“Super Mario Galaxy Movie” and “Project Hail Mary” dominated the North American box office again this weekend, leaving “Lee Cronin’s The Mummy” in third place in its debut. The Mario sequel, which stars the voices of Jack Black, Chris Pratt, Anya Taylor-Joy and Brie Larson, spent all of its first three weekends at No. 1, this time adding $35 million, according to studio estimates on Sunday.
The global release has now grossed US$747.5 million worldwide.
Box office collection “Hail Mary Project”.
Meanwhile, “Project Hail Mary” fell just 15% in its fifth weekend, earning $20.5 million for a domestic total of $285.1 million. Worldwide it stands at US$573.1 million. The Amazon hit MGM is in the midst of another run on IMAX screens, after conceding to “Mario” for two weeks. Filmmakers Phil Lord and Chris Miller, along with star Ryan Gosling, appeared at industry trade show CinemaCon last week to thank movie theater owners for helping make it the highest-grossing original film of the year.
Box office collections for ‘Lee Cronin’s The Mummy’.
The weekend left “Lee Cronin’s The Mummy,” which opened wide at 3,404 locations, in third place with $13.5 million. The R-rated film, directed by the “Evil Dead Rise” creator and produced by Jason Blum’s Blumhouse and James Wan’s Atomic Monster, didn’t resonate with critics or audiences, scoring a 45% on Rotten Tomatoes and a lackluster C+ CinemaScore. The film stars Jack Reynor, and follows a family whose missing daughter turns up, mummified and alive.
The film cost just $22 million to produce, and with $20.5 million in international screenings, its worldwide gross is $34 million.
“Normal” debuted at number seven
Bob Odenkirk’s action film “Normal,” about a visiting sheriff in a Midwestern town, also opened this weekend, earning an estimated $2.7 million. Directed by Ben Wheatley and released by Magnolia, “Normal” was better received by critics (77% on Rotten Tomatoes) but also received a C+ CinemaScore from audiences, which were 65% male.
Films that failed to enter the top ten
This weekend also saw several high-profile limited or artistic releases, including Lorne Michaels’ documentary “Lorne,” and David Lowery’s “Mother Mary,” starring Anne Hathaway as the tortured pop star and Michaela Coel as her estranged fashion designer. “Lorne,” a Focus Features release, opened in 414 theaters in North America and grossed $270,000. A24’s “Mother Mary” opened on five screens and grossed $168,063.
Neither was enough to make the top 10, but one indie film did: the comedy “Busboys,” co-starring David Spade and podcaster Theo Vaughn, which managed to land in eighth place with $1.6 million from 800 theaters. This weekend last year, Warner Bros. “Sinners” with $48 million. Although the weekend was down compared to last year, the box office total was still up more than 16% from this time last year, and Dergarabedian gives a lot of the credit to “Project Hail Mary.”
Upcoming movies to look forward to
Things are likely to get better next weekend with the Michael Jackson movie “Michael” hitting theaters. Early tracking indicates that the Lionsgate release is poised to earn more than $60 million (some estimate as high as $75 to $90 million) in its first weekend in North America, making 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” debuted to $50 million and went on to earn over $910 million worldwide.
Top 10 films at the domestic box office
With final domestic numbers released Monday, this list takes into account estimated Friday-Sunday ticket sales at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore:1. “Super Mario Galaxy” movie: $35 million.2. “Hail Mary Project” $20.5 million.3. “The Mummy, Lee Cronin,” $13.5 million.4. “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” $1 million.10. “The Great Awakening,” $823,667.
