Rather surprisingly, it’s a pretty quiet Easter weekend at South African cinemas, with just two notable new releases, in addition to screenings of Wagner’s opera Tristan Und Isolde at select Ster Kinekor theatres.
Perhaps the shortage of movie debuts is to make way for colourful family adventure The Super Mario Galaxy Movie. Animation studio Illumination, and video game company Nintendo, are back with a sequel to 2023’s The Super Mario Bros. Movie. Drawing on plotlines from the Super Mario Galaxy games, Mario (voiced once more by Chris Pratt), and Luigi (Charlie Day) join Princess Peach (Anya Taylor-Joy) and Toad (Keegan-Michael Key) on a mission into space. Their new allies include dinosaur Yoshi (Donald Glover) and Princess Rosalina (Brie Larson), while villainous Bowser (Jack Black) teams up with son Bowser Jr. (Benny Safdie).
The Super Mario Galaxy Movie is screening in 2D, 3D and 3D IMAX.
Screening only at Ster Kinekor theatres, The Drama is the new grown-up option for the long weekend. From writer-director Kristoffer Borgli (Dream Scenario), and released under the A24 banner, this romantic comedy drama stars Zendaya and Robert Pattinson as an engaged couple who get cold feet in the lead up to their wedding day. The cause? Unexpected revelations derail what one thought about the other, driving a wedge between the lovers.