The Super Mario Bros. Movie has topped the box office for the third weekend in a row, earning $58.2 million and bringing its global tally to $871.1 million. The animation has become the highest-grossing animated film of the pandemic era, with domestic ticket sales at $434.3 million through Sunday. It is expected to soon pass $1 billion worldwide, making it the fourth film of the pandemic era to reach that benchmark. The horror reboot Evil Dead Rise debuted solidly, earning $23.5 million in its opening weekend. It is the fifth installment in the thriller franchise that Sam Raimi began in 1981 with Evil Dead. The film relies on chillier frights, and had originally been planned as an HBO Max release before being pushed to theaters by Warner Bros. and New Line.
Amazon Studios' Air, directed by Ben Affleck and about Nike's courting of Michael Jordan, dipped a modest 29% in its third weekend, earning $5.5 million to bring its cumulative total to $41.3 million. While horror and family-oriented releases have been successful at the box office, adult-oriented releases have struggled to attract audiences. Guy Ritchie’s The Covenant, starring Jake Gyllenhaal as an injured army sergeant in Afghanistan, opened with $6.3 million in 2,611 theaters, but may hold steady in coming weeks due to its mostly good reviews and an “A” CinemaScore from ticket buyers. Ari Aster's Beau Is Afraid, the most expensive movie ever made by specialty studio A24, took in $2.7 million after expanding to 926 theaters.
Searchlight’s Chevalier, starring Kelvin Harrison as the 18th century French composer and violinist Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges, earned $1.5 million in 1,275 theaters. Despite adult-oriented releases struggling, overall business in movie theaters has been thriving due to hits like The Super Mario Bros. Movie and John Wick: Chapter 4, which has earned $168.9 million domestically in five weeks of release. Studios will hype their summer blockbusters at the annual CinemaCon in Las Vegas, beginning with Sony Pictures on Monday.