‘The Super Mario Galaxy Movie’ and ‘Project Hail Mary’ dominated the North American box office again this weekend, leaving third place for debutant ‘Lee Cronin’s The Mummy’. The Mario sequel, which stars Jack Black, Chris Pratt, Anya Taylor-Joy and Brie Larson, has spent all of its first three weekends in the top spot, this time adding US$35 million, according to studio estimates on Sunday. The Universal release has earned $747.5 million worldwide.
‘Agur Maria project’ box office collection
‘Project Hail Mary’, meanwhile, fell just 15% in its fifth weekend, earning $20.5 million and bringing its domestic total to $285.1 million. Worldwide it is 573.1 million USD. Amazon MGM’s hit is on another run on IMAX screens after two weeks of ‘Mario’. Filmmakers Phil Lord and Chris Miller, along with star Ryan Gosling, made an appearance at industry trade show CinemaCon last week to help theater owners make it the original film of the year.
‘Lee Cronin’s The Mummy’ box office collections
Leaving the weekend in third place was ‘Lee Cronin’s The Mummy’ from 3,404 locations with US$13.5 million. Directed by the filmmaker behind ‘Evil Dead Rise’ and produced by Jason Blum’s Blumhouse and James Wan’s Atomic Monster, the R-rated film failed to resonate with critics or audiences, recording a 45% on Rotten Tomatoes and a poor C+ CinemaScore. Starring Jack Reynor, the film follows a family whose lost daughter reappears, mummified and alive. The film cost only $22 million to produce, and with $20.5 million from international releases, it already has $34 million worldwide.
‘Normal’ debuts in seventh place
Bob Odenkirk’s action film “Normal,” about a sheriff visiting a Midwestern town, also opened this weekend, earning $2.7 million. Directed by Ben Wheatley and released by Magnolia, ‘Normal’ was better received by critics (77% on Rotten Tomatoes), but also earned a C+ CinemaScore from audiences, which were 65% male.
Films that did not enter the top 10
This weekend also saw several high-profile limited or art house releases, including Lorne Michaels’ documentary ‘Lorne’ and David Lowery’s ‘Mother Mary’, starring Anne Hathaway as the tormented pop star and Michaela Coel as her unknown designer. ‘Lorne’, a Focus Features release, opened in 414 theaters in North America, grossing around US$270,000. A24’s “Mother Mary” opened on five screens and earned US$168,063. Neither was enough to crack the top 10, but one standout was the comedy ‘Busboys,’ starring David Spade and podcaster Theo Von, which landed in eighth place with $1.6 million from 800 theaters. This weekend last year, Warner Bros.’ ‘Sinners’ opened to $48 million USD. Although the weekend was less than a year ago, the overall box office is still up more than 16% from this time last year, and Dergarabedian gives a lot of credit to the ‘Agur Maria project’.
Upcoming movies to look forward to
Things will probably get better next weekend as Michael Jackson’s ‘Michael’ hits theaters. Early tracking suggests the Lionsgate release is poised to earn more than $60 million (some estimate $75 to $90 million) in its opening weekend in North America, which would make it the biggest ever for a musical biopic. The current record holder is ‘Straight Outta Compton’, which opened to $60 million in 2015. ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ grossed $50 million and grossed over $910 million worldwide.
Top 10 movies at the domestic box office
As final domestic figures are released on Monday, this list takes into account estimated Friday-Sunday ticket sales at theaters in the US and Canada, according to Comscore:1. “Super Mario Galaxy Movie,” $35 million.2. “Hail Mary project”, 20.5 million dollars.3. “Lee Cronin’s The Mummy,” $13.5 million.4. “The Drama,” $4.8 million.5. “You, Me and Tuscany,” $3.8 million.6. “Hoppers,” $2.9 million.7. “Normal,” $2.7 million.8. “Busboys,” $1.6 million.9. “Bhooth Bangla”, million dollars.10. “Awakening Great,” $823,667.
