3RD UPDATE, MONDAY 5:49 PM PT: Actuals are now in for most studios with little-to-no change amongst the top earners. Mockingjay held its projected flight pattern with $67M overseas for a $254.6M international cume and $480.3M worldwide. In the meantime, Interstellar is blazing away in China and Korea, and the Penguins Of Madagascar skated slightly higher than projected at $36.5M in 47 markets. In the UK, Studiocanal has confirmed that Paddington upped its projections to $8.03M, the best opening ever for the Euro outfit. We’ll be back with more actuals as they arrive, including Dumb And Dumber To’s non-Universal markets.
Figures throughout the below have been updated and added for the above films as well as Horrible Bosses 2, Big Hero 6, Trash, Dracula Untold, The Maze Runner, The Book Of Life, Gone Girl, The Boxtrolls, Let’s Be Cops, Ouija, Boyhood, Labyrinth Of Lies and Billy Elliot The Musical Live.
UPDATE, 5:30 PM PT: Despite Mockingjay and Interstellar muscle, the current frame was down more than 30% on last week, but very close to last year’s comparable weekend for the Top 10 studio titles. Indies and local films that factored big this session included Women Who Flirt ($11.5M) and Rise Of The Legend ($5.5M, cume $18M) in China; along with Paddington‘s $8.5M bear hug to the UK, Mexico and Peru.
Last year this time, Catching Fire was the big game globally, while Gravity, much like Warner Bros’ Interstellar this year, was still exerting force in China in the similar period. Also last year, Frozen was just getting its skates on for what would go on to be a record breaking run.
Next week, Korea will be the among the first overseas territories where Ridley Scott’s Exodus: Gods And Kings heads into action along with Mexico, Australia, Argentina, Spain and a handful of others at the weekend. It’s notable that Korea and Mexico were the first markets where Noah anchored in March this year with ultimate cumes of $14M and $15.7M, respectively. Christian Bale’s Moses delivers the Ten Commandments for Fox from December 12 domestically. In expansions next week, the Penguins Of Madagascar head ashore in the UK, while France, Germany, Japan and Brazil welcome Paddington.
See below the earlier posts for key market breakdowns and other local films to come.
PREVIOUS, 12:12 PM PT:HIGHLIGHTS: In its 2nd outing, Lionsgate’s The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 winged its way to $67M over the frame for a $254.6M to-date cume in 87 overseas markets. The other major holdover, Interstellar, blasted past the $100M mark in China this weekend, holding No. 1 for the 3rd frame in a row and becoming the industry’s highest-grossing 2D MPA title of all time. DreamWorks Animation’s Penguins Of Madagascar flapped up $36.5M on 7,930 screens in 47 markets. The international cume on the Fox release is now $61.5M with $30.5M of that from China after 17 days there. As they rolled out elsewhere, the flightless birds landed No. 1s in a series of territories including Russia where they beat Frozen‘s bow last year with $9M. And, sequel Horrible Bosses 2 schemed up $11.25M in 42 markets for Warner Bros. On the indie side, Harry Potter producer David Heyman’s glowingly-reviewed family film Paddington debuted in the UK and could find itself in a close finish with Mockingjay when actuals roll in tomorow. Full breakdowns on those and other major films are below, and I will have more later on local titles. (Paramount will not be weighing in this weekend.)
Mockingjay now has a total worldwide cume of $480.3M after 10 days of release. Away from the turnstiles, it hit another note this weekend with the soundtrack rising to No. 1 on iTunes. Individual track, The Hanging Tree, the lullaby sung by Jennifer Lawrence, was No. 1 in 36 countries and the No. 2 overall song on iTunes.
Other notables included a continued strong run in the UK with $7.7M and a local cume of $33.3M. Great Britain is Mockingjay’s top ex-U.S. play much as it was for Catching Fire which blazed to about $55.5M last year. Mockingjay continued its run in a frame that included the arrival of Paddington (which ultimately scored No. 1 this weekend) and Horrible Bosses 2.
Continuing the trend of repeated top markets, Germany is No. 2 for Mockingjay and is running 9% higher than Catching Fire did last year at this point. Katniss plucked up a further $7.2M for a $23.6M cume this frame.
In Italy, where Universal is releasing Mockingjay, the film is also running 9% above Catching Fire with a weekend of $2.3M at 407 locations and a cume of $8.93M. Australia’s Mockingjay hold was a -45% weekend with $5.1M for an $18.2M cume while Mexico and Brazil have bolstered the bird’s fortunes, both already zooming in on more than 65% of Catching Fire’s final gross. In Mexico, the Francis Lawrence-directed Mockingjay added $4.3M this frame for an $18.4M cume, and in Brazil, it took $3.8M for a $14.5M cume.
Other market highlights include: Scandinavia ($3.4M WE/$14.4M cume); France ($5.3M WE/$17.5M cume); Russia ($2.5M WE/$14.6M cume); Spain ($2.8M WE/ $10M cume); and Korea $1.1M WE/ $5.3M cume).
With an estimated 6.2M admissions on 14,706 screens, Interstellar continues to burn bright. The international cume is now $395.3M; IMAX results total $49M. An added $17.7M this weekend on 7,004 screens lifted the Middle Kingdom cume to $105.6M. In total this frame, Warner Bros’ Christopher Nolan space odyssey added $44M. But while Interstellar set a new benchmark in China, it is still playing to out-of-this-world returns in Korea. Ranking No. 1 for four straight weeks, it added $7.5M on 951 screens this frame for a cume of $61.1M. The other major markets for the film include the UK with $1.8M this frame for a cume of $28.6M, and Russia which added $1.25M for a cume of $23.9M. Elsewhere, France grossed $1.8M for a $19.3M cume; Germany boosted its take by $1.4M for a $15.4M total to date; Australia added $1.4M for a $13.5M cume; Japan brought in $1.1M with $4.7M to date; Italy was worth $1M for $11.9M total; and Spain took $869K lifting the cume to $8.9M.
Russia leads all Penguins Of Madagascar markets with $9M from 2,608 screens, followed by this frame’s China haul of $5.48M from 3,770. In Italy, the aquatic rascals opened No. 1, ahead of Mockingjay, with $4.63M from 645 screens. Germany was good for No. 2 with $3.74M from 1,058. This is the 2nd biggest weekend bow for an animated film in 2014, behind Fox and DreamWorks Animation’s How To Train Your Dragon 2. In Spain, Kowalski & Crew earned $1.53M from 767 dates, followed by Malaysia with $1.26M at 290 and a No. 1 slot in what is the 2nd biggest-ever opening there for an animated Fox title. Singapore also bowed at No. 1 with $1.02M from 65. The 47 markets released this weekend represent about 40% of the Fox-distributed international footprint. In other words, there are still a lot of offshore hijinks to come. Next weekend, the Penguins land in Belgium, Holland and the UK.
Raunchy comedy sequel Horrible Bosses 2 opened to $11.25M in 42 markets over the weekend — four of which were major territories. Total admissions were approximately 1.87M from over 4,900 screens. Russia opened lower than projected but still well for a comedy with $1.8M on 1,050 screens and ranking No. 3. The UK grossed $2M on 628 screens for 4th place. Germany took $1.1M from 425 screens, also a No. 4 rank, and Mexico kidnapped $1.1M on 935 screens for No. 3. Upcoming releases include Brazil next week followed by Australia, France, Spain and Italy.
Studiocanal’s David Heyman-produced Paddington rolled into the UK this weekend with an estimated $7.84M (£5M). That would put the Paul King-directed family pic about the polite bear from Peru at No. 2 in a market that included the 2nd frame of Mockingjay, although the bear could still take down the bird on Monday. This is a record start for Studiocanal and comes ahead of 2011’s Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy which the company also fully financed and which bowed to £2.8M ($4.38M). It is also 5% above the first three days of Frozen, 43% above the first Despicable Me, 84% above the first How To Train Your Dragon and 137% above Arthur Christmas, says Studiocanal as it looks to launch a franchise.
Studiocanal is also handling The Imitation Game in the UK where the Benedict Cumberbatch-starrer will cross £9.5M ($14.9M) in its 3rd frame. Word of mouth has been extremely positive on the pic. Domestically, the Weinstein Co release received an A+ CinemaScore and grossed $482K on four screens this weekend. It had the 2nd highest per-screen average of the year over its 1st five-day frame.
Despite last week’s hacking horror, Sony got its box office emails out this weekend with Fury adding an estimated $7.9M in 48 markets. The overseas cume is now $89.8M. Sony Pictures Releasing International markets grossed an estimated $3M, bringing Sony’s total to $56.9M. QED International markets collected an estimated $4.9M for a $32.9M take. Korea slipped 25% from opening weekend, grossing $2.1M for a cume of $7.1M. Upcoming markets on the Brad Pitt WWII pic include Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Mexico, Spain and Brazil. It will remain to be seen how impactful the film’s recent online leak is on the movie in those places, although Sony is taking the matter seriously, saying, “The theft of Sony Pictures Entertainment content is a criminal matter, and we are working closely with law enforcement to address it.”
Walt Disney Animation’s Big Hero 6 is now playing in 25 territories, 20% of its international footprint, and inflated the offshore cume to $57.2M this frame off of an added $5.1M. With a global take of $224.1M thus far, the gentle giant is moving into its 7th frame with an opening in Thailand on deck this week followed by key openings throughout December in Italy, Spain, Japan and Brazil. January brings the Don Hall and Chris Williams-directed huggable high-tech heroes to Korea, Germany and the UK.
This film, with its Japanese elements, is playing particularly well in Asia. It has surpassed Frozen to become the largest Disney/Pixar release of all time in Malaysia ($4.4M), the Philippines ($4.2M), Indonesia and Vietnam. In Russia ($20.2M), its biggest ex-U.S. market, it is the No. 2 release ever for Disney/Pixar, with Frozen still tops.
The international tally for Fox-released The Book Of Life now reads at $40.7M. With a strong opening for the Latin-flavored animation in Venezuela of $702K on 70 screens, the film grossed a total $1.22M from 1,096 screens in 18 markets. Next up is Germany on February 12, 2015.
Dumb And Dumber To, which Universal is distributing in seven territories, grossed $1.1M at 832 dates in Germany, Austria, German-speaking Switzerland and Spain for a total of $7.55M. There were no new Universal openings this weekend with Germany holding over at No. 7 and $460K at 418 dates. The total there is $3.4M. Universal still has the UK, Australia and New Zealand to come later this month and in early January. Red Granite Pictures, which is running point on the rest of the world, has not yet provided updated figures for overseas. In the last round-up which came this week, all-told, the Farrelly brothers’ comedy had a cume of $20.54M across 28 markets. However, not all of those markets were current with the release of the figures. As of November 25, the movie had made $7.7M in Brazil which is by far its best overseas territory. I’ll update as possible. When Rentrak weighed in late Sunday night, it said Dumb And Dumber To had made $29M overseas. I’m expecting updated figures later this week.
Universal’s Trash grossed $1.2M at 562 dates in 10 territories to bring the international cume to $3.76M. Stephen Daldry’s crime drama opened in Italy, the Netherlands and Spain with the English- and Portuguese-language pic scoring $611K at 257 dates in the latter. Trash, about a trio of kids who find a wallet in a garbage dump and then find themselves getting more than they bargained for, will roll out over the next several months. The next bows are Denmark and Ukraine on December 4, and Bulgaria and Estonia on December. 5.
Gone Girl sought out a further $1.7M from 1,388 screens in 39 markets this frame. The Fox release now has an international cume of $174.6M, with Japan (12/12) and Italy (12/18) yet to come for the David Fincher-helmed thriller.
With international releases now complete, Universal’s Dracula Untold impaled a further $660K at 448 dates in 30 territories this frame. The international total is a bloody good $157.8M.
Fox comedy Let’s Be Cops said let’s take in another $592K this frame for a total of $44.83M. Australia has moviegoers cuffed with a slight 38% drop from last weekend and $410K from 236. There are several markets to come in early 2015.
Fox’s The Maze Runner wended its way to a further $1.23M in 20 territories this frame with France a stalwart at $24.8M total and the increasingly reliable Venezuela market jumping 2% in its 5th outing. The overseas cume is now $236.3M.
The Boxtrolls had its final theatrical openings in South Africa and Paraguay on Friday. The international weekend gross was $472K at 1,317 dates for a total of $56.7M.
Ouija spelled out a $348K gross in 23 territories for an international total of $19.92M. There are still key releases on the cards for the Universal title throughout December including in Spain, Brazil, and Peru.
Richard Linklater’s Boyhood has grown to an international total of $19.66M after adding $156K at 129 dates in 20 territories this session. Portugal had a good limited opening at No. 9 with $30K at 11 dates and the 4th highest per-screen average in the market. In Japan, Boyhood held strong at No. 3 of the MPA titles with $40K at 11 dates for an 18-day total of $361K and the biggest per-screen average of the MPA titles including the No. 1 film, Interstellar. Universal has four territories yet to release.
Universal’s local German title Il Labyrinth Des Schweigens (Labyrinth Of Lies) moved into its 3rd weekend and grossed $144K at 138 dates for a 25-day total of $1.38M.
Billy Elliot The Musical Live, the alternative content title released by Universal, had a very good opening in Korea where it was positioned as a Premium Musical Experience (twice the ticket price) and grossed $97K at 34 dates. It now has a cume for Universal of $4M.
MARKET HIGHLIGHTS
While the Thanksgiving holiday brings big titles to market, it’s a solely American fête meaning the rest of the world is not generally affected. This year, although Black Friday took on new proportions in both the UK and France, I’m told this did not have an impact on box office. That’s good news for family films Paddington and Asterix: Le Domaine Des Dieux which had big bows in their respective home markets.
UK/EUROPE
Although Studiocanal estimates that Paddington did $7.84M in the UK during its first frame, Rentrak is calling $8.5M across a handful of markets that include Mexico and the little bear’s home country of Peru. Certainly the lion’s share came from the the UK and we’ll see tomorrow if Paddington clawed his way to the No. 1 spot there versus Mockingjay. It will be interesting to watch how the bear’s legs hold out next week when the Penguins Of Madagascar descend on Britain (along with the voice of Benedict Cumberbatch). Also new to the UK this week was King’s Speech producer Gareth Unwin’s Afghan war drama Kajaki: The True Story. Directed by Paul Katis, the film stars Mark Stanely, David Elliot and Malachi Kirby. Shot on location in Jordan, it tells the story of a small unit of British soldiers out to disable a Taliban roadblock. When a bomb detonates, it sets off a desperate rescue mission. Reviews have been very strong for the indie that’s released by Alchemy and we hope to have numbers tomorrow. Next week, Universal is releasing Black Sea, director Kevin McDonald’s submarine thriller that stars Jude Law.
FRANCE
Asterix: Le Domaine Des Dieux is an animated take on the René Goscinny-created comic character which opened to $5M this week. Live-action Asterix movies have been huge hits both in France and in Europe over the past decade and a bit. This toon spin, titled Asterix: The Mansion Of The Gods in English and released by SND in France, also had the 11th best first day showings of the year. Gaumont’s new period crime drama La French bows next week with The Artist star Jean Dujardin as a magistrate going after a Marseille drug ring. Paddington also arrives.
ASIA
In China, Interstellar continued to rule the galaxy with $17.7M this frame. But newcomer Women Who Flirt winked its way to an estimated $11.5M in four Asian markets, and the U.S. where it took $80K of that total. Directed by Pang Ho-cheung, the romantic comedy described by the New York Times as “exaggerated, ludicrous and simplistic” stars Zhou Xun, Huang Xiaoming, Tang Sui and Xie Yi Lin. The Universal-backed Rise Of The Legend added $5.5M this frame to take its cume to $18M after two weeks. The origin story of martial arts icon Wong Fei Hung stars Sammo Hung. Up on Tuesday is The Crossing. The John Woo epic-scale period film has been labeled the “Chinese Titanic” and is eyeing big business. It’s been a while since Woo helmed a film and the director has assembled a key cast that includes Zhang Ziyi. Chinese media swarmed the crew when they came to Cannes in May to tubthump the pic with an emotional Woo speaking about his long-held passion project.
In Korea, where Interstellar is now at an incredible $61.1M to become the 2nd biggest U.S. grosser of the year behind Frozen, Choi Ho’s Big Match opened this weekend. The action comedy follows a man forced into a high-tech game in order to prove his innocence after the death of his brother. According to Rentrak, it picked up $3.4M.
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