The Japan Times - Galactic 'Super Mario' rules N. America box office for second week

The animated sequel from Universal and Illumination Studios tracks the adventures of Mario, Luigi and friends in outer space, where they must save Princess Rosalina. It features the voices of Jack Black, Chris Pratt, Anya Taylor-Joy and Brie Larson.

It raked in $69 million in its second weekend, for a domestic total of $308.1 million, plus an additional $321 million internationally, Exhibitor Relations reported.

Holding its own in second place in its fourth week in theaters is another space adventure flick, "Project Hail Mary," which earned $24.6 million over the weekend in the United States and Canada.

The Amazon MGM film, which stars Ryan Gosling as a teacher-turned-astronaut who awakes on a spaceship with a mission to save Earth from a dimming sun, has earned nearly $257 million in total domestically.

Maintaining third spot was "The Drama," a romantic comedy in its second week starring Zendaya and Robert Pattinson about a couple unraveling just before their wedding. The A24 film earned $8.7 million.

Debuting in fourth was another rom com, Universal's "You, Me & Tuscany" starring actress-singer Halle Bailey and Rege-Jean Page (of "Bridgerton" fame), at $8 million.

Analyst David A. Gross of Franchise Entertainment Research called it a "fair opening" for the original romantic comedy, which was shot on Italy's Amalfi coast.

"Critics' reviews are good-not-great, but rom coms are crowd-pleasers and the audience score is excellent," he said.

Fifth place went to Disney/Pixar animated hit "Hoppers," the story of a young animal lover who uses technology to transfer her consciousness into a robotic beaver so she can better communicate and protect wildlife. It earned $4.1 million.

The film has pulled in $354 million globally over six weeks.

Rounding out the top 10:

"Faces of Death" ($1.7 million)

"Exit 8" ($1.4 million)

"A Great Awakening" ($1.25 million)

"Reminders of Him" ($1 million)

"Ready or Not 2: Here I Come" ($867,000)

T.Kobayashi--JT