Illumination, Nintendo and Universal Pictures’ “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” debuted today without previews last night and is already on track to take $26 million.
Estimates are being revised upwards with the film to translate into a $86.2 million three-day haul from Friday to Sunday, and a $127.5 million five-day haul from Wednesday to Sunday.
The film’s opening day is exactly on par with “Sonic the Hedgehog 2” which debuted a year ago to $26.3 million on opening day. A key difference is ‘Sonic’ was on a Friday, and that figure included Thursday night previews.
“Sonic the Hedgehog 2” still holds the three-day record for a video game feature adaptation with $72.1 million – a figure ‘Mario is about to squash. In addition it’s tracking to be Illumination’s second-best five-day debut behind only “Despicable Me 2” in 2013, which debuted to $143 million.
The rosy numbers come despite the film’s very mixed critical score which sits at just 54% and has been declared ‘Rotten’. The audience score is currently much higher at 95%.
The only other major opener for Easter is Ben Affleck’s “Air” which landed $3.5 million on opening day and is tracking for a $10 million three-day and $16 million five-day haul. Reviews from both critics and audiences are gushing at 97% and 98% respectively.
Source: Deadline
