‘Pan’ Expands Beyond Oz With $11M Through Friday – International Box Office

This isn’t the first weekend in international release for Warner Bros’ Pan, but it does mark the significant rollout of the pic since it debuted in Australia on September 24. Warner opened early in Oz to take advantage of school holidays kicking off and to build buzz off the back of built-in Aussie star Hugh Jackman. As of yesterday, it has made $4.3M in Australia. Adding in another 52 markets this week, Pan flew to $11M in overseas box office through Friday.

The WB global marketing machine has been working hard on this Joe Wright-directed Peter Pan origins tale from Jason Fuchs’ 2013 Black List script. Back in June, the studio showed footage to European exhibs in Barcelona with a personal note from Jackman and it’s only picked up from there with co-stars Rooney Mara and Levi Miller joining the roadshow for stunts in various cities.

While Pan is off to a not-so-hot start domestically ($17.4M projected frame) and is facing some stiff competition offshore, there are some highlights internationally this weekend. And, we could see some brighter spots down the line, likely in the UK which opens October 21, followed by China on October 22 and Japan which bows October 31.

For now, the Friday offshore gross was $4.1M with Saturday and Sunday looking to draw more family business. In Latin America, where family fare goes down especially well, Pan had good Fridays. In Mexico, it took the No. 1 slot with an estimated $588K from 2,295 screens. Brazil opened on Thursday, grossing $155K from 858 for a cume of $382K. Pan should benefit from national holidays in several Lat Am markets.

Fantasy is typically a draw in Russia and Pan has a 2-day take of $373K on 1,909 screens there. That puts it at No. 2 with The Martian to land at No. 1. Germany’s 2-day gross is $270K from 725 screens in a competitive market that’s at the beginning of school holidays and where Inside Out and local pic Fack Ju Gohte 2 are dominating play. Also leading into a national holiday this weekend, Spain opened yesterday to a solid $264K from 349 screens.

In Asia, Pan is dominating Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand. The 2-day cume in the latter is $456K from 350 screens; and Pan is No. 2 in Hong Kong, Singapore and the Philippines. In Korea, it has a 2-day cume of $438K from 428 screens in a competitive field.

The Martian is notably also in Korea this weekend. That market is expected to be a strong play for the Ridley Scott space pic. Last year’s Interstellar did stellar business there with its mix of sci-fi and emotion catapulting it to $70M. Also notably expanding this frame is Sony’s The Walk. We’ll have numbers on all the above and more tomorrow.