Zendaya Makes Her Case as A24’s Box Office Queen
A24’s ‘The Drama’ opens strong but ‘Super Mario Galaxy’ steamrolls the weekend with a $190M launch
The year of Zendaya has started with a win.
A24’s The Drama, the first of four movies this year with the 29-year-old star (who’s also back on television on Sunday in HBO’s Euphoria), opened to $14.4 million over the weekend. That’s not only near the high-end of its pre-release expectations, but also among the biggest A24 openings ever, behind only Civil War and Timothée Chalamet’s much-promoted Marty Supreme.
“Her fans came out,” says Sean McNulty of the star, while Christopher Rosen adds, “This is very encouraging for Zendaya as a standalone movie star.”
Directed by Kristoffer Borgli and co-starring Robert Pattinson as Zendaya’s onscreen fiancé, The Drama is about as unconventional a romantic comedy as can be, with an unexpected twist that touches on one of America’s most controversial third rails. A24 kept the secret under wraps in the movie’s marketing campaign, a strategy that seemingly didn’t disappoint ticket buyers. (The Drama received a B on CinemaScore, higher than the exit polling for A24’s previous “rom-com,” Materialists.)
“This is the movie you do want to see in a theater,” says Sean, noting the twist produces a big audience reaction. “You share that nervous energy with people. It’s a weird thing to feel in a room.”
The Drama was one of several success stories at the weekend box office, none bigger than Super Mario Galaxy. The sequel to 2023’s The Super Mario Bros. Movie opened with $190 million in North America over its first five days, bigger than Zootopia 2’s debut in November.
“This did exactly what Universal wants it to do,” says Sean. “In essentially five days, it has made back its entire production and marketing spend.”
Featuring the voices of original stars Chris Pratt, Anya Taylor-Joy and Jack Black, plus newcomers Brie Larson and Donald Glover, Super Mario Galaxy has clear sailing in the four-quadrant blockbuster space until May’s The Mandalorian and Grogu, meaning it could challenge the first movie’s $1.3 billion worldwide tally when all is said and done.
“You have to stick around for the credits scene to see how they tee up the next Mario adventure,” says Chris. “I won’t spoil it for you, but suffice it to say, there’s gonna be another one.”