'Renfield' Flops, 'Super Mario' Stays Strong Over the Weekend
by EG
Renfield, a horror comedy starring Nicolas Cage and based on an idea by The Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman, was a flop at the weekend box office, coming in fourth behind two hold-overs and another horror movie. It didn't help Renfield's performance that one of the hold-overs was The Super Mario Bros. Movie, which continued on its strong run and easily took the top spot for a second weekend in a row. Read on for details.
Via Variety.
“The Super Mario Bros. Movie” left its box office competitors in the dust, scoring a massive $87 million in its second weekend of release. Ticket sales declined just 41% from its debut, resulting in the best sophomore outing ever for an animated film. So far, the video game adaptation has grossed $347.8 million in North America and $678 million globally.
“Mario” stayed strong even as several new movies entered the theatrical race, to varying results. In a surprise finish, Universal’s wacky horror-comedy “Renfield,” which sees Nicolas Cage as Count Dracula and Nicholas Hoult as his rebelling henchmen, landed in fourth place with a disappointing $7.7 million from 3,375 locations. Heading into the weekend, it seemed like the film would take the No. 2 slot. Instead, “Renfield” arrived behind Sony’s R-rated demonic thriller “The Pope’s Exorcist,” which also fell slightly short of expectations with $9.1 million, and Lionsgate’s “John Wick: Chapter 4.”
It’s a particularly weak start for “Renfield” because the film cost $65 million to make and tens of millions more to market. It’ll struggle to crawl its way out of the black in its theatrical run. And the movie earned a tepid “B-” CinemaScore, which doesn’t bode well in terms of word-of-mouth.
Chris McKay directed “Renfield,” a modern take on the story of Dracula’s loyal servant, who tries to end his co-dependent relationship with the Count after centuries of servitude. Universal has been attempting to revamp its monster-verse, based on characters from its vast vault of legendary characters, after the commercial failure of Tom Cruise’s remake of “The Mummy.” But the outcomes have been mixed. So far, only 2020’s low-budget thriller “The Invisible Man,” starring Elisabeth Moss, has been a hit.
“This is a lukewarm opening for a horror comedy,” says David A. Gross, who runs the movie consulting firm Franchise Entertainment Research. “‘Renfield’ was an expensive production. That’s a long climb to profitability, even with solid ancillary business.”
Get the rest of the story at Variety.