Chris Pratt Dethrones Himself At The Box Office With Guardians 3 Bumping Super Mario Bros.

The summer moviegoing season kicked off in earnest this past weekend with Marvel's "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3." As expected, the latest Marvel Cinematic Universe adventure from director James Gunn easily topped the charts, taking in an estimated $114 million domestically, per The Numbers. That's more or less in line with expectations. But in an interesting wrinkle, that means Chris Pratt, who plays Star-Lord in Marvel's big blockbuster, has actually managed to end his own streak atop the charts, as "The Super Mario Bros. Movie" finally surrendered the crown after a four-week run at number one.

"Mario" pulled in $18.6 million in its fifth weekend, meaning it wasn't remotely close. Pratt voices Nintendo's beloved plumber in the animated flick from Universal and Illumination, and he got his red and blue butt stomped by Star-Lord. Nobody is crying for Pratt or Universal here though, as the video game adaptation has earned a staggering $518.1 million domestically and $641.1 million internationally, for a grand total of $1.15 billion worldwide. It is by far the highest-grossing movie of 2023 to date, and it will almost certainly finish the year as such. It's also among only 20 movies ever to make $500 million or more at the domestic box office. You can certainly expect more Nintendo movies after the massive success of Mario.

As for "Guardians 3," it pulled in a little less than expected domestically, but it did a little better than expected overseas, with a $168.1 million international haul. That gives it a $282.1 million global start. It didn't quite match 2017's "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2," which debuted $146.5 million in North America, topping out at $863.7 million worldwide. The big question is whether or not "Guardians 3" can avoid a massive drop like "Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania" in the coming weeks. Only time will tell.

And The Rest...

Outside of the Pratt vs Pratt blockbuster race, "Evil Dead Rise" rounded out the top three with $5.7 million in its third weekend. The horror flick is doing exceptionally well, having earned a couple of nickels shy of $115 million globally up to this point. Against a reported $14 million budget, that is stellar. Rather wisely, Warner Bros. gave this one a theatrical release instead of sending it directly to HBO Max, as was originally the plan. Hopefully that means more "Evil Dead" movies are on the way.

Lionsgate's "Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret." fell to number four with just $3.38 million in its second frame, despite excellent reviews. The studio will need a great VOD turnout for this one. 

But the worst news of the weekend belongs to Sony, whose new romance flick "Love Again" starring Priyanka Chopra-Jonas had a miserable $2.42 million debut, landing in the number five spot. It had a disastrous $897 per-theater average. The only good news is that the movie carries a small $9 million budget and didn't hatch a huge marketing campaign. Even so, that's brutal.

Also of note, "Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves" quietly passed $200 million globally, as the fantasy flick now sits at $202.5 million. Unfortunately, it's a mostly meaningless milestone for Paramount, as the critically well-liked adaptation of the popular game cost $150 million to produce. 

Looking ahead, "Guardians 3" has a clear path to victory in its second weekend as Robert Rodriguez's "Hypnotic" and "Book Club: The Next Chapter" enter the fold.

Top 10 movies at the box office May 5-7, 2023

1. "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3" - $114 million

2. "The Super Mario Bros. Movie" - $18.6 million

3. "Evil Dead Rise" - $5.73 million

4. "Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret." $3.38 million

5. "Love Again" - $2.42 million

6. "John Wick: Chapter 4" - $2.35 million

7. "Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves" - $1.51 million

8. "Air" - $1.39 million

9. "The Covenant" - $1.22 million

10. "Sisu" - $1 million

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