The biggest weekend admissions result of the year was delivered on Easter weekend with a total of 1.18 million Australians visiting the movies. The result was driven by The Super Mario Bros. Movie which drove 580,000 admissions from Thursday to Sunday.
John Wick: Chapter 4, AIR, and Dungeons and Dragons: Honour Among Thieves, were among the films that drove the result, but it was the latest collaboration between Illumination, Universal, and Nintendo, The Super Mario Bros. Movie that attracted Australians to the movies over the weekend.
The film delivered the biggest opening weekend for any film this year with a total of 580,000 admissions across its Thursday-Sunday opening weekend, with 59% of the audience falling within the P25-54 demographic. It has also taken the top spot of the biggest opening weekend ever for an animated film globally, beating out Frozen II which was released in 2019.
The Super Mario Bros. Movie broke global box office records for 2023, becoming the biggest worldwide debut of the year after bringing in $567 million in worldwide sales.
“As one of the most anticipated titles of the year we knew The Super Mario Bros. Movie had the power to tap into the heart and minds of not just the young, but the young at heart. The title has set records across a multitude of generations, including both youth and family audiences and we expect the film to finish its run as one of the biggest animated films ever in Australia” comments Guy Burbidge, Managing Director of Val Morgan Cinema.
“Cinema has demonstrated time and time again that it delivers key cultural moments that captivate premium hard-to-reach audiences. With the line-up ahead, brands have plenty of opportunities to align with movies that will drive marketing outcomes.”
Other films expected to draw similar cinema admissions in 2023 include Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, Fast X, The Little Mermaid, The Flash, Indiana Jones 5, Mission Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One, and Barbie.