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So, here we are in mid-January, and though we’re staring down the barrel of a tough year ahead, it’s not all wintry doom and gloom on an international box office (and combined global) level.
While we’re not in blockbuster holdover territory, we should celebrate the wins when they come. To wit, there was a new milestone reached this weekend for Sony’s Anyone But You, which, with $100.2M, has become the highest-grossing R-rated romcom worldwide since Bridget Jones’s Baby in 2016.
Let’s also cheer that Paramount’s Mean Girls clicked with UK audiences in its launch and opened at No. 1 there. Also, Searchlight’s lauded Poor Things was tops in France, Freddie Mercury went supersonic in the IMAX edition of Queen Rock Montreal, and Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom is nearing a milestone that might not have seemed possible from the outset.
See below for more on those titles, but let’s start with Miramax’s Jason Statham-starrer The Beekeeper which was the top Hollywood movie of the international box office weekend. In its sophomore session it added another $14.2M from 56 overseas markets. The international cume is now $44.2M with the global hive at $75.3M.
In like-for-likes, and excluding China and Russia, the David Ayer-directed pic is running 24% ahead of Wrath of Man, 29% ahead of Plane and 25% ahead of the first John Wick at the same point.
Seven new markets were added this frame: Portugal, Romania, Colombia, Ecuador, Hong Kong, India and Malaysia.
The China cume after two frames is $9.5M. In the Middle East, Beekeeper kept the No. 1 spot and has now cumed $5.6M, on par with Plane and John Wick 2, and above John Wick and The Equalizer.
Germany and Austria combined are at $5.4M, which is 98% above Wrath of Man, 117% over Plane, 50% ahead of John Wick 2 and on par with Equalizer.
Australia and New Zealand which are in summer mode held to just -27% for $3.1M to date. The UK likewise saw a soft drop at -25% and a running total of $2.7M, which is +54% on John Wick.
Still to come are Scandinavia, Korea and Japan.
As noted up top, Will Gluck’s Anyone But You now has bragging rights to being the top-grossing R-rated romcom worldwide since 2016. The Sydney Sweeney/Glen Powell-starrer, added $10.6M in 41 markets this frame, taking the international cume to $36M and global to $100.2M.
Aided by great socials, the offshore holdover drop this session was just 14%.
In new play, Germany opened No. 1 with $2.4M, followed by Mexico with $1.3M. In holds, the UK was down just 11%. Still to come in the rollout are France, Brail and Italy later this month.
To date, the Top 5 markets are: Australia ($10.8M), UK ($9M), Netherlands ($2.4M), Germany ($2.4M) and Mexico ($1.3M).
After rolling past the $500M mark last weekend, Warner Bros/Village Roadshow/Heyday Films’ Wonka’s sweet tooth bit into a further $10.6M this session in 77 markets. The holdover drop was 35%. Overseas, the cume is $344.6M with global at $531.8M. And, Korea’s release is still to come at the end of the month.
The Top 5 to date are: UK ($73.7M), France ($27.8M), Mexico ($25.3M), Australia ($23.1M) and Germany ($21.9M).
Also from WB (and DC), Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom’s triton summoned a $9.5M overseas weekend from 78 markets, pushing it to $282M offshore and $396.2M global; so now on its way to $400M worldwide.
Here are the Top 5 so far: China ($59.6M), Mexico ($20.8M), France ($18.2M), Germany ($15.2M) and Brazil ($13.9M).
Paramount’s Mean Girls in its second frame added $7.5M from 18 markets to lift the international total to $16.2M and global to $66.3M.
The UK was new this session with a chart-topping $4.1M at 649 locations and boosted by an “Every day we wear Pink” marketing campaign with beauty retailer Boots which generated close to 1 billion impressions. There are also campaigns with UK Lash, Urban Legend and Kaspa’s.
New Zealand was also new, with $290K from 92 sites for a No. 1 start.
The top markets after just two frames are Australia ($4.3M), Mexico ($2.8M), Brazil ($1.2M), France ($600K) and Spain ($590K) – that’s a nice mix before the rest of the rollout which notably includes Germany this week.
Illumination/Universal’s Migration flocked to another $6.6M in the 7th weekend of staggered release (-30%). The international total to date is $97M for $191.6M worldwide.
Lead market Germany ($15M) is performing above Puss in Boots: The Last Wish at the same point and this week flew past the lifetimes of Big Hero 6 and The Little Mermaid.
Rounding out the Top 5 are France ($10.3M), Australia ($8.5M), Mexico ($7.9M) and Spain ($4.6M). Also notable, Poland overtook the lifetimes of Despicable Me 2 and Aladdin this week with a $3M cume to date.
Migration releases February 2 in the UK and March 15 in Japan.
Disney’s Wish in its 9th weekend added $6.1M from 51 overseas markets (-34%). The offshore cume is now $169.8M for $233.2M global. The latter makes it the 4th biggest animated release of 2023.
Top 5 to date: Japan ($22.2M), France ($20M), Germany ($16.4M), UK ($15.5M) and Italy ($10.2M).
Searchlight’s lauded Poor Things is now coming more on the international radar and grossed a super $5.1M from 19 markets this frame. That lifts the offshore cume to $13.3M and worldwide to $33.7M.
The Venice Golden Lion winner topped the chart in France with $1.1M including previews; that’s 13% ahead of director Yorgos Lanthimos’ The Favourite and with an Allocine score of 4.2. Overall, Poor Things captured the best opening for a Lanthimos film in all new European markets.
Tops so far are the UK ($4.7M), Greece ($2.3M), Australia ($1.7M), France ($1.1M) and Germany ($800K). Still to come markets include Italy, Spain, Japan, Mexico, Brazil and Korea.
In IMAX news, Queen Rock Montreal grossed an estimated $4.1M globally to rep the biggest IMAX exclusive event opening ever – overtaking Stop Making Sense and Beatles Get Back: The Rooftop Concert. The offshore portion was $2.1M.
Noted IMAX CEO Rich Gelfond, “Experiencing Queen Rock Montreal in IMAX is like stepping into a time machine — it’s an opportunity to see the band perform their most iconic hits in a visceral, immediate way I thought was no longer possible. The way this film was shot and now restored and presented in IMAX is truly awe-inspiring, and second only to being there in the house back in ’81.”
Locally, China’s Johnny Keep Walking! added $14.9M from the home market for a $133.7M cume to date.
MISC UPDATED CUMES/NOTABLE
The Holdovers (UNI): $2.7M intl weekend (18 markets); $7.5M intl cume/$26.3M global
Night Swim (UNI): $1.65M intl weekend (46 markets); $13.1M intl cume/$36.9M global
Napoleon (SNY): $1M intl weekend (54 markets); $157M intl cume/$218.3M global