Luigi, Yoshi, Mario and Toad in ‘The Super Mario Galaxy Movie.’ (Nintendo, Illumination)
Nintendo? More like Ninten-dough. The Super Mario Galaxy Movie has taken over the top spot at the box office in the year’s biggest global film debut.
The animated sequel to 2023’s The Super Mario Bros. Movie took in just under $131 million domestically in its first weekend, and worldwide, it earned $372.5 million, according to Box Office Mojo. As perVariety, that’s the biggest debut of the year, smashing the record previously set by Project Hail Mary. The Ryan Gosling sci-fi film took in just over $97 million worldwide when it debuted in March.
The Super Mario franchise is now the only animated franchise to have two installments each open with over $350 million globally, notes Variety.
Project Hail Mary slipped to #2 this weekend with $30.6 million, while A24’s new Robert Pattinson/Zendaya dark comedy, The Drama, debuted at #3 with just under $14.4 million.
The only other new debut in the top 10 was A Great Awakening, a historical drama about the real-life friendship between Benjamin Franklin and English priest and preacher George Whitefield. It came in at #6 with $2.1 million.
Here are the top 10 films at the box office:
1. The Super Mario Galaxy Movie — $130.9 million 2. Project Hail Mary — $30.65 million 3. The Drama — $14.38 million 4. Hoppers — $5.8 million 5. Reminders of Him –– $2.2 million 6. The Great Awakening — $2.11 million 7. They Will Kill You — $1.9 million 8. Dhurandhar The Revenge — $1.82 million 9. Ready or Not 2: Here I Come —$1.8 million 10. Undertone — $1.07 million
A Palestinian mother hugs her child as eight children evacuated from Gaza to Egypt through the Rafah Border Crossing during 2023 land attacks due to health issues return to Gaza after completing treatment, coordinated by the World Health Organization (WHO) at Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Yunis, Palestine, on March 30, 2026. (Photo by Hani Alshaer/Anadolu via Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — When Sundus al Kurd and her daughter Bissan were separated at the start of the Israel-Hamas war in 2023, she wasn’t sure she’d see her again. Bissan was only a few days old when her mother allowed her to be medically evacuated from the Gaza strip to Egypt.
The premature baby’s life was saved, along with others, by the World Health Organization and Palestinian Red Crescent during the height of the conflict, but now the two have been reunited.
“After all this time, my daughter is finally back in my arms!” al Kurd, a young Palestinian mother, exclaims as she held her child for the first time in over two years.
“Every day, I lived with fear — fear that I might never hold her again, fear that she might forget me. But the moment I held her in my arms again, it felt like she had never been away. That moment was complete joy!” the 27-year-old al Kurd told ABC News.
Bissan, who has spent the last 2 1/2 years in Egypt, had been one of 33 premature babies trapped inside the Al Shifa hospital as the Israeli military laid siege to it in November 2023.
“Being reunited with my daughter is something I cannot fully describe. It is a mix of relief, love, and something deeper — like life returning to me after being paused for years,” al Kurd said.
“The first night we spent together was very emotional. I couldn’t sleep. I kept watching her, holding her, making sure she was really there beside me. I was afraid to close my eyes, as if it was all a dream that might disappear,” she said.
Bissan’s life had been in imminent danger in November 2023, doctors said. The neonatal unit she was in at Al Shifa hospital was running out of fuel and oxygen, cut off by the Israeli army, which had encircled the hospital, saying that Hamas had a hidden command center in its precincts, something both Hamas medical teams there strongly denied.
“They were meant to die without incubators, without oxygen, without water, but they survived every single stage of this terrible reality,” Dr. Ahmed Mokhallalati, the former head of plastic surgery at Al Shifa Hospital, told ABC News.
Mokhallalati was one of the few doctors who remained at Al Shifa throughout the Israeli siege.
“Most of the doctors were surgeons, not even pediatricians, but we felt we had to do our best to keep these kids alive,” he said. “We felt these kids were like our own babies. Every morning, we would go just to make sure they were still alive.”
He said that the extreme danger of the situation forced some parents to abandon their babies.
“There were no parents because the hospital was bombed and people were forced to flee to save their other children,” Mokhallalati said. “In the calculus of survival, mothers fled with the children who could run and left behind those who could not, making an impossible choice.”
The premature babies were left fighting for their lives for days, with one doctor and six nurses caring for them in ever-worsening conditions, he said.
“We did not know their names, we did not know their parents. They had no one to take care of them. They were wearing only small wristbands, usually with their mothers’ names, and that was the only thing we knew about them,” Mokhallalati said.
Not all the babies survived those difficult days. Five died as the team struggled to keep them fed and warm, but Mokhallalati was amazed that so many of the babies made it.
“They were meant to die at many stages but they survived every single challenge,” adding, “They were the only feeling of hope we had in all of this chaos and destruction.”
On Nov. 19, 2023, they were rescued after the WHO and the Palestinian Red Crescent were given access to the hospital. They carried the precious cargo through a war zone to a hospital in Rafah, in southern Gaza, before taking them across the border to Egypt, officials said.
“Twenty-eight were evacuated to Egypt, but seven more died there due to the difficult conditions, leaving 21 survivors. Of those, 11 have now returned on March 30, while four others came back earlier when Rafah crossing opened, and six remain in Egypt with their families,” Dr. Ahmed Al-Farra, the head of pediatrics and neonatal care at Nasser Hospital in Gaza, told ABC News.
Among those returning was 2-year-old Azzhar Kafarna. Her mother, Heba Saleh, described the ordeal of their separation to ABC News.
“For two and a half years, I felt something missing all the time,” she said.
“I missed everything — her first smile, her first steps, even the little things that any mother waits for. I used to imagine her … how she looks now, how her voice sounds, and if she would recognize me when we finally meet,” Saleh said.
She was nervous about their reunion, “When I saw her again, I didn’t know what to feel. I just hugged her tightly. It felt like I was holding all the days we lost in that one moment.”
Al-Farra examined all the toddlers when they returned to Gaza this week.
“All of the children are in generally good condition, with normal weight and growth, but many are facing complications linked to extreme prematurity,” he said.
Al-Farra says many of them, “have vision problems and need glasses because their eye nerves were not fully developed,” like Bissan, who wears a bright red pair of spectacles.
However, not all of them have come back to happy reunions.
“I don’t think all of these children have parents to return to. Some of their families were likely killed during the war,” Al-Farra said.
“In one case, there is real confusion over the child’s identity, with more than one person claiming the baby. We are still trying to identify the family, but without access to DNA testing in Gaza, we cannot confirm who the child belongs to,” he said.
Fear returning to Gaza
Both the mothers ABC News spoke with were nervous about their children returning to Gaza.
“As a mother, I feel everything at once. I’m happy she’s finally with me … but at the same time, I feel guilty, even though I had no choice. I keep thinking about all the moments I wasn’t there for.” Saled said.
“And of course, I’m worried about raising her in Gaza. I want her to feel safe, to live a normal life, but the situation here is not easy,” Saled said.
That sentiment was echoed by al Kurd.
“I am also worried. My daughter has never heard the sound of bombing before. I am afraid of how she might react if she experiences it here in Gaza. This fear is always in my heart.”
“I wish for my daughter to have a better future, a life that is safer and more stable than the one we are living now,” al Kurd said.
Zendaya on ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ (Disney/Randy Holmes)
Zendaya has worked alongside stars including John David Washington, Colman Domingo and Timothée Chalamet, but during a recent appearance on The Jennifer Hudson Show, she revealed someone who is on her collaboration bucket list.
“You know, I would love to work with Ryan Coogler. … For years I’ve felt this way, since Fruitvale Station,” she said of her fellow Bay Area native. “I thought that was such a beautiful and powerful film. But I’m from Oakland, too, and I remember when that happened.”
“He means so much to the world but he also means so much to us,” she went on. “I always joke, I’m like, ‘I know I don’t know you. But I feel like you’re my cousin,’ you know what I mean? He sounds like my family, his accent is so strong, and so Oakland.”
She continued, “He just makes beautiful work, absolutely beautiful work. So talented.”
Zendaya most recently worked alongside Robert Pattinson; their new film, The Drama, is now available to watch in theaters nationwide.
Sarah Pidgeon as Carolyn Bessette Kennedy and Paul Anthony Kelly as John F. Kennedy Jr. in ‘Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. & Carolyn Bessette.’ (FX)
It’s a Love Story, and audiences just said yes.
The FX series Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. & Carolyn Bessette has crossed 65 million hours streamed across Hulu and Disney+, according to numbers from Disney.
Its season finale marked a series high on those streaming platforms, as it was up nearly 20% from the prior week’s episode and 90% ahead of the series premiere after its first day streaming.
Additionally, the show’s premiere episode added 1 million views on Hulu and Disney+ since the finale dropped last Friday, meaning it has reached over 14 million multi-platform views across FX, Hulu and Disney+ to date.
All nine episodes of Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. & Carolyn Bessette are streaming now on Hulu and Hulu on Disney+ for bundle subscribers.
Paul Anthony Kelly and Sarah Pidgeon star as the titular couple in this first installment of Ryan Murphy’s Love Story anthology series. It is based on the book Once Upon a Time: The Captivating Life of Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy by Elizabeth Beller.
“He was the closest thing to American royalty. The country watched him grow from a boy to a beloved bachelor and media sensation. She was a star in her own right. Fiercely independent and with a singular style, she rose from being a sales assistant to an executive at Calvin Klein, and became a trusted confidante of its eponymous founder,” according to the show’s official synopsis. “As their love story unfolded on a national stage, the intense fame and media attention that came along with it threatened to rip them apart.”
The show also stars Grace Gummer as Caroline Kennedy, Naomi Watts as Jackie Kennedy Onassis and Alessandro Nivola as Calvin Klein.
(NEW YORK) — The U.S. recorded strong job gains in March, rebounding from dismal losses a month earlier, a jobs report on Friday showed. The reading far exceeded economists’ expectations.
The U.S. added 178,000 jobs in March, according to the report, which marked a sharp increase from 133,000 jobs lost in the previous month.
The unemployment rate ticked down to 4.3% in March from 4.4% in February, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) said. Unemployment remains low by historical standards.
The BLS collected survey data through the second week of March, before the full effects of the oil shock set off by the Iran war.
As in previous months, the health care sector stood out as a top source of hiring in March, adding 76,000 jobs, the BLS said. The construction sector, as well as transportation and logistics, also contributed to the surge in hiring.
Employment in the federal government continued to decline in March, shedding 18,000 jobs, the BLS said. The federal government has lost 355,000 jobs, or nearly 12% of its workforce, since October 2024, a month before President Donald Trump was elected.
The government report arrived as the war continues to drive up gasoline prices and borrowing costs, threatening a drag on the economy.
The U.S. added an average of about 15,000 jobs per month in 2025, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data showed. That performance amounted to a sharp slowdown from 186,000 jobs added each month in 2024.
The U.S.-Israeli war on Iran, which began on Feb. 28, triggered one of the worst global oil shocks in decades, prompting gloomy forecasts on Wall Street of a potential U.S. recession over the coming months.
In theory, a prolonged oil shortage could drive up prices for a vast array of goods, sapping energy from consumer spending, which powers most of the nation’s economic growth.
Iran has mounted an effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a critical maritime trading route that facilitates the transport of about one-fifth of the global oil supply.
The U.S. is a net exporter of petroleum, meaning the country produces more oil than it consumes. But since oil prices are set on a global market, U.S. prices move in response to swings in worldwide supply and demand.
The disruption in oil shipping has pushed U.S. crude prices above $110 a barrel, which marks a staggering rise of more than 50% since the war began on Feb. 28.
Gasoline prices in the U.S. ticked up to $4.08 on average per gallon as of Wednesday, marking a leap of $1.09 over the past month, AAA data showed.
A potential jump in costs for additional goods delivered through the Strait of Hormuz — such as fertilizer and diesel fuel — could also raise prices beyond gasoline, putting pressure on the Federal Reserve to hike interest rates in an effort to quell possible inflation.
The benchmark interest rate stands at a level between 3.5% and 3.75%. That figure marks a significant drop from a recent peak attained in 2023, but borrowing costs remain well above a 0% rate established at the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
If the Fed moved to raise interest rates, it would hike borrowing costs for many consumer and business loans, risking a slowdown in hiring.
Speaking at Harvard University on Monday, Fed Chair Jerome Powell said the central bank could take a patient approach as it monitors potential price effects from the Middle East conflict.
“We feel like our policy is in a good place for us to wait and see how that turns out,” Powell said.
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to reflect the time period covered by the BLS survey.
Melissa Gilbert speaks with ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos in an interview airing on ‘Good Morning America’ on April 6, 2026. (ABC News)
Melissa Gilbert is speaking out for the first time about the child sexual contact charges against her husband, actor Timothy Busfield.
“This has been the most traumatizing experience of our lives,” Gilbert told Good Morning America co-anchor George Stephanopoulos in her first interview about the charges, airing Monday on GMA.
In the interview, a preview of which was released Thursday, Gilbert opened up about what she believes happened and the aftermath of the charges.
“Our life as we knew it is done. We are grieving what we had. All of our plans, all of our dreams, all of our ideas, all of our projects,” said Gilbert, who wed Busfield in 2013. “For Tim, it’s done. He’s canceled … even if he’s exonerated, he will always be that guy. The last person in the world who would hurt a child.”
She continued, “And believe me, if I thought for a second that Tim Busfield hurt a child, he’d have a lot more to worry about than prison.”
When asked by Stephanopoulos why she is speaking out now, Gilbert — who spoke alongside her and Busfield’s attorney Larry Stein — replied, “It’s time.”
Busfield was indicted on Feb. 6 by a grand jury in New Mexico on four counts of criminal sexual contact of a child, according to Bernalillo County District Attorney Sam Bregman.
The actor — best known for his role as Danny Concannon on The West Wing — later pleaded not guilty to all four counts.
The charges against Busfield stem from accusations that he inappropriately touched a child actor on the set of the TV show The Cleaning Lady, which was filmed in Albuquerque, according to a criminal complaint.
The actor denied the allegations when interviewed by investigators, according to the criminal complaint.
Busfield turned himself in to authorities in New Mexico in January and was held without bond. He was later released on his own recognizance pending trial.
At the time of the indictment, Stein told ABC News that the grand jury’s decision was “not unexpected.”
“As the saying goes, a grand jury will indict a ham sandwich. What is deeply concerning is that the District Attorney is choosing to proceed on a case that is fundamentally unsound and cannot be proven at trial. The detention hearing exposed fatal weaknesses in the State’s evidence — gaps that no amount of charging decisions can cure,” Stein said in a statement.
He added, “Mr. Busfield will fight these charges at every stage and looks forward to testing the State’s case in open court — where evidence matters — not behind closed doors.”
In a statement to ABC News Thursday, the district attorney’s office said its focus “remains on the victims.”
“The Bernalillo County District Attorney’s Office handles hundreds of child abuse cases every year. When a child reports abuse, we take it very seriously,” the statement said. “In this matter, a neutral grand jury indicted the defendant on four Counts of Criminal Sexual Contact of a Minor (Child Under 13).”
“This office follows our ethical duty to only proceed on cases where a good faith basis exists to prosecute,” the statement continued. “While it is not surprising that the defendant is attempting to garner public support through the media, our focus remains on the victims. We will continue to fight for them every step of the way.”
Busfield’s trial is tentatively set for May 2027 in New Mexico.
Watch more of Melissa Gilbert’s interview with ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos on Monday, April 6, on Good Morning America from 7 a.m. ET to 9 a.m. ET on ABC.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection headquarters in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Kevin Carter/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — An internal inspection report by Immigration and Customs Enforcement found dozens of safety and security violations at the country’s largest migrant detention center during a recent visit.
Inspectors with ICE’s Office of Detention Oversight found 49 deficiencies at Camp East Montana in El Paso, Texas, during a three-day visit.
Of those, 22 violations involved “use of force and restraints,” and included failing to document incidents, failing to provide medical exams after physical altercations, and failing to record incidents on video.
The report, however, said that none of the 49 detainees inspectors randomly interviewed made allegations of discrimination, mistreatment, or abuse.
The federal inspection of the facility, which opened in 2025, comes amid concerns from lawmakers and immigrant advocates about the treatment of detainees being held there as part of the Trump administration’s aggressive immigration crackdown.
Three people have died at the $1.2 billion facility, including a Cuban immigrant whose death was ruled a homicide by the local medical examiner. In a statement in January, the DHS said the detainee was pronounced dead after “experiencing medical distress.”
A spokesperson with the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, said that ICE has recently hired a new contractor and is “always looking at ways to improve our detention facilities to ensure we are providing the best care to illegal aliens in our custody.”
“This new contractor will allow Camp East Montana to continue abiding by the highest detention standards WITH the ability to provide MORE medical care on-site,” the statement said. “This contract also allows more on-site staff and a PRECISE quality assurance surveillance plan. ICE will have even more oversight of the contractors at this facility.”
The inspection report, released this week, identified four “priority” deficiencies within the facility’s medical department, including multiple failures to properly isolate and notify leadership regarding a detainee showing symptoms of pulmonary tuberculosis.
Inspectors found that a detainee showing symptoms of TB was not isolated, posing a potential risk to others. According to the report, the facility failed to notify ICE leadership of the medical risk.
Inspectors also found that staff at the facility did not document whether they were conducting required checks to prevent self-harm and suicide among detainees. At least one of the detainees who died is presumed to have died by suicide.
“ICE will continue to ensure that all of the detainees in our custody receive the level of care, service, and medical support they need to match our high detention standards,” the DHS statement said.
James Marsden hosts the ‘Jury Duty Presents: Company Retreat’ cast reunion. (Prime Video)
James Marsden is returning to his Jury Duty roots.
Prime Video has announced there will be two bonus episodes of Jury Duty Presents: Company Retreat. The first will be a season 2 cast reunion special moderated by Marsden, while the second will be a meetup between season 1 non-actor Ronald Gladden and season 2 non-actor Anthony Norman.
In the reunion special, Norman and the entirety of the season 2 cast gather to discuss their experiences producing the show. Audiences will also get a look at never-before-seen footage from the making of the season.
The special meetup episode finds Gladden and Norman getting to chat for the first time over coffee at a cafe in Los Angeles. They get to have a candid conversation about this unique, shared experience they have as the only two people who have gone through a social experiment like this.
Both of the new episodes will debut on April 10. Additionally, Prime Video subscribers will get access to brand-new audio commentary tracks for all eight episodes of Jury Duty Presents: Company Retreat, which feature commentary on the making of the show from Norman, Alex Bonifer, Stephanie Hodge, Rachel Kaly, Emily Pendergast and Marc-Sully Saint-Fleur.
Jury Duty Presents: Company Retreat is set at a corporate offsite event at a family-owned hot sauce company. It’s told from the perspective of Anthony, a recently hired temporary worker who has no idea the entire experience is fake.
The first season of Jury Duty premiered in 2023. The season earned a Peabody Award and an AFI Award and scored four Emmy nominations, including outstanding comedy series. Marsden starred in the first season and executive produced season 2.
(WASHINGTON) — A U.S. fighter jet appears to have been shot down by Iran over Iranian territory, American officials confirmed to ABC News, marking a new and potentially dangerous point in the conflict.
One crew member aboard the downed two-seater F-15E has been rescued, according to a U.S. official. The status of the other crew member is unknown, according to the official.
Combat search and rescue missions have become relatively rare for U.S. forces after more than a generation of near-total air dominance, with American aircraft typically operating with limited threats to aircraft in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The early indications that the U.S. fighter was brought down by enemy fire would mark the first time Iran has successfully downed a manned American aircraft in the war, which started in February.
There are photos of the fighter that were released by Iranian state media and could not be independently verified by ABC News.
President Donald Trump has been briefed on the matter, according to White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt.
In late March, an American F-18 fighter jet narrowly dodged an Iranian surface-to-air missile, according to a U.S. official. Earlier that month, an American F-35, the Pentagon’s most advanced stealth fighter jet, had to make an emergency landing after being struck by Iranian fire. Three F-15s were also brought down over Kuwait in a friendly fire episode earlier in the war, though all six pilots ejected safely, according to U.S. officials.
The incident comes after Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and other U.S. officials have said that Iran’s military capabilities have been severely crippled and that the U.S. has “total air dominance” over Iran.
Trump, in a primetime address to the nation earlier this week, said the U.S. was “nearing completion” of its military objectives and that Tehran’s anti-aircraft abilities had been decimated.
“We’ve done all of it. Their navy is gone. Their air force is gone. Their missiles are just about used up or beaten,” Trump said in his speech on Wednesday night.
“They have no anti-aircraft equipment,” Trump added in his remarks. “Their radar is 100% annihilated. We are unstoppable as a military force.”
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has made a number of false claims about US aircraft being downed but the US has pushed back on those.
Iran has maintained at least some ability to continue with attacks targeting U.S. facilities in the Middle East and other countries in the region, wounding more than 300 U.S. service members, according to U.S. officials. The number of wounded has increased at a relatively steady rate each week, data reviewed by ABC News shows. Thirteen service members have been killed in action since the war began five weeks ago, according to U.S. Central Command.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
Ready, set, binge! Here’s a look at some of the new movies and TV shows coming to theaters and streaming services this weekend:
Netflix XO, Kitty: The third season of the romance series from Jenny Han makes its debut.
Apple TV Your Friends & Neighbors: Jon Hamm is back for season 2 of the dark comedy crime drama.
Hulu Pizza Movie: College students go on an unexpected journey one night after taking a hallucinogenic drug.
Movie theaters The Super Mario Galaxy Movie: Mario, Luigi and the gang must rescue Princess Rosalina from the villainous Bowser Jr. in this sequel to the hit animated movie.
The Drama: Zendaya and Robert Pattinson have an anxiety-filled wedding week in the new film.
A Great Awakening: See the unlikely friendship between George Whitefield and Benjamin Franklin in the new drama.
That’s all for this week’s Weekend Watchlist – happy streaming!
