Image Credit: Universal Pictures
The U.S. box office has seen its best start to the year since the pandemic, thanks to a robust lineup where success has been driven not only by a sequel, ‘The Super Mario Galaxy Movie,’ but also by new titles such as ‘Project Hail Mary,’ ‘Hoppers,‘ ‘Goat,’ and ‘The Housemaid.’ This mix suggests that annual box office revenue in the U.S. will exceed $9 billion by the end of the year, marking the best figure since the pandemic upended the film industry in 2020. By comparison, in 2019, theaters grossed $11.363 billion, meaning the film industry still has a long way to go to return to pre-pandemic levels, even without accounting for inflation. New releases also play a role, as they have been exceeding 900 per year in theaters, compared to the 669 released in 2025.
Looking at this past weekend, there were a few surprises, with Super Mario Galaxy: The Movie holding onto a spot on the podium for the second consecutive week. The Illumination and Nintendo film grossed $69 million over the three-day weekend, down 47.6% from its opening weekend. With these figures, the animated film has now grossed $308 million in the United States for a worldwide total of $628 million. It thus becomes the second-highest-grossing film of the year so far, surpassed only by the Chinese film ‘Pegasus 3’. However, with a gap of less than $12 million, ‘Super Mario’ should top the year-to-date rankings in the coming days.
Right now, the only question is whether the sequel will ultimately surpass the original’s box office earnings. Overall, it’s performing slightly worse than the first film in the United States and slightly better outside the U.S., so the combined results from both markets suggest a very close race. It’s also business as usual for ‘Project Hail Mary,’ now in its fourth week at the U.S. box office and holding onto a commendable second place, with an additional $24.5 million in box office receipts and a 33% drop. Its worldwide total has now reached $510.6 million.
Surprise for ‘The Drama’ in its second week
Third place at the box office went not to the premiere of ‘You, Me & Tuscany,’ but to the second week of ‘The Drama,’ which dropped only 20%, adding $8.7 million for a total of $30.8 million in the United States. The A24 film, starring Zendaya and Robert Pattinson, also debuted in new international markets and has now grossed $42.7 million worldwide.
The week’s most anticipated release, the romantic comedy You, Me & Tuscany, starring Regé-Jean Page, had to settle for fourth place with $8.1 million at the box office. The film, distributed by Universal and set to arrive in Spain this summer, still had a more than respectable opening, considering it had a budget of just $18 million and has yet to be released in many international markets.
With this release, distributors hope to gradually break the curse of romantic comedies, which since the pandemic seem to have become the exclusive domain of streaming services. The film’s strong opening proves there is still an audience for them in theaters, specifically women, who made up 80% of the audience. Fifth place went to ‘Hoppers,’ which is still holding strong in its sixth week. This weekend it added another $4.1 million for a domestic total of $157 million.
Next up are three new releases: BTS’s comeback concert in sixth place with $2.4 million, the horror film ‘Faces of Death’ in seventh with $1.7 million, and the Japanese film ‘Exit 8’ with $1.4 million. Particularly noteworthy is the debut of the latter, based on a video game and distributed by Neon, which, with $2,837 per screen, achieved the third-highest average per screen in the entire top 10.
Next week brings no major releases on the horizon in the U.S. market, with the debut of the musical Mother Mary, starring Anne Hathaway, and the thriller Normal, starring Bob Odenkirk.
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