UPDATE, MONDAY 1:30 AM PT: The international weekend was down about 15% from last frame with Fifty Shades falling 43% but maintaining its No. 1 dominance around the globe. Newcomer Focus had a soft launch in 31 markets, although only two of them major: Russia and the UK. The Will Smith con man comedy opened No. 1 in Russia but had steep competition in the UK with audiences overwhelmingly checking into Fox Searchlight’s The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. The sequel, released three years to the weekend from the first film, made a total of $9.4M in three markets, $5.85M of that in Britain — a 170% improvement on the original. The well-reviewed comedy/drama benefited from a big campaign with the stars making the rounds of local chat shows; there was also very little in its way. Next week, it expands to Italy and the U.S. with more rollouts throughout the month.
In new arrivals during the coming frame, Neil Blomkamp’s Chappie starts a day-and-date rollout with bows in most major markets save Korea, Brazil, Japan, Spain and Down Under. District 9‘s Sharlto Copley reteams with Blomkamp and Marigold Hotel‘s Dev Patel also stars in the sci-fi thriller from Sony. Vince Vaughn comedy Unfinished Business packs its bags with the UK, Russia and Mexico among the first plays for Fox while Kenneth Branagh’s Cinderella will soft shoe it into a handful of markets including Russia. The live-action take on the classic fairy tale wowed when it premiered in Berlin with Cate Blanchett, Lily James, Helena Bonham Carter and the rest of the main cast in attendance for the red carpet.
In expansions, Kingsman: The Secret Service, which is burning up the box office in Korea, will point its umbrella in the direction of Brazil before heading to Germany on March 12 and China on March 27. The dapper action/adventure pic currently has about $125M in overseas receipts and looks like it will pick up another $100M during its release.
See the original post for this week’s international estimates and below that for some local market snapshots. Actuals to come.
PREVIOUS, SUNDAY 12:30 PM PT: HIGHLIGHTS: Fifty Shades Of Grey (UNI) leads international with $36M; Focus (WB) pulls $12.2M in soft rollout; The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (FOX) widely outperforms original in debuts; Kingsman: The Secret Service (FOX) jumps to No. 1 in Korea; Big Hero 6 (DIS) China release sets animated record for studio; American Sniper (WB) continues to make Eastwood’s day; The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out Of Water (PAR) swims close to $100M; Birdman (FOX) gets Oscar boost…
OPENERS
Will Smith romance/con-artist noir Focus opened courtesy of Warner Bros in 31 international markets — about 30% of the overseas footprint — with $12.2M from approximately 2.05M admissions on 3,545 screens. That ranked it 6th across studio titles in international release with several key markets still to come. Smith and Margot Robbie notably took the newcomer to the UK and Russia. The latter opened to No. 1 at an estimated $3.1M from 1,265 screens. In the UK, the Glenn Ficarra/John Requa-helmed pic had a $3M opening from 574 screens. Smith has been absent from the international box office scene since 2013’s unfortunate After Earth, but even that made about triple its domestic $60M take overseas. Focus‘ closest comp internationally among Smith’s oeuvre looks to be Hitch, which hooked up a nearly $190M cume in 2005. As my colleague Anthony D’Alessandro notes, Focus has about a $50M budget after rebates, cheap by studio and Smith standards. With a $20.2M North American estimate, the global box office after weekend 1 is $32.4M. The next big markets to bow for the adult comedy that has male/female appeal are Germany, Italy, Australia and Mexico this week, followed by Brazil, France and Spain.
The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel checked into its first three markets, besting the original film in each and taking a total $9.4M. The UK (where my in-laws couldn’t get into sold-out screenings in their east of England village all weekend) had an outstanding No. 1 with $5.85M from 871 locations. That outperformed the original Fox Searchlight sleeper by 170%. The first film opened exactly three years ago this frame and ultimately took $32.3M in the UK. Australia opened to $3.05M from 279 sites which was 15% above the original. And, New Zealand scored a No. 1 bow of $496K from 162 screens, also surpassing the original by 20%. The first film made $90M overseas and about $46.5M in North America where this one opens on March 6. Richard Gere and Tamsin Grieg join the who’s who cast of British stalwarts including Judi Dench, Maggie Smith and Bill Nighy.
HOLDOVERS
Fifty Shades Of Grey topped the international box office for the 3rd week in a row, posting an estimated $36M in 59 territorires. With $338.4M overseas, it passed the lifetime of Universal’s Ted, and is now the studio’s top-grossing R-rated film ever at the offshore box office. The worldwide total is $486.2M and $500M will come later this week. The only new date for Ana and Christian was Korea where they placed No. 4 with $1.8M on 512 screens; a healthy result in a market that was not expected to offer orgasmic returns.
In notable holdovers, Fifty Shades tied up the No. 1 slot for the 3rd frame in a row in Germany ($33.7M cume) and Spain ($19.2M). The top foreign market is the UK at $46.9M. Its highest cumes elsewhere include: France ($24.5M); Brazil ($24.2M); Italy ($21.2M); Russia ($17M); Australia ($16.1M); Mexico ($14.6M); Venezuela ($9.8M); Poland ($8.6M) and Argentina ($7.6M). Still to come are Egypt on March 11 and India at a date yet to be set.
Kingsman: The Secret Service is having a princely run in Korea where it jumped to the No. 1 slot in its 3rd frame with an additional $5.27M to take the local cume to $25.4M. That is especially impressive as it means the Fox movie leap-frogged last week’s local No. 1 title Detective K: Secret Of The Lost Island after it had already spied an 86% increase last frame from its debut. It is now the studio’s 4th biggest grosser in the key market. The total weekend haul for the Colin Firth-starrer was $25.8M. Mexico, Spain and Italy were new opens with $1.75M, $1.36M and $1.2M, respectively. Taiwan and Malaysia held at No. 1. Cumes there are $6.8M and $4M. The top markets are Korea followed by the UK ($22.25M) and Australia ($11M).
In its final international debut, Disney’s Big Hero 6 lived up to its name, posting the biggest opening weekend ever for a Disney or Pixar animated release in China. The $14.8M haul in the Middle Kingdom was 68.5% of the full $21.6M frame for Hiro and Baymax in 25 overseas markets. The bow bested Frozen‘s start last year which was $14M over five days in a crowded 2014 Lunar New Year field. In summer 2013, Monsters University posted a three-day $12.7M bow. Big Hero 6 opened Saturday, slotting in after this year’s New Year week (which itself set a record for box office from February 19-24 period of 1.73B yuan – $276.4M). Frozen ultimately made about $48M in the Middle Kingdom and while it’s early to make a call, the fact that BH6 matched that film’s opening in two days means it could overtake.
Elsewhere, Big Hero 6 this frame held on to the No. 1 slot amongst animated films in Japan for the 9th consecutive frame; and is still the No. 2 Western release. The international cume is now $351.3M and the global total is $572.18M.
American Sniper continues to target fantastic results overseas with an estimated weekend gross of $19.5M from 4,545 screens in 59 markets. The cume to date on Clint Eastwood’s drama is $139.1M. It is now the director’s biggest-grossing film internationally. Germany gave him his best opening of all time with $3.4M on 333 screens. The No. 2 ranking fell in behind Fifty Shades Of Grey, although the screen average was tops. After previews, the cume there is $3.7M. Austria ($510K) and Belgium ($517K) opened to similar records as the top bows ever for a Clint Eastwood film.
In holdovers, Sniper was still the No. 1 film in France with $4.5M on 461 screens and dropping just 27% from its record breaking opening last week. The running cume is now $12.4M there. In Japan, where Eastwood holds a particular popularity among American filmmakers, the 19% drop brought an estimated gross of $2.3M for the holiday weekend on 338 screens. No. 1 by a wide margin, the cume to date is $8.4M. Spain ($6.2M cume); Mexico ($5.3M cume — bigger than lifetime cumes of all other Eastwood films); and Brazil ($3.5M cume) are also key plays. Russia releases later this week.
The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out Of Water splish-splashed to another strong $14.2M for Paramount in 46 territories at 6,947 locations. The international cume is swimming close to $100M with $96.3M to date. Italy opened at No. 1 with $2.3M at 360 locations, 67% ahead of the Big Hero 6 bow. Germany is the top holdover with $2.2M from 559 locations in its 2nd session, down 52%, for a $7.7M cume. France followed that with $2.1M from 634 sites for a $6M total to date, and Brazil grossed $1.1M at 480 cinemas for a $14.8M cume after four weekends. The UK is yet to bow on March 27, followed by Australia on April 2.
Fresh off of an Oscar win for Best Picture, Birdman flew into France and Turkey this frame to earn $5.8M. The cume overseas is now $46.3M. France opened with $1.6M from 159 screens as a lot of buzz was generated from the awards — this is the kind of art-house festival pic that plays well with local auds. Italy, Brazil, Germany and Spain also saw their wings lifted by the Oscar wins.
Jupiter Ascending added an estimated $3.5M for the Wachowskis’ Warner release this weekend, taking the cume to $81.1M. China releases March 6 and Japan goes March 28.
Winner of the Best Actor Oscar for Eddie Redmayne last week, The Theory Of Everything calculated a further $3.2M in 46 territories this frame for a total of $75.1M. The worldwide total is $110.2M. Capitalizing on the Academy Awards momentum, Russia opened the Universal title with $235K at 110 dates for the biggest bow in five years for a film on less than 150 screens. The Czech Republic, Denmark, Peru, the Philippines, Slovakia, South Africa and Turkey also got a boost from the Oscar publicity. The UK total is now $31.3M in the film’s best play. Japan, Serbia/Montenegro and Vietnam open throughout March.
Warner Bros’ local German comedy Traumfrauen held well in its 2nd frame with $2.8M from 597 screens, dropping just 21% to rank No. 3 behind Fifty Shades and Sniper. The cume to date is now $7.7M.
The Penguins Of Madagascar continued cajoling Venezuelans with another $1M for a local cume of $7.7M. The total weekend take on the Fox/DreamWorks Animation pic was $2.5M elevating the overseas cume to $281.6M.
Night At The Museum: Secret Of The Tomb exhibited a weekend take of $2.2M lifting the Fox cume to $232.6M. Holland notably had zero drop and France is at $9.4M after four frames. The film’s final opening will be in Japan on March 20.
Annie grossed an estimated $1.9M on 1,720 screens in 35 territories this weekend, bringing the overseas cume to $46.6M — $41M for Sony Pitures Releasing International and $5.6M for Village Roadshow. France launched with $500K from 184 screens. Japan held well with a 16% drop to $300K for a cume of $10.8M. Peru slipped 36% in its 2nd frame and held onto the No. 2 slot with an added $235K for a $785K cume. Spain was down 33% with a $3.2M cume and Argentina fell 20% to take the total to $575K. Russia releases on March 19.
Sony’s The Wedding Ringer rang up an estimated $1.7M on 805 screens from 30 territories. The overseas cume is a tidy $11M. Venezuela led new openings with $315K on 30 screens. The UK added $590K in its 2nd frame, taking the cume to $2.7M. Germany bows on March 12.
Paramount’s time travel pic Project Almanac delivered $1.7M from 865 locations in nine markets including new openings in Australia and France. The international cume is now $7.4M. Oz was worth $549K from 205 locations and France made $759K at 195 locations. Next weekend Germany and Mexico are set for release.
With all but one market yet to release, Fox’s Taken 3 took in $1.5M to bring the cume over the $200M goal line. The total ahead of Venezuela’s bow is $201M.
Jennifer Lopez thriller The Boy Next Door added $1M in 11 territories for an early international total of $4.2M. The UK open on the Jason Blum-produced pic was $682K at 336 dates. In a measured Universal rollout, the film still has 29 markets to bow including Croatia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Portugal next frame.
Speaking of boys, Legendary’s Seventh Son also took in a further $1M. With 15 territories in international release the total is now $60.9M, excluding China. With the Middle Kingdom, the fantasy film has an $86.4M cume. There are eight markets for Universal still to open.
The ninjas on the half shell served up a further $562K in Japan at 332 sites. The cume after four weekends in the final territory takes Paramount’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles to an $8.6M cume there and brings the international total to $293.8M.
MARKET SNAPSHOTS
ASIA
After a record breaking week at the Lunar New Year box office, Middle Kingdom films were back in the charts, although some slowed considerably. Spring Festival champ Dragon Blade picked up $12.5M per Rentrak, for a $92M cume. That came in lower than this week’s Hollywood debut in the market: Oscar-winner Big Hero 6. The Disney heartwarmer is now the studio’s biggest animated opener ever in the Middle Kingdom; besting last year’s Frozen with $14.8M. Hiro and Baymax traveled to China in the same frame as Frozen in 2014, with both taking advantage of the waning days of a New Year celebration that was packed with local pics. China ended up giving Frozen about $48M in box office and this strong start for Big Hero 6 means it could best that. Frozen notoriously had Japan as its biggest offshore market with about $250M last year. Big Hero 6, which has several Japanese elements, also counts Japan as its top play at $73.9M, almost three times the UK’s $27.1M, its next biggest market.
Also in Asia, Chow Yun-fat’s The Man From Macau II added $22M to take its cume to $108M in five markets and Jean-Jacques Annaud’s Wolf Totem picked up a further $17M in two territories for a $72M total.
RUSSIA
In a mirror to last year, a local pic in Russia is showing legs at the box office. In February 2014 it was Universal’s fantasy adventure VIY 3D; which ultimately topped out at about $34M and came in 4th for the year. This go-round, Sony has Batalon, a historical drama about the 1st Russian Women’s Battalion of Death, an all-female combat unit that was formed in 1917 to inspire soldiers to continue fighting in WWI after the February Revolution. Dmitriy Meskhiev directs. The film was No. 2 in its 2nd frame this weekend, behind the start of Focus. It added $1.4M for a cume of $5.4M to date. Fedor Bondarchuk, the helmer of Russia’s all-time biggest local hit, Stalingrad, is producer.
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