(WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- A movie based on a video game is set to generate a high score at the movie theater box office.
This is a long weekend for many and theater owners hope they spend it at the movies. Air is based on the true story of the development of the Nike Air Jordan sneaker and there's video game movie Super Mario Brothers.
Paul DeGarabedian of ComScore in Los Angeles tells the WBBM Noon Business Hour that video game movies had a hard time finding success on the big screen.
"The history of the video game movie at the box office has been very uneven to say the least, but animated films like Sonic the Hedgehodge and Sonic the Hedgehodge 2, the Angry Birds movie, Pokemon, Detective Pikachu have all done very well."
A Super Mario Brothers movie released in 1993 lost money. He said that has since changed.
"It looks like the Wednesday number, when it opened for Super Mario was around $30 million, which is a huge number. This may wind up being an absolute monster over the five day Wednesday through Sunday opening for Super Mario."
Movie theaters have reported a long, slow climb out of the pandemic, but Degarabedian said business is starting to pick up momentum.
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