2ND UPDATE, 3:45 PM PT: The top two pictures internationally this session are the same as last week, only they switched places. With an expansion to 30 more markets, Minions rose to No. 1 in its 4th frame with $124.3M and a global cume approaching $400M. Last week’s champ, Terminator: Genisys, moved to 2nd place with $47.3M and in a handful of new territories. Looking at the Top 10 Hollywood movies playing internationally, this week’s frame was up almost 10% over last. When we include local language pics in the Top 10 offshore, this session was 26% higher than the previous frame — there were big plays in China with the Nos. 3 and 4 films on the international chart hailing from the Middle Kingdom. India’s Baahubali: The Beginning was also a smash this frame with an opening north of $20M, although full figures are not yet available.
When comparing it to last year, this frame across the Top 10 Hollywood movies is also up — about 18%. At the international box office in the similar 2014 period, Transformers: Age Of Extinction was still packing picturehouses with a $100M weekend, followed by How To Train Your Dragon 2 at $35M and the rise of Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes at just over $31M in its debut.
Next week, Paul Rudd will aim to charm worldwide audiences as Ant-Man. The latest from Marvel is going out day-and-date beginning July 14 in France and rolling out to Brazil, Mexico, Russia and about 50 total markets over the weekend as it also bows Stateside. The full film screened to very positive reaction at CineEurope in Barcelona last month. Also next frame, Sony’s Pixels will descend on Korea. It’s getting a jump on a major day-and-date rollout that starts July 22. Extended footage from the high-concept Adam Sandler-saves-the-world-from-alien-influenced-1980s-arcade-games pic was also shown in Barcelona to much delight.
See below the original post for more on that film (including trailer) and other local titles. Actuals tomorrow.
PREVIOUS, 11:15 AM PT, WRITETHRU: This weekend at the international box office was largely a holdover/expansion session, but that didn’t take away from the action as Universal and Illumination’s Minions added 30 markets and claimed the No. 1 spot in its 4th frame of release. The weekend was worth $124.3M offshore where the Despicable Me 2 spinoff now has an estimated cume of $280.5M. The global total thus far is $395.7M. Records continue to be set by the little yellow fellows with the top animated opening ever in 25 overseas territories. The only places it has not opened No. 1 out of 56 markets thus far, are Australia (where U’s Jurassic World was the No. 1 film that particular week) and India where its debut this frame faced off with epic local actioner Baahubali: The Beginning, itself a record smasher. As for last week’s winner, Terminator: Genisys has come in No. 2 internationally with $47.3M in 60 territories. The offshore cume for Arnold Schwarzenegger’s return to the Paramount franchise is $156.1M. Notable openings were in Japan, Germany, Spain, Italy and Argentina (details below).
Elsewhere, Disney/Pixar’s Inside Out headed to Korea, Ted 2 hit the UK and Magic Mike XXL lap-danced to Oz, Brazil and France among others. In China, where the unofficial blackout period continues, coming of age tale Forever Young and franchise fourquel Tiny Times 4 released, landing the No. 3 and 4 slots on the international chart. (More on those and other local films including Baahubali to come.) Here’s a look thus far at how the studios fared overseas in the frame:
Minions
Among highlights for henchmen Stuart, Kevin and Bob is Mexico and its $19.7M opening this weekend — the 2nd biggest ever for all films. With 79% of the market, it’s running 30% higher than DM2. This was the 2nd biggest market for that film.
The prequel also bowed in Russia with 73% market share and $14.3M in the bank. Universal now boasts the Top 2 openers ever in Russia with Furious 7 and Minions. Notably, Minions is the biggest opening of all time in terms of admissions (the ruble being extremely soft against the dollar these days). Minions also opened twice as big as DM2.
France, where DM2 was huge and this film has extra wanna see thanks to co-helmer Pierre Coffin, local animation company Illumination Mac Guff and, in the provinces, the famous local voice cast, has overwhelmingly embraced Minions. The No. 1 opening at $12.1M is not only the year’s biggest start, it’s also the best since 2012. It’s Universal’s biggest opening day and weekend of all time here. Admissions are 70% higher than Despicable Me 2’s opening.
Also of note, Venezuela opened No. 1 with $5.6M and set the record as the biggest opening weekend ever for all films. There are 11 more territories to release over the next two months.
Terminator: Genisys
With an additional 14 markets, Terminator: Genisys booted up $47.3M for an overseas cume of $156.1M. Now playing in 60 offshore markets, the drop from last frame was 35%. Notable new plays included Japan, Germany, Spain, Italy and Argentina where it’s being comped to such pics as Pacific Rim, Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol and Lucy. For the new group of markets, T:G was 27% above PR, 32% below MIGP and 10% under Lucy. It was the biggest opening for the franchise in three of the overall new markets and the best for Arnold in four. Among those, Argentina grossed $2.3M at 157 cinemas — 393% above MIGP and also gave Paramount its top opening ever.
Japan, which was the biggest market for the last two Terminator films, opened to $5.4M at 339 locations. Paramount isn’t using the previous movies in the franchise as comps since projections on T:G’s ultimate outcome are above those. Thus, the Japan bow is double the opening of World War Z, 121% above Pacific Rim and 9% below MIGP.
Germany was a No. 2 bow behind Minions, delivering $3.1M from 554 sites, 10% below MIGP and 6% below X-Men: Days Of Future Past. Spain opened to $1.4M at 373 locations. Also No. 2 there, it’s 27% above Pacific Rim and 39% below MIGP — and is also the biggest opening for the former governor. Italy was a No. 1 bow with $1.2M at 530 cinemas, 8% above Pacific Rim and 53% below MIGP. The Netherlands provided $605K at 90 sites for a 3rd place start that’s 28% above Pacific Rim and 19% below MIGP.
Holdovers pulled a lot of the weekend weight with Korea taking $5.1M at 775 cinemas, dropping 54% from last. The cume there is $19M. Russia grossed $3.8M in the 2nd session at 1,121 locations. The local cume is $19.1M. Elsewhere, new grosses and cumes are as follows: UK ($2.7M/$11.5M), Brazil ($2.7M/$8.1M), Australia ($2.2M/$8M), France ($1.9M/$6.9M) and Mexico ($1.6M/$9.7M).
Jurassic World
Jurassic World’s international weekend estimate is $21.7M bringing the offshore dino dollar total to $875.2M. Playing in 65 territories, it has now passed Frozen‘s overseas lifetime of $873.6M to become the 7th highest-grossing film ever internationally. Insidious Rex and the raptors still have to stomp into Japan, the next and last release, which rolls around August 5.
Inside Out
Off of a $5.1M bow in Korea, Inside Out added $19.1M this frame which had it playing in 44 territories repping 48% of its international footprint. The offshore cume after its 4th frame is $151.8M for a global total of $435.44M. In Korea, Pete Docter’s charmer is the biggest Pixar opening of all time in the territory – besting Toy Story 3 by 17% and equaling almost the entire lifetime of Monsters University.
Holds throughout the run have been strong and this weekend was no different, demonstrating the emotional connection folks are finding with the film. Australia put Inside Out into the top spot in its 4th frame (after an increase in Oz box office last session, IO dropped just 6% this time around) while New Zealand jumped 39% this weekend; Argentina rose 12% and Brazil dropped just 5%.
In Mexico, IO’s top offshore play at $27.7M, it is the highest grossing Disney/Pixar original IP animated release of all-time, ahead of Frozen. In Russia, IO has spread so much joy that it’s the first Pixar movie to exceed 1B rubles and is the No. 2 Disney/Pixar animated release of all-time, behind only Frozen. In India, a market known for its local tastes, Inside Out is now the biggest Disney/Pixar animated release of all time and in Ukraine is the highest grossing Pixar release ever.
Much as with Minions, the rollout will continue over the next months. Next weekend sees openings in Spain and Japan as well as the Netherlands. The UK, Italy and Germany are still to come – as is China which is not yet dated.
Ted 2
Seth MacFarlane’s Ted 2 grossed another $12.4M for Universal in 35 territories. The overseas cume is now $53.2M. Among the new markets, the UK bowed at No. 2 with $6M; Peru opened at No. 1 with $438K — the biggest opening day ever for an R-rated comedy; and Poland debuted at No. 2 with $573K, 16% ahead of Ted. In holds, Germany was No. 4 with $1.3M and up 4% over last week. The cume there is $7.5M. Australia’s 3rd week was down 46% to $954K for an 18-day total of $8M. Mark Wahlberg and the bear have 27 more territories to open with Denmark, Finland, Greece, Hungary, Norway, Sweden and Vietnam on deck for next weekend.
Magic Mike XXL
Warner Bros’ Magic Mike XXL shimmied down to Australia this weekend with $4M in dollar bills on 401 screens. That includes previews and Warner says the film is primed to take the No. 1 slot where it’s in contention with Inside Out and Minions for the honor. Overall, MMXXL added $10.3M this session in 30 markets and on about 3,800 screens. The offshore cume is $20.5M. Elsewhere, France opened to $563K on 295 screens. In holds, the UK added $1.6M from 551 screens for a $6.3M total to date. Holland increased 28% to add $351K on 117 screens. The cume is $1.5M. Germany and Brazil release later this month.
Insidious: Chapter 3
Sony’s Insidious: Chapter 3 numbers show $3.9M creeping into the now $47M cume. Playing on 1,890 screens in 50 territories this weekend, I:C3 notably opened in Korea to $1.5M. In France, it grossed $945K on 245 screens. Both debuts landed at No. 6. In holdovers, Germany was just 1% off from last week, adding $550K for a $1.5M cume, and Mexico now has a total of $4.5M. Australia and Brazil open later in the month.
Avengers: Age Of Ultron
As it winds down its overseas run, Avengers: Age Of Ultron picked up a further $2.9M in the frame, bringing the international cume to $933.3M for a global total of $1,388.5M. Its last market is Japan where after the 2nd session it now has a cume of $13.5M. Japan tends to do better with the ensemble Avengers pics — the 2012 first movie ultimately hammered out over $45M — as opposed to the standalones. AOU’s gross after nine days has already bested the entire runs of Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Thor: The Dark World and Guardians Of The Galaxy.
Paper Towns
Fox’s Paper Towns has begun its international rollout with Brazil the first market to release. At No. 3 in box office after Minions and Terminator: Genisys, it earned $2.4M from 630 screens. The latest adaptation of a John Green book was the No. 2 film in terms of admissions in Brazil where last year’s The Fault In Our Stars had a stellar run. Paper Towns opens wide the week of July 20.
Spy
Spy uncovered another $1.68M in the frame to bring the international total to $116.4M. The Melissa McCarthy-starrer from Fox is winding down its run with Italy the final market to release next week.
The Gallows
Beginning its international hang, The Gallows opened in 13 smaller territories for Warner Bros, grossing $1.2M on 473 screens. The UK and Mexico are on deck for next weekend.
Poltergeist
Poltergeist scared up another $1M at the weekend with a new opening in Hong Kong of $275K on 65 screens. The offshore total is now $47.2M with three markets still to come — Korea is last in October.
Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection F
Fox International Productions’ Japanese title Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection F added $658K to take the cume past $50M at $50.4M. Uruguay was this week’s opener on six screens for $5,475.
LOCAL-LANGUAGE
CHINA
Despite pretty harsh reviews, Chinese coming-of-age title Forever Young won the weekend at the Middle Kingdom box office. It’s the directorial debut of TV personality He Jiong and fashioned somewhat out of a song he recorded several years ago, Gardenia In Blossom. The pic has grossed $38.5M since releasing July 10. These kinds of stories are popular in China so the performance is hardly a surprise, although it slightly edged out Tiny Times 4, the latest in that coming-of-age franchise which grossed $36M in the debut frame and has a cume of $54M throughout the week. Also new to the chart was Monkey King: Hero Is Back, an animated 3D take on the age-old tale. With $10M at the weekend, its total is now $11.5M. And, last week’s new entry to the unofficial Chinese blackout period, The Monk Comes Down The Mountain, added $6M for a cume to date of $58M.
INDIA
SS Rajamouli’s Baahubali released in about 4,200 theaters worldwide and crossed the coveted 100 crore mark in just two days, according to local reports, taking in 135 crore ($21.3M) on Friday and Saturday. The North American debut was $3M in 170 theaters, but exact figures are not yet available in India alone — this is a particularly wide release for a southern title, with several different versions. However, to put that 135 crore figure into perspective, Jurassic World opened in India on June 12 and passed 100 crore on July 10. With an estimated opening day of 50+ crore, Baahubali broke the previous record set by Shah Rukh Khan’s Happy New Year which released at Diwali in 2014. Baahubali stars Prabhas, a fixture of Tollywood (as the Telugu industry is known) and Anushka Shetty who also toils in the Tamil business, or Kollywood. The film is a period war saga that has been shot in two parts at a reported budget of $40M with versions in Tamil, Telugu, Hindi and Malayalam. Some are already calling the first installment of the film an instant classic; the second part is expected in 2016. Once we can get more exact figures on this, we’ll take a closer look — especially in light of the upcoming release this week of Salman Khan’s Bajrangi Bhaijaan.