UPDATE, Sunday AM writethru after Saturday update ….Super Mario Galaxy Movie minted $153M WW this weekend sending its running global cume to $629M. It is the second highest grossing movie so far in 2026 after China’s Pegasus 3 ($645M). Currently, Super Mario Galaxy Movie is the ninth-highest grossing Illumination title of all time worldwide and the third highest grossing film based on a video game of all time globally (behind The Super Mario Bros. Movie and A Minecraft Movie).

Pic’s second weekend stateside was $69M for the Illumination/Nintendo/Universal movie to $308.1M. That cume is -13% behind Super Mario Bros which ended its U.S./Canada run at $574.9M. Eighty-one offshore territories in weekend 2 grossed $84M, taking sequel’s foreign to $321M.

The overall domestic weekend for all titles is around $129M, -13% from a year ago which rang up $148.2M, led by the second frame of A Minecraft Movie ($78.5M). Again, a $100M-plus domestic weekend in the middle of April post Covid, we’ll take it.

Universal’s counterprogramming, the Will Packer and Johanna Byer produced, Kat Coiro directed, You, Me & Tuscany received an A- CinemaScore, after a $3.2M Friday, in what’s shaping up to be an $8M opening in fourth place for the $18M production. As expected, very female skewing at 79%, with the biggest age demo being 25-34 at 36%. The 18-34 Bridgerton showed up to the Regé-Jean Page-starring movie at 53%. Diversity demos were 46% Black on Friday, 30% Caucasian, 14% Latino and 6% Asian. The pic, sans any premium formats, is playing best in the East, South and South Central. The AMC Madison Yards in Atlanta is now the leading single-location gross in the nation with $23.3K.

RelishMix reports that the social media universe for Me, You & Tuscany was running 2.1x above romantic comedy/drama genre norms across TikTok, Facebook, X, YouTube and Instagram combined at 343.7M. Interestingly enough that’s right around the Colleen Hoover movies, It Ends With Us (337.4M) and Reminders of Him (349M). The lead cast on the film are social and activated very well, led by Halle Bailey at 16.8M fans, Page at 218K and Aziza Scott at 14k.

Reports RelishMix, “Convo for You, Me & Tuscany has spun from mixed to mixed-positive, with the biggest lift coming from old-school rom-com hunger, star affection and fantasy-escape vibes. The audience is treating the film like comfort food with passport stamps, praising the light tone and theatrical date night appeal, with reactions like, “We need more rom-coms where you just go and have fun! This looks adorable and fun!” and “Omg yesss Halle girl. Can’t wait to see this movie.” Halle Bailey is the core engine here, pulling praise for beauty, charisma and comeback energy, as in, “Halle has her MOJO back” and “Halle is so adorable.” The pairing with Regé-Jean Page lands for many as polished and aspirational, closer to glossy star-package chemistry than messy realism, with, “They are a gorgeous couple” and “Their chemistry is so electric.” Comparison chatter helps, not hurts, evoking While You Were Sleeping, Under the Tuscan Sun, and Mrs. Winterbourne as shorthand for cozy familiarity. Even the cheese is selling: “This looks so cheesy and I’m here for it!” and “Frivolous fun.”

IFC has the Daniel Goldhaber splatter horror movie, Faces of Death, which follows a woman, who is employed as a website content moderator, and comes across a series of violent videos reproducing death scenes from a film. Pic, booked at 1,678 theaters, gets a C CinemaScore (horror films range between B to C). Big Friday and previews of $892K with a 3-day of $1.7M. Light ticket sales with any money to be found in the East and the West. AMC Grove in L.A. is the best location for the title with close to $13K so far.

Also opening this weekend is Neon’s Japanese video game adaptation movie from Genki Kawamura, Exit 8, which did $570K on Friday at 495 on its way to $1.4M for a per theater of $2.6K. Best ticket sales for the movie are in NYC, Boston, LA, Austin, Toronto, Chicago and San Francisco. Exit 8 is 95% with critics and 81% with audiences.

Sunday chart:

UPDATE, Friday PM: No major wide entries to shake the Earth before CinemaCon, but a very rich weekend that will keep exhibitors and studios in harmony next week. This is all thanks to the second frame of Illumination/Nintendo/Universal’s The Super Mario Galaxy Movie which is posting $18.7 million Friday on its way to a $71M three-day total at 4,284 theaters, off 46% week over week. That will get the animated sequel voiced by Chris Pratt, Jack Black, Charlie Day and Anya Taylor-Joy and more to $310.1M by EOD Sunday.

As we told you, 2023’s Super Mario Bros had the second-best second weekend for an animated movie at $92.3M (a -37% hold). Currently, Super Mario Galaxy Movie has the seventh-best second weekend for an animated movie behind Inside Out 2 ($101.2M), Super Mario Bros, Frozen 2 ($85.9M), Incredibles II ($80.3M), Finding Dory ($72.9M) and Shrek 2 ($72.1M).

Second place remains the fourth weekend of Amazon MGM Studios’ Project Hail Mary with a $6.3M Friday, $25.5M 3-day at 3,817, off 20%, and running cume by Sunday of $257.5M. That cume, should it hold, will be 3% behind Oppenheimer at the same point in time on Sunday. That multi-Oscar-winning Christopher Nolan movie ended its domestic run at $330M, boosted further by myriad Imax and awards season rereleases.

Universal’s You, Me & Tuscany is seeing $3.2M Friday (includes $75,000K previews) for an opening of $8.3M at 3,151 theaters. Currently, Rotten Tomatoes audiences are more amore with the Halle Bailey and Regé-Jean Page movie than critics, 94% to 68%.

A24’s The Drama starring Zendaya and Robert Pattinson is looking at an estimated $2.5M today with around $7.6M–$8M for its second weekend in fourth at 3,151 sites. At the high end, that’s a -44% hold. Zendaya’s previous non-IP pic, Challengers, had a second weekend of $7.6M, -49%.

Fifth goes to Disney/Pixar’s sixth weekend of Hoppers with an estimated $4M, after a $1.1M Friday at 2,850 theaters. Running total is $157M. Elemental ended its domestic run at $154.4M.

FRIDAY AM: Universal’s Halle Bailey and Rege-Jean Page romance You, Me & Tuscany did $750,000 in previews at 2,550 theaters from showtimes that began at 2 p.m. Thursday. The $18M production is only expected to file in the high-single digits this weekend.

The Will Packer-produced movie comps to the previews of Sony/TriStar’s One of Them Days ($1.3M, $11.8M opening) and Angel Studios’ Solo Mio ($744K, $7M opening).

The real news remains Illumination/Nintendo/Universal’s The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, which is eyeing a second weekend between $60M-$70M. The sequel keeps all the Imax and PLFs screens.

The Chris Meledandri-produced animated feature made $8M yesterday at 4,252 theaters, off 9% from Wednesday, ending its week at $180M and putting its nine-day running total at $239.1M. At the low end of its second weekend, $300M is within range.

The rest of the week went as follows:

2. Project Hail Mary (AMZ) 3,907 theaters, Wk $45.4M (-41%), Total $232M/Wk 3

3. The Drama (A24) 3,087 theaters, Wk $21.6M/Wk 1

4. Hoppers (Dis) 3,290 theaters, Wk $9.2M (-24%), Total $153M/Wk 5

5. A Great Awakening (RSA) 1,289 theaters, Wk $3.6M/Wk 1