Friday's domestic box office saw a mix of enduring blockbusters and new releases vying for audience attention. Universal’s “Super Mario Galaxy Movie” continued its dominant run, securing the lead for a third consecutive weekend, underscoring the formidable power of established franchises. However, the performance of newcomers, particularly in the horror genre, highlighted persistent challenges for studios like Universal and Blumhouse.

Topping the charts, “The Super Mario Galaxy Movie” recorded $7.4 million on Friday. Projections suggest a weekend total of $30 million, which would push the animated sequel's domestic cumulative to an impressive $350 million. In second place was “Project Hail Mary,” which earned $5.22 million on Friday and is expected to add $18.5 million by Sunday, potentially reaching a domestic total of $283 million by the close of the weekend.

Among the new theatrical offerings, Warner Bros. and Atomic Monster’s “Lee Cronin’s The Mummy” debuted in third place, grossing $5.2 million on its opening day from 3,304 North American theaters. This body-horror reimagining of Karl Freund’s 1932 classic is anticipated to earn around $12 million over its opening weekend. The film, written and directed by “Evil Dead Rise” filmmaker Lee Cronin, follows a journalist and his wife as they search for their daughter, who disappeared eight years prior and has since been corrupted by an ancient evil. The cast includes Jack Reynor, Laia Costa, May Calamawy, Natalie Grace, Shylo Molina, and Billie Roy. Separately, Magnolia Pictures’ “Normal,” starring and co-written by Bob Odenkirk, landed at No. 7 with an estimated $1.06 million domestically from 2,060 theaters. It is projected to gross $2.4 million over its opening weekend. Odenkirk portrays a small-town sheriff who uncovers a disturbing secret while investigating a local bank heist. The film also features Ryan Allen, Henry Winkler, Billy MacLellan, Lena Headey, and Reena Jolly, with Ben Wheatley serving as director.

Other holdovers rounding out the top five included “The Drama,” which secured fourth place with an estimated $1.5 million on its third Friday at the domestic box office. Kristopher Borgli’s rom-com-thriller is projected to add $4.7 million by Sunday, bringing its domestic total to $39.5 million. At No. 5 was “You, Me & Tuscany,” which made $1.1 million domestically as it entered its second weekend, with an expected $3.5 million addition by Sunday for a total of $14 million.

The lukewarm reception and box office forecast for “Lee Cronin’s The Mummy” underscore a challenging trend for Universal and Blumhouse in the horror genre. While horror has historically been a reliable earner, these studios have faced difficulties recently, with audiences seemingly gravitating towards "more ambitious projects" such as "Weapons" and "Sinners." The past 18 months have seen a series of box-office underperformers from the studios, with "Five Nights at Freddy's 2" being a notable exception. This streak of disappointment began with "Wolf Man," which failed to replicate the success of Leigh Whannell's critically acclaimed "The Invisible Man."

The current strategy for Universal Monster movies involves standalone features produced on smaller budgets, a pivot made after the $170 million tent-pole “The Mummy” (2017), starring Tom Cruise, failed to launch an interconnected shared universe akin to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. This approach initially saw success with Whannell's "The Invisible Man," which grossed over $140 million worldwide against a reported budget of $7 million in 2020. However, subsequent projects have underperformed significantly, including “Renfield” ($26 million worldwide against a $65 million budget), “The Last Voyage of the Demeter” ($21 million worldwide against a $45 million budget), and “Wolf Man” ($35 million worldwide against a $25 million budget).

“Lee Cronin’s The Mummy” is specifically expected to gross only $13 million domestically in its first weekend, against a reported budget of $22 million. This figure is notably lower than any previous installment in the franchise, including the Tom Cruise-led film, which opened with more than $30 million. For comparison, all three films starring Brendan Fraser in the original franchise each grossed at least three times as much as Cronin's movie in their respective opening weekends. With rumors of Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz returning for a new installment in their established franchise, that venture appears to be a more promising bet for Universal. Cronin's film received mixed reviews from critics, currently holding a 45% score on Rotten Tomatoes. The aggregator's consensus notes that while "Director Lee Cronin's take on The Mummy injects some juicy gore and personal stakes into the classic horror setup, the scares in this gross-out extravaganza get entombed by a padded running time." The film is rated R for Horror, has a runtime of 136 minutes, and is slated for a release on April 17, 2026. Key personnel include director and writer Lee Cronin, and producers Jason Blum, James Wan, and John Keville, with Jack Reynor and Laia Costa in leading roles.