dergarabedian noted that several independent films were thriving this weekend with solid per-theater averages, including IFC’s “Monica” ($26,500 across two theaters) and Bleecker Street’s “The Starling Girl” ($27,736 across four cinemas).
“If you’re a moviegoer, you have a lot of choices right now,” Dergarabedian said.
There was also quite a bit of competition on the home screens a documentary by Michael J. Fox At Apple TV+ for Jennifer Lopez’s action film The Mother Netflix. Still in the top 10 after six weekends in cinemas, Air also made its Prime Video debut.
Things will pick up significantly next weekend when “Fast X” hits the cinemas summer box office racefollowed by live action The Little Mermaid on May 26th.
Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday in US and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore. The final domestic figures will be released on Monday.
1. “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3”, $60.5 million.
2. “The Super Mario Bros. Movie”, $13 million.
3. “Book Club: The Next Chapter”, $6.5 million.
4. “Evil Dead Rise”, $3.7 million.
5. “Are you there, God? It’s Margaret.” $2.5 million.
6. “Hypnotic”, $2.4 million.
7. “John Wick: Chapter 4”, $1.9 million.
8. “Love Again”, $1.6 million.
9. “Air,” $875,357.
10. Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves”, $740,000.
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