Universal Pictures / Courtesy Everett Collection

Refresh for latest…: Illumination/Nintendo/Universal’s The Super Mario Bros Movie continues its global domination, now with an estimated $871.8M through Sunday. Of that, $437.5M is from the international box office. The next worldwide benchmark of $900M will follow in the next days. It’s only a matter of time for the Bros to get to $1B, particularly as Korea and Japan are due to release this week.

In the meantime, the third session for the Aaron Horvath/Michael Jelenic-directed adaptation put another $70.7M in the overseas pipeline from 78 markets, repping a 38% drop in the holdovers. There were seven new markets added this frame (see below).

Along with the domestic milestones, Super Mario Bros is the biggest release of 2023 at the global and international box office; the No. 2 animated film worldwide since 2019 (soon to overtake Illumination/Universal’s own Minions: The Rise of Gru); the No. 2 animated studio release since 2019 overseas (also behind Rise of Gru); the No. 6 biggest Universal animated film of all time globally; and the No. 7 studio movie released since 2019 globally. This week, it surpassed Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, No Time to Die, The Batman and Thor: Love and Thunder. Of the top 10 studio titles released since 2019, Universal has four of them globally and five of the Top 10 internationally.

In additional milestones, The Super Mario Bros Movie  is now the No.1 film of 2023 in 31 international markets (versus 26 through last Sunday) including Australia, Germany, Italy, Mexico, Netherlands, Spain and UK & Ireland, and the top studio animation/family title since 2019 in nine markets (at current exchange rates): France, Italy, Mexico, Central America, Colombia, Ecuador, Venezuela, Peru and Bolivia. 

In Mexico, Super Mario surpassed the lifetime of Coco to become the No. 2 biggest studio animation ever (just behind Toy Story 4) and the No. 5 biggest movie ever. The cume there is $65.6M, overtaking the lifetimes of Avatar: The Way of Water and Avengers: Infinity War.

France saw great holds and increases during the midweeks with school holidays in the market. The total there is $31.7M, surpassing the lifetimes of Minions: The Rise of Gru, Toy Story 4, Inside Out and Despicable Me 2. Super Mario is performing in line with Frozen 2 and above Minions at the same point.

In Germany, Super Mario remains a clear No.1, now with $37.2M, higher than Beauty and the Beast, Finding Dory and Secret Life of Pets, having already overtaken Zootopia, Despicable Me 2 and Inside Out during the week. 

UK & Ireland began the third frame with a heavy drop on Friday due to the end of school holidays. However, Saturday business remained strong and the movie continues to dominate the market, now with a $51.7M cume through Sunday. Australia has a $27.3M running total, still at No. 1 and overtaking the lifetimes of both Frozen films. 

Other key markets include Spain ($19.6M) and Brazil ($18M). Central America gave Mario the highest-grossing third weekend in history and Ecuador delivered the biggest animated Week 1 and 2 ever, and the 2^nd biggest Week 2 overall. It reached a $6.4M cume this weekend, surpassing the lifetimes of Toy Story 4, The Lion King, Coco and Avatar 2. China is currently at $20.5M and Italy has grossed $17.2M.

New markets this weekend included the Middle East, Malaysia and the Philippines. The UAE grossed $1.7M from 212 screens. Despite a highly competitive Eid corridor, Super Mario ended the frame at No.1 ahead of John Wick 4 and Bollywood title Kisi Ka Bhai Kisi Ki Jaan. The film achieved the 2^nd biggest animated opening weekend of all time, narrowly behind Minions: The Rise of Gru.

Malaysia gave the Bros $1.2M, in line with Despicable Me 3, above Toy Story 4 and more than double Finding Dory excluding previews. In the Philippines, Mario & Co were No. 1 with $1.1M including the biggest Friday and Saturday for an animated title since the pandemic hit, ahead of Rise of Gru, and the biggest Friday and Saturday for an April animation. 

Saudi Arabia played to $1M on 236 screens, more than double the level of Sing 2, Toy Story 4 and Aladdin. On 18 screens in Lebanon, Super Mario scored the biggest animated opening of all time in the market and the 3^rd biggest studio debut ever with $145K.

In IMAX, the global cume is $39.3M, the 4th biggest animated result ever, including $10M from overseas.

In new studio play, New Line/Warner Bros’ Evil Dead Rise had a $16.8M offshore debut from 58 markets for a $40.3M global launch. It’s the No. 2 Hollywood movie at the international box office this session. Across the EMEA region, the franchise entry is performing particularly well in Italy, Spain, Greece, Holland and a number of Eastern European hubs. In Latin America, it was No. 2 in all markets (save Peru) with the regional total of $5M repping 30% of the international bow.

The top market was Mexico at $1.9M and No. 2 behind Super Mario. That’s roughly on par with M3GAN and Scream VI and 673% above Evil Dead. The UK (where Studiocanal releases) was next, also with a No. 2 rank at $1.8M from 650 screens. Brazil, which leans into horror, gave Evil Dead Rise a No. 2 debut with $1.5M on 782 screens, on par with M3GAN and 49% over The Pope’s Exorcist. France (via Metropolitan Filmexport) and India each grossed $1.3M. In the former, the start was in line with M3GAN and A Quiet Place Part II while India came in ahead of all comps.

Among majors, Germany releases this week.

Meanwhile, China is still swooning for Japanese animation with The First Slam Dunk scoring an estimated $55M debut this session. Already a hit in its home market as well as Korea, it’s got a 9.4 on Maoyan and had earlier set a new record for presales of an animated import in China. The Toei Animation title also gave IMAX a record-breaking launch in the market. With $5.5M, it reps the format’s top opening weekend for a non-Chinese local-language movie, the biggest for a non-Chinese animated film, and the best for a Japanese title. The global IMAX cume now stands at $11.5M.

Paramount/eOne’s Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves picked up another $8.4M in 61 markets, for a good holdover drop of 39%. The offshore cume to date is $95.8M with $178M global.

MISC UPDATED CUMES/NOTABLE

The Pope’s Exorcist (SNY): $5.7M intl weekend (53 markets); $37.1M intl cume/$52M global
*Tokyo Revengers 2 Part 1 (WB): $4.3M intl weekend (Japan only); $4.3M intl cume
Air (WB): $3.9M intl weekend (67 markets); $27.1M intl cume/$68.9M global
Suzume (CR/SNY): $3M intl weekend (36 markets); $10.9M intl cume (CR/SNY markets only)
Renfield (UNI): $1.3M intl weekend (50 markets); $4.3M intl cume/$18M global
Cocaine Bear (UNI): $752K intl weekend (70 markets); $21.8M intl cume/$86.1M global
Scream VI (PAR): $323K intl weekend (24 markets); $60.8M intl cume/$168.5M global
*Denotes new

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