When it comes to movies, there are few things more important than the opening weekend totals of the film. That goes double if the film is a “blockbuster” meant to make money. The bigger the opening weekend, the more likely the film will be dubbed “profitable” meaningfully. It’s true that this isn’t always the case, as you can have a good opening and then plummet in the following weekends, but it’s generally accepted. For example, when the Super Mario Bros Movie got its early April release date, many made fair projections for the movie. But now, those projections have been turned up.
Initially, the 5-day total that the Super Mario Bros Movie aimed for was about $127 million. That would’ve been a very successful debut for a video game film. But thanks to a bigger opening on Wednesday than expected, those projections have been changed, as noted by the Hollywood Reporter, to possibly be around $141 million by the end of Sunday.
So there is no confusion; these are just predictions by analysts in the industry. They can be changed once again as the full results are revealed. Plus, this weekend is Easter weekend, and many suspect that is why Nintendo moved the movie’s release date up, so they could avoid any issues that may cause.
One of the ironies of this movie total is that critics have not been kind to the film. Many blasted the movie for its plot, the voice acting of some of the talent attached, and being “too much for kids.” However, the general audience has a different opinion and has given the movie a near-perfect score on Rotten Tomatoes.
That is a big reason why it’ll be fun to see what happens not at the end of this weekend but at the end of the next one. One could easily say that the film is doing as well as it is, thanks to the hype around the movie and many gamers’ curiosity about how good or bad it would be. But with that hype gone after this weekend, will people return to see the film? Will others see it next weekend since there will be no holiday then? That is the mystery that we’ll have to wait and see on.
Looking even further into the future, Nintendo and Illumination could very easily take their potential success and make another Nintendo movie, and they even teased that in an interview. If that is the case, the next mystery is what property will get the tap?
