‘The Super Mario Bros. Movie’ Has Biggest Opening Weekend of 2023

It currently stands as the biggest domestic opening weekend of the year, overtaking “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.”

Before the movie’s release, most projections called for a $130 million five-day result for “Mario,” according to Mike Polydoros, chief executive of Paper Airplane Media, a cinema marketing agency. 

“Mario” also earned its record-breaking numbers despite being a child-friendly film, meaning many of its tickets were sold at prices below the adult average, he said. 

The PG-rated flick shares the backstory of Brooklyn plumbers Mario, voiced by Chris Pratt, and Luigi, done by Charlie Day. They fall into a pipe and pop up in an animated world of Nintendo characters, including Bowser, voiced by Jack Black. 

One key to the film’s success was its multigenerational appeal to children as well as millennial and Gen-X parents, Mr. Polydoros said. Most animated movies see ticket sales dwindle after 7 p.m., as families head home. For this film, 26% of ticket sales came after 7 p.m., he said, citing data from EntTelligence, a company that tracks ticket sales. 

“This is a really fantastic result,” Mr. Polydoros said. “They did such a good job of it that everyone enjoyed the movie.” 

The week’s other big opening, “Air,” the Ben Affleck-directed sports drama about Nike’s bid to create a basketball shoeline with then-rookie Michael Jordan, performed above expectations over the weekend, generating $14.5 million. That brought its five-day tally to $20 million in box-office sales. The R-rated drama, which was made by

Amazon

Studios, was originally intended for a streaming release. 

Both “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” and “Air” offered something rare over the holiday weekend: options for adults and children that weren’t superhero-related. Their success sends a clear signal to the movie industry that audiences are ready to return to theaters, said

Paul Dergarabedian,

a senior analyst at Comscore, which tracks global box-office performance. 

“To generate these kinds of numbers is somewhat unprecedented in the post-pandemic era,” he said. “The really important takeaway is that audiences want to go to the movie theater despite having so much entertainment at home.” 

That bodes well for a strong summer movie season, according to Mr. Dergarabedian, which officially kicks off May 5 with a return to the superhero genre for the release of “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” from

Walt Disney Co.

’s Marvel Studios. 

Rounding out the holiday weekend box office were continued strong performances for “John Wick: Chapter 4” and “Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves,” which each brought in about the same amount as “Air.” 

The latest “John Wick” has scored $147 million in domestic sales since its release three weeks ago, and that includes $14.6 million taken in this weekend. Globally, it has earned about $300 million. 

“Dungeons and Dragons” took in $14.5 million on its second week in theaters, giving it a $62 million gross at the domestic box office to date.

Write to Ginger Adams Otis at [email protected]

It currently stands as the biggest domestic opening weekend of the year, overtaking “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.”

Before the movie’s release, most projections called for a $130 million five-day result for “Mario,” according to Mike Polydoros, chief executive of Paper Airplane Media, a cinema marketing agency. 

“Mario” also earned its record-breaking numbers despite being a child-friendly film, meaning many of its tickets were sold at prices below the adult average, he said. 

The PG-rated flick shares the backstory of Brooklyn plumbers Mario, voiced by Chris Pratt, and Luigi, done by Charlie Day. They fall into a pipe and pop up in an animated world of Nintendo characters, including Bowser, voiced by Jack Black. 

One key to the film’s success was its multigenerational appeal to children as well as millennial and Gen-X parents, Mr. Polydoros said. Most animated movies see ticket sales dwindle after 7 p.m., as families head home. For this film, 26% of ticket sales came after 7 p.m., he said, citing data from EntTelligence, a company that tracks ticket sales. 

“This is a really fantastic result,” Mr. Polydoros said. “They did such a good job of it that everyone enjoyed the movie.” 

The week’s other big opening, “Air,” the Ben Affleck-directed sports drama about Nike’s bid to create a basketball shoeline with then-rookie Michael Jordan, performed above expectations over the weekend, generating $14.5 million. That brought its five-day tally to $20 million in box-office sales. The R-rated drama, which was made by

Amazon

Studios, was originally intended for a streaming release. 

Both “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” and “Air” offered something rare over the holiday weekend: options for adults and children that weren’t superhero-related. Their success sends a clear signal to the movie industry that audiences are ready to return to theaters, said

Paul Dergarabedian,

a senior analyst at Comscore, which tracks global box-office performance. 

“To generate these kinds of numbers is somewhat unprecedented in the post-pandemic era,” he said. “The really important takeaway is that audiences want to go to the movie theater despite having so much entertainment at home.” 

That bodes well for a strong summer movie season, according to Mr. Dergarabedian, which officially kicks off May 5 with a return to the superhero genre for the release of “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” from

Walt Disney Co.

’s Marvel Studios. 

Rounding out the holiday weekend box office were continued strong performances for “John Wick: Chapter 4” and “Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves,” which each brought in about the same amount as “Air.” 

The latest “John Wick” has scored $147 million in domestic sales since its release three weeks ago, and that includes $14.6 million taken in this weekend. Globally, it has earned about $300 million. 

“Dungeons and Dragons” took in $14.5 million on its second week in theaters, giving it a $62 million gross at the domestic box office to date.

Write to Ginger Adams Otis at [email protected]