'Super Mario Galaxy' blasts off in box office debut

LOS ANGELES

"The Super Mario Galaxy Movie," based on the wildly popular Nintendo video game, crushed the competition at the North American box office in its opening weekend with $130.9 million in ticket sales, industry estimates showed on April 5.

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.

Dropping to second place in its third week in theaters is another space adventure flick, "Project Hail Mary," which earned $30.7 million over the three-day Easter weekend in the United States and Canada, Exhibitor Relations reported.

The Amazon MGM film stars Ryan Gosling as a teacher-turned-astronaut who awakes on a spaceship with a mission to save Earth from a sun-dimming phenomenon.

Debuting in third place was "The Drama," a romantic comedy starring Zendaya and Robert Pattinson about a couple unraveling just before their wedding. The A24 film earned $14.4 million.

Dropping to fourth place at $5.8 million was 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.

Fifth place went to Universal's romance film "Reminders of Him," with $2.2 million. The movie, the latest adaptation of a novel by Colleen Hoover, stars Maika Monroe and Tyriq Withers.

Rounding out the top 10 are "They Will Kill You" ($1.9 million)

"Dhurandhar: The Revenge" ($1.82 million), "Ready or Not 2: Here I Come" ($1.8 million), "Scream 7" ($915,000) and "GOAT" ($800,000).