AceShowbiz - The highly anticipated The Drama overcame early controversy to perform impressively at the box office during its opening weekend. Despite widespread negative headlines focusing on the film’s intense and unsettling first-act revelation, audiences flocked to theaters to watch the star duo Zendaya and Robert Pattinson navigate a turbulent pre-wedding crisis.

The R-rated romantic comedy earned $14.4 million domestically and $28 million worldwide, marking it as A24’s third-best opening ever. This strong debut trails only behind the $25.7 million launch of Alex Garland’s Civil War and Marty Supreme’s $17.5 million Christmas weekend arrival. These results aligned closely with pre-release tracking that projected an opening weekend between $13 million and $15 million.

Financially, the global gross nearly matches the production budget reported for The Drama, a promising sign for the film's profitability. This success also bodes well for the future collaborations of Zendaya and Robert Pattinson, who will co-star in two major 2026 releases: Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey and Dune: Part Three.

According to studio data, the movie’s audience was predominantly female, accounting for 68 percent of ticket buyers, with 80 percent under the age of 35. This demographic is typical for romantic comedies, combining both romantic and comedic appeal. Opening night viewers gave The Drama a B CinemaScore, indicating general approval though not overwhelming enthusiasm. This rating mirrors the film’s reception among critics, who offered mostly positive reviews.

Movie analyst David A. Gross highlighted in his FranchiseRE newsletter that romantic comedies have seen a steep decline over the past 15 years, with only four wide-release rom-coms debuting last year compared to 15 in 2010. The Drama fits into a current trend where romantic comedies focus on the hardships and conflicts within relationships. Films like Anyone But You starring Sydney Sweeney and Glen Powell, Ticket to Paradise featuring George Clooney and Julia Roberts, and A24’s Materialists with Dakota Johnson, Pedro Pascal, and Chris Evans exemplify this shift toward showcasing the misery and tension of modern romance.

Meanwhile, this weekend’s top box office performer was the family-friendly sequel The Super Mario Galaxy Movie. This video game adaptation grossed $130 million from 4,200 theaters across North America, earning the biggest opening of 2026 so far. It surpassed the previous record-holder, Ryan Gosling’s sci-fi hit Project Hail Mary, which had claimed the year’s largest debut just a week earlier.