Nintendo soared to a record-setting #1 spot at the box office this weekend with The Super Mario Bros Movie. The Illumination-produced video game adaptation had a three-day opening weekend $146.4 million, with a five-day start of $204.6 million after opening on Wednesday. The film blew thoroughly past expectations, which pegged it at $110 million to $120 million for the three-day weekend.

The opening makes it the biggest video game adaptation opening of all time — and indeed, the #2 domestic gross of all time for a video game adaptation in just those five days. The previous record holder was Sonic the Hedgehog 2, which totalled out at $190.8 million after releasing last April. It is the 17th-best five-day total of all-time as well.

All this can be chalked up to a few factors. Brand recognition is obviously a thing; there is arguably no more famous video game franchise than Mario, the face of Nintendo. The character has been part of gaming since the rise of console gaming in 1980, which gave this film a built-in audience both young and old. The film had a ton of awareness thanks to Universal Pictures’ marketing efforts and a big to-do about Chris Pratt voicing the titular character.

But awareness will only bring people to the dance; it’s Super Mario Bros Movie’s crowd-pleasing tactics that made then stay. While the critical reception to the film was mild with a 56% aggregated score on Rotten Tomatoes, word of mouth has been exceptional. The film scored an A CinemaScore and a 96% RT audience rating. The word of mouth had a demonstrable effect on the day-to-day holds, with the film staying strong throughout the weekend. It also added an impressive $173 million overseas for a $377.6 million worldwide start.

The question now becomes, how far can it rise? Pretty far, most likely. Illumination is known for its Minions, Despicable Me, and Sing franchises, and they’ve all legged out decently to fantastic. While the front-loaded nature of Super Mario will hurt its week-to-week holds, it still seems pretty likely to cross the $375 million mark without too much difficulty and $400 million is not at all unlikely. It could fly even higher of audiences keep coming back — and the lack of family films in the coming weeks makes that entirely possible. Needless to say, this is gonna be a massive hit against a $100 million budget.

John Wick: Chapter 4 held onto the #2 spot in a tightly contested race for second place, grossing $14.6 million in its third weekend. That’s a solid 48% drop from the last frame. The latest film in action franchise has now totaled $147.1 million domestically and $304.1 million worldwide, a very big hit against its $75 million budget. It has now topped every film in the franchise except the third and should be able to pass that movie’s $171 million domestically without an issue.

Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves took a hit thanks to Super Mario Bros. sucking all the air out of the room in terms of family audiences. The Paramount fantasy action-adventure brought in $14.5 million, down a bigger-than-expected 62% from its opening weekend. Again, this was a film that targeted families as well as adults and it ran up against the Nintendo behemoth. Honor Among Thieves had a long road to profit at this point, though it’s important to note that it is holding on better internationally. It has $62.3 million domestically and $124.1 million worldwide and at this point seems unlikely to make a profit against a $150 million budget. Its domestic total seems likelty to be in the $100 million range.

Ben Affleck’s latest directorial effort Air joined Super Mario Bros. in overperforming for the weekend. The film about Nike’s pursuit of Michael Jordan grossed $14.4 million, nicely above the $10 million expected start of the film, and has taken in $20.2 million since opening on Wednesday.

Air is being distributed by Amazon Studios and was originally set for a release on Prime Video, but it was pivoted to a theatrical release which appears to be paying off. It notably marks the first global day-and-date theatrical release from a streaming service, adding $10.5 million overseas for a $30.7 million start.

That’s a good start for a film that will need it, as the film cost a reported $90 million. The good news for the film is that it is well-liked both by critics (92% on RT) and fans (98% RT audience rating, A CinemaScore). While it is unlikely to be able to make enough for a profit, it also sets the stage for Amazon to potentially expand its theatrical business and that makes it a hit of a different kind for the studio. It is likely to approach the $75 million to $80 million mark domestically and it would need long legs internationally to have any chance at a profit.

Scream VI continues to carve up box office receipts, down 38% for the best hold in the top 10 to $3.3 million. The slasher sequel is now up to $103.8 million domestically, making it the highest-grossing film in the franchise (ahead of the first Scream’s $103 million). It has $161.6 million internationally and is still targeting around $110 million by the end of its domestic run. It’s a hit against a $35 million budget.

Angel Studios’ His Only Son held on well, down 41% in its second weekend to $3.3 million. The Biblical drama has now grossed $11 million, a very solid result, and should be able to gross as much as $18 million to $20 million depending on how many theaters it retains in the coming weeks. No word on budget but it’s probably a hit

Creed III was off 44% in its sixth weekend, bringing in $2.8 million. The Michael B. Jordan-directed film now has $153.3 million domestically and $268 million worldwide, looking at a likely $160 million domestic against a $75 million production budget plus marketing.

Shazam: Fury Of the Gods keeps dropping like a rock and was down 65% in its fourth weekend with $1.6 million. The DC sequel has just $56.6 million domestically and $128.5 million worldwide, abjectly awful numbers against its $125 million budget. At this point, it won’t pass $70 million domestically and is officially a bomb for Warner Bros. Discovery and DC.

Owen Wilson’s latest film opened with nary a squeak as Paint started at #9 with $750,000. That’s honestly about where most pegged this fairly low-profile comedy from IFC Films. Paint had virtually zero buzz coming into the weekend, and wasn’t helped by a low 31% RT aggregated critics score. The audience score is also bad at 53%, meaning this won’t be making it on word of mouth. No word on the budget, but this won’t make money in theaters.

Closing out the top 10 was A Thousand And One, which was down 67% in its second weekend. The Focus Features production brought in $600,000, bringing its total to $3 million. This was the kind of film that was always meant to find its profit on digital, and theatrically it should top out at around $5 million.

Next weekend will see Super Mario Bros. Movie stay on top, as all three new releases are too niche to target blockbuster numbers. Nicolas Cage’s turn as Dracula in Renfield is looking at around $13 million to $15 million, while horror flick The Pope’s Exorcist should start with about $6 million. Crunchyroll brings a new anime film to American audiences with Suzume, which could bring in as much as $8 million.

BOX OFFICE TOP TEN (Three-Day Domestic Numbers)
1. The Super Mario Bros. Movie – $146.4 million ($204.6 million total, $377.6 million WW)
2. John Wick: Chapter 4 – $14.6 million ($147.1 million total, $304.1 million WW)
3. Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves – $14.5 million ($38.5 million total, $71.5 million WW)
4. Air – $14.4 million ($20.2 million total, $30.7 million WW)
5. Scream VI – $3.3 million ($103.8 million total, $161.6 million WW)
6. His Only Son – $3.3million ($11 million total, $11 million WW)
7. Creed III – $2.8 million ($153.3 million total, $268 million WW)
8. Shazam: Fury Of The Gods – $4.6 million ($56.6 million total, $128.5 million WW)
9. Paint – $750,000 ($750,000 total, $750,000 WW)
10.A Thousand And One – $600,000 ($3 million total, $3 million WW)