Miss Peregrine Nears $100M Overseas; Girl On The Train Chugs $16.5M

TUESDAY UPDATE, WRITETHRU: Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children again led the international box office as the Fox film from Tim Burton nears the century mark at overseas turnstiles with a $94.1M cume after two frames. There were no major changes in the actuals which have been updated throughout below on what was a down weekend offshore compared to last week and last year.

The Girl On The Train left the station with a solid $16.5M opening in 34 markets and the UK leading at $8.5M. That’s bigger than the three best October openings of recent years int he market: Gone Girl, The Martian and Gravity. For local distrib eOne, it’s the best non-sequel bow ever.

Overall versus the previous frame, there was a 28% drop in box office across the Top 10 titles. Versus last year, we’re seeing a 27% dip. Back then, another Fox film was leading as The Martian cumed $118.5M after two weekends. Also in the mix at the time was holdover Goodbye Mr Loser out of the Middle Kingdom. While last week’s frame was heavy on Chinese movies during the National Day Golden Week holiday — with four near the top of the chart — two are left in the Top 10 this session: Operation Mekong and I Belong To You. But those films combined equal what last Mr Loser alone made in its second outing, further demonstrating a downturn in the Chinese market.

Next week sees the debut of Ron Howard’s Inferno. The Sony threequel adapted from Dan Brown’s 2013 book again stars Tom Hanks as Professor Robert Langdon. This time, he wakes up in an Italian hospital with amnesia. He then teams up with Dr Sienna Brooks (Felicity Jones), and together they must race across Europe to foil a deadly global plot. Key territories include the UK, Germany and Brazil along with Italy where the movie was partly shot.

Also, Steven Spielberg’s The BFG will hit China on Friday. The filmmaker’s Amblin Partners today announced a deal with Alibaba Pictures whereby the Chinese company takes a stake in Amblin and will partner on marketing and distribution of Amblin’s titles in the Middle Kingdom; and has an option to invest in upcoming movies.

Breakdowns on all films have been updated below the original post. Actuals will resume Tuesday.

PREVIOUS: Last weekend’s ruler, Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children, took the kids to some new key majors this weekend with a $42.5M sophomore session. This makes it two in a row No. 1s at the international box office for Fox’s Tim Burton-directed pic which notably got a big bump in Korea. As with domestic, the main new opener is The Girl On The Train which traveled to an overall 34 markets this weekend — six from Universal and another 22 handled by Mister Smith Entertainment. The full tally on the adaptation of Paula Hawkins’ runaway bestseller is $16.5M.

An otherwise notable release is J.A. Bayona’s A Monster Calls which Universal debuted in his native Spain to $3.6M — the biggest opening for a Spanish movie this year.

Elsewhere, Finding Dory crossed $1B in worldwide box office and Suicide Squad has now overtaken Deadpool at the international box office with $419.6M to date. China, meanwhile, continues to be led by local pics as Operation Mekong crosses $100M.

See below for breakdowns:

NEW
THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN

The Emily Blunt-starrer sped to 28 Mister Smith Entertainment markets this weekend with $15.3M voyeurs showing up to theaters. Universal’s six markets on the DreamWorks picture added $1.2M for a total $16.5M. For the MSE territories, the numbers are comparable to Gone Girl with some finishing above expectations. Several key majors are to come.

The book, whose rights have been sold in 34 countries, and Blunt are the draw here as the actress’ international profile has grown over the past decade since she broke out in The Devil Wears Prada. As my colleague Anthony D’Alessandro notes, TGOTT has a B- CinemaScore domestically, and while that might seem severe, it’s typical for feature adaptations of chick lit.

Comparisons to Ben Affleck-starrer Gone Girl are inevitable, even if they are different shades of thriller. The offshore market breakdown for the moment is following a similar path to GG with Blunt’s native UK leading off of an $8.5M No. 1 start via eOne. That dislodged Universal’s Bridget Jones’s Baby which had held the spot for three weeks running. The UK was tops on Gone Girl which opened to $6.7M in October 2014 and legged to $34.6M there.

Australia, where eOne is also handling, opened at a big No. 1 with $4.4M. That’s about on par with GG. Portugal (Lusomundo) gave the Girl a first-place start and the Netherlands debuted at No. 2 via eOne.

Universal opened the Tate Taylor-directed film in Malaysia ($76K/37 dates), the Philippines ($261K/145), Singapore ($169K/24), Taiwan ($365K/76), Thailand ($142K/36) and Colombia ($188K/60). In each, Girl landed in the Top 5.

Rollout continues throughout this month in some of the bigger markets including Spain, Brazil, France and Germany.

A MONSTER CALLS

J.A. Bayona’s moving story of a boy who seeks the help of a tree monster as he struggles with the terminal illness of his mother began its international rollout in Spain this weekend. That’s a natch move for the Focus Features pic since Bayona hails from the country and has been a local box office hero. Universal released at 365 dates on Friday to a No. 1 bow that rang up $3.6M and had 40% of the market. This is the biggest opening of a Spanish film this year.

Guillermo del Toro exec produced Bayona’s breakout The Orphanage in 2007 ($71.5M intl/$78.6M WW) and this film’s fantastical elements harken back to del Toro’s own masterpiece Pan’s Labyrinth. Bayona followed with The Impossible in 2012 which grossed $54.2M in Spain alone to become the biggest local movie ever at the time. In all, it made $161.3M internationally and $180.3M worldwide.

Universal has only Spain and North America on this U.S.-Spain co-pro. It goes out limited in the U.S. on December 23. Elsewhere, the film releases throughout the rest of the year and into early 2017. Bayona’s currently helming the untitled Jurassic World sequel.

HOLDOVERS
MISS PEREGRINE’S HOME FOR PECULIAR CHILDREN

After picking up $37.4M in the actuals last weekend in 60 opening markets, the Tim Burton-directed adaptation of Ransom Riggs’ novel expanded to 17 more and took in $42.5M this frame. That brings the international total in 77 markets to $94.1M.

Russia was the top opener on the Eva Green-starrer with $6.3M for No. 1 and 58% market share. That’s 75% bigger than comp Maze Runner. France fell in next with a No. 1 $5.3M at 20% bigger than Maze Runner. Argentina’s $694K is Burton’s biggest bow ever in the market.

In holds, Korea jumped 21% from opening in what is a crowded field. The No. 1 frame was $5.6M for a local total of $14.6M. The film last weekend had already bested the lifetime cumes of Cinderella and Alice Through The Looking Glass there.

Overall, the drop was 32% in aggregate from last weekend with No. 1s still in Brazil, the Philippines, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore and Belgium. Italy and Japan are still to come.

BRIDGET JONES’S BABY

This Baby is making its way to $150M worldwide with a global cume through Sunday of $147.3M. Via Universal, the threequel added $11.4M offshore in 53 territories for an international total of $120.8M. In France, the film was released via Studiocanal for a strong No. 2 with $3.7M. Adding those numbers in, the full weekend was $15.2M and the international total is $124.5M.

French-speaking Switzerland opened to $206K at 26 dates and No. 1 over Miss Peregrine and Radin!. Chile opened above expectations at No. 3 with $150K at 43 dates — the biggest opening for the Bridget franchise in the market. In holds, Bridget slid to No. 2 in the UK where the love letter to London could pass $50M this week. The current cume there is $48.M to become Working Title’s 3rd biggest movie ever in the UK. Korea’s 11-day total is $4.7M.

DEEPWATER HORIZON

Now in 70 markets, Lionsgate’s Mark Wahlberg-starrer struck another $10.4M for an international cume of $27.7M. Taiwan was the top debut market with $1.4M, followed by Australia with $1.3M (including previews). In holdovers, the UK and Middle East have reached $4.8M and $3.7M, respectively. France and Belgium are the next markets to open this Wednesday.

STORKS

Warner Bros’ animated pic delivered $10.4M from approximately 8,300 screens in 55 international markets. The cume is now $56.8M. In Spain, the drop was 19% for a $2.8M cume. China leads overseas with $11.3M after 15 days and amid a crowded roster of local titles. France and the UK open this week.

THE SECRET LIFE OF PETS

Illumination and Universal’s animated dog tale added $10.2M in 52 territories this weekend and raised the international total to $483.8M. Worldwide, it’s at $849.2M. The final market to open was Italy this frame where it debuted at No. 1 with $5.1M at 515 dates and 44% market share. The film had a high-profile boost at the Venice Film Festival in early September where it screened in its Italian premiere. South Africa is holding No. 1 in week 2, besting the starts of Miss Peregrine and The Girl On The Train with a $1.2M 10-day gross.

FINDING DORY

Disney/Pixar’s sequel added $8.9M in 16 markets this weekend. That pushed the offshore cume to $516.7M and brings the worldwide total past the $1B mark at $1,001.5M. The movie is now No. 3 globally for 2016 and the No. 5 animated pic of all time. German-speaking Europe maintained No. 1 in week 2. For more detail, see my separate report.

DON’T BREATHE

With a strong Korea debut of $4.5M on 670 screens, Screen Gems’ blind leading the burglars pic scored the 3rd biggest local debut ever for a Hollywood horror film. It total, the film sucked up $7.6M in 39 markets for a $53.9M cume.

THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN

Offshore box office on this remake now stands at $58.7M after a $6.9M third session in 68 markets. The MGM/Sony pic (in association with Village Roadshow and LStar Capital) added $1.1M in its sophomore Australia play for a cume of $4.9M. Germany has grossed $4.1M, France is at $3.2M and the UK slings its way to $6.9M.

L.O.R.D: LEGEND OF RAVAGING DYNASTIES

Lionsgate’s Chinese title posted another $4.9M from four markets this weekend, for an international cume of $53.8M. China has delivered $53.6M of that after two weeks, while that market is led by Operation Mekong in a local-heavy landscape. Singapore opens this week.

JASON BOURNE

Universal’s latest in the Bourne franchise crossed $400M worldwide earlier this week and is top grossing film in the series internationally with $243M. The global tally is $405M. Uni’s last market is Japan where JB opened to a strong $4.4M at 333 dates. It placed No. 2 behind local smash Your Name. It’s the biggest Bourne opening ever in the market. The Top 3 plays have been China ($66.2M), the UK ($30.4M) and Korea ($19.1M).

SAUSAGE PARTY

Taking the party to 10 new markets this weekend, Sony’s comedy guzzled $4.1M from a total 33. The international cume has now stuffed the bun with $31.9M. In Spain, Sony is calling No. 2 with $1.2M which is higher than WB’s estimated $1.1M on Storks. The start is 3x that of 21 Jump Street and 162% ahead of Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising. Germany debuted at $1.5M (including previews) from 444 screens, besting the opening of 21 Jump Street by 27%. Mexico opened to $260K from 360 screens. Italy chimes in at the end of the month.

SULLY

Warner Bros’ Clint Eastwood drama grossed $3.3M over the weekend from 1,723 screens in 45 international territories, winging its way to a $54M cume. Korea’s total is $4.1M after two sessions and Japan has generated $9.6M. That is the biggest offshore territory on the Tom Hanks-starrer, followed by Australia ($9.2M) and Korea. There are several key markets to open including Spain and France in November; and Germany, Italy, Brazil, the UK and Mexico in December.

M.S. DHONI: THE UNTOLD STORY

The cricketing biopic from Fox International Productions and Fox Star Studios has batted $3.1M in its 2nd inning. The movie retained No. 1 in India and lifts the international cume to $22.15M. The sports drama last weekend grossed $14M at home to score the No. 2 opening of 2016, behind Salman Khan’s Sultan which released in July. That’s particularly notable because M.S. Dhoni has no major marquee stars. It landed in the Top 10 international films last frame and, in the U.S., joind Sultan and Shah Rukh Khan’s Fan as the only Bollywood movies of 2016 to break $1M in the first weekend.

BAD MOMS

STX’s comedy hit has crossed $175M at the worldwide box office after a $2.3M international weekend in 60 markets. The offshore cume is $62.5M. Holding fast in Germany, the Moms are No. 3 there for a cume of $7.59M — 23% ahead of Bridesmaids and 17% ahead of How To Be Single. The ladies have now taken in $10.72M in the UK which is the No. 2 market behind Australia where the gross is $11.59M. Still to come is Italy this week.

MISC CUMES/NOTEWORTHY

The Purge: Election Year (UNI): $492K intl weekend (9 markets); $38.7M intl cume
The Duelist (SNY): $1.3M intl weekend (Russia only); $4.6M intl cume
Kubo And The Two Strings (UNI): $1.4M intl weekend (25 markets); $16.2M intl cume
War Dogs (WB): $1.5M intl weekend (34 markets); $40M intl cume