Super Mario Galaxy Movie Rules Second Weekend With $69M, Hits $629M Worldwide

The Super Mario Galaxy Movie held the top domestic spot in its second weekend with $69 million, bringing its North American total to $308 million and global haul to $629 million after just 12 days in release. The 48% hold ranks as the seventh-best second weekend for any animated film in history, trailing only Inside Out 2, the original Super Mario Bros. movie, Frozen 2, Incredibles 2, Finding Dory, and Shrek 2. Universal and Nintendo’s sequel has now overtaken Project Hail Mary as 2026’s highest-grossing release, proving video game IP continues to command elite theatrical power heading into a packed summer slate.

Sources: Variety · Deadline

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How Project Hail Mary’s Risky Spoiler Campaign Made Amazon MGM’s Biggest Theatrical Hit

Amazon MGM Studios overcame a polarising marketing gamble to deliver its biggest theatrical hit, with Project Hail Mary surpassing $500 million globally in its fourth weekend. The studio elected to reveal the film’s most significant plot twist — the existence of alien companion Rocky — in trailers, betting the reveal would draw general audiences past the solo-space-drama stigma. The campaign leaned on Ryan Gosling’s star power through Super Bowl and Winter Olympics TV spots plus a viral Jeopardy! appearance. Premium large-format screens including IMAX and Dolby accounted for roughly 55% of opening-weekend ticket sales, validating the event-cinema positioning and setting a new record for the studio.

Sources: Inc. · Hollywood Reporter

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CinemaCon 2026 Opens: Sony Leads With Spider-Man: Brand New Day Footage and Beyond the Spider-Verse Update

CinemaCon 2026 kicked off Monday at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, with Sony Pictures opening the week-long exhibitor trade event with a 135-minute presentation. Spider-Man: Brand New Day, Tom Holland’s fourth solo outing scheduled for July 31, was the centrepiece, with floor-to-ceiling promo art dominating the convention floor and exclusive room-only footage screened for theatre owners. Sony also delivered an update on Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse, due June 2027. The presentation signals Sony’s confidence in theatrical IP as a cornerstone of its 2026 strategy, framing Brand New Day as an event release capable of matching the cultural moment of its predecessors.

Sources: The Direct · Bleeding Cool

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Lionsgate Drops Final Trailer for Michael Jackson Biopic Ahead of April 24 Release

Lionsgate has released the final campaign trailer for Michael, Antoine Fuqua’s authorised biopic of the pop icon, ahead of its April 24 theatrical release. The film stars Jaafar Jackson, the singer’s nephew, in his feature debut. The first teaser drew over 116 million global views in 24 hours — the biggest trailer debut in Lionsgate history and the most-viewed first look for any music biopic. The final trailer covers Jackson’s arc from Off the Wall through Thriller and Bad, positioning the film as a global event release. Box office tracking anticipates a strong opening for the late-April corridor with minimal competition.

Sources: Deadline · MovieWeb

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TikTok Drives 172% Box Office Ticket Lift as Studios Shift 27% of Campaign Budgets to Short-Form Video

New research confirms TikTok is generating a median 172% lift in movie ticket purchase rates for studios running paid campaigns on the platform, per a joint study with measurement firm Samba spanning 38 theatrical campaigns. Studios have taken notice: digital channels now account for 58.4% of average major-studio film budgets in 2026, with short-form social video absorbing 27% of total promotional spend — up from 11% in 2021. Gen Z users who engaged with a film’s official hashtag challenges or creator duets were 61% more likely to attend during opening weekend than those exposed only to paid social ads on rival platforms, according to TikTok’s Entertainment Insights Division.

Sources: Variety · PPC Land

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Emmy FYC Season Launches: HBO Leads With Euphoria and It: Welcome to Derry as Netflix Ditches FYC Houses

HBO is leading the early Emmy FYC charge with dual campaigns for Euphoria Season 3 and It: Welcome to Derry, holding joint voter screenings through the Television Academy. The FYC eligibility window runs March 2 through June 10, with nominations announced July 8. Meanwhile, Netflix is cementing its pivot away from costly FYC house installations — the immersive, Instagram-ready lobbying experiences that defined recent Emmy seasons — in favour of boutique per-title events tailored to individual show identities. Prime Video and Apple TV+ are following suit in 2026, signalling a broader industry-wide shift away from spectacle-based campaigning toward targeted, talent-forward voter engagement.

Sources: Gold Derby · Gold Derby

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WGA and Studios Seal Surprise Four-Year Deal: $321M Health Plan, Higher Streaming Residuals, AI Protections

The Writers Guild of America reached a surprise tentative four-year deal with the AMPTP a full month before the current contract expired, averting any threat of a work stoppage. The agreement delivers a record $321 million infusion into the WGA health plan, increased streaming residuals, and a “success bonus” for top-rated streaming series rising from 50% to 75% of the base residual. Studios secured their priority: a longer, stability-providing contract term. AI protections include ongoing bargaining sessions and notification requirements if writers’ work is licensed for AI training, though no direct writer compensation for AI training data was established in this round.

Sources: Deadline · Variety

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Iron Lung at $44M Domestic: How Markiplier’s Creator-Led Campaign Rewrote the Indie Theatrical Playbook

Iron Lung, the self-financed science fiction horror film written and directed by YouTube creator Mark “Markiplier” Fischbach, has crossed $44 million domestically in its eleventh weekend, a remarkable run for a film that opened on just 60 screens before expanding to over 4,000 theatres. The campaign bypassed traditional studio PR infrastructure entirely, relying on Fischbach’s 35-million-subscriber YouTube audience, fan community activation, and platform-native content. The result — more than $52 million worldwide and over 10 times its production budget in domestic returns — has become a widely cited case study for creator-led theatrical distribution as studios reconsider how grassroots audiences convert to opening-weekend ticket buyers.

Sources: Screen Rant · NBC News

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Box Office — Weekend of April 10–12, 2026

Source: Box Office Mojo · Weekend estimates