
TUESDAY AM UPDATE: With actuals accounted for, there were few swings at the international box office in what was a weekend rife with holdovers — and one massive Chinese newcomer. Christopher Nolan’s Dunkirk led for Hollywood at a slightly higher $45.8M versus Sunday’s $45.6M estimate. Despicable Me 3, the No. 2 studio movie offshore, also rose (by $1.8M) to bring its global cume to $822.7M. China’s Wolf Warriors 2 was the big dog with about $148M through Sunday, and an estimated $188M through Monday, spinning some much needed bite into Middle Kingdom turnstiles. Actuals on all films reporting have been updated throughout the below.
UPDATE, WRITETHRU (with Valerian & more added): Christopher Nolan’s Dunkirk continued to storm the international box office this weekend, marshaling another $45.8M from 12,758 screens in 63 markets. The glowingly-reviewed war movie from Warner Bros handily navigated across the $100M overseas and $200M worldwide milestones with $131.5M and $232.8M, respectively.
From director Wu Jing, who stars with Frank Grillo, Wolf Warriors 2 puts some bite into the current local blackout period. It hands-down beat the state-backed propaganda film, The Founding Of An Army, which came in at $24M for the three-day and $29.4M total (see more below in the local-language breakdowns).
Turning back to Dunkirk, Nolan’s war epic had a 38% drop from its launch session while adding majors including Germany, Mexico and Brazil. Overall Latin America figures are ahead of comps Inception and American Sniper. In the UK, Dunkirk’s No. 1 hold was just 18% off last week’s bow. The 10-day cume there is $35.2M (£27M).
The film, which was shot almost entirely using IMAX 70MM 2D cameras, added $6.1M in the format from 307 offshore screens. The international cume is $17M for $40.1M global.
Disney’s Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales too has another notch on its belt, crossing $600M internationally for $605M offshore and $776M worldwide. And, Fox’s War For The Planet Of The Apes is still swinging in staggered rollout, crossing $100M overseas for $106.3M to date ahead of Brazil, France and Germany openings next weekend.
Next week also sees Sony’s The Dark Tower erected in Russia and some smaller markets; Atomic Blonde looks to come out swinging in Australia via Universal, and Emoji makes faces in the UK, Germany and Korea, notably.
This weekend’s numbers for Luc Besson’s Valerian And The City Of A Thousand Planets have been added, and breakdowns on the other movies above and more are now updated below.
NEW
ATOMIC BLONDE
HOLDOVERS/EXPANSIONS
DUNKIRK
New markets this frame included key Latin American plays in Mexico and Brazil. The former bowed to $2.1M on 1,250 screens, well ahead of Inception and on par with American Sniper. In Brazil, the launch was $1.6M on 485 to debut atop Inception, Gravity and Interstellar and on par with American Sniper. Dunkirk also had the highest IMAX opening weekend for a Christopher Nolan film there. In total, Latin America grossed $6.7M to track ahead of both Inception and American Sniper.
Markets in Europe, the Middle East and Africa saw a 27% dip with all tracking ahead of Sniper and Interstellar and on par with Inception. Germany was a new Europe play with $2.2M on 623 screens including sneaks. Despicable Me 3 continues to lead the market, followed by new local entry Ostwind 3: Aufbruch Nach Ora from Constantin. Both IMAX and 70mm were in high demand with the top grossing locations in Berlin at the Sony Center and the Zoo Palast. In total, IMAX generated $6.1M in all offshore combined, a 28% drop from opening in the holdover markets, for $17M to date in the format.
The top hold, unsurprisingly, is the UK where an 18% drop generated $10.7M on 1,338 screens. Another No. 1 performance lifts the cume to $35.2M.
Further cumes include Korea ($16.7M), France ($10M), Australia ($9.7M) and Spain ($4.7M). The next markets to open are Italy on August 31, China on September 1 and Japan on September 9.
DESPICABLE ME 3
Korea was new this frame at No. 2 behind local pic The Battleship Island. It grossed $8.1M there for the best local Illumination debut ever, and slots into the peak summer holiday period. Japan held No. 1 again and has a $18.2M cume to date. China’s total after three sessions is $145.2M as it has held well against local competition during the blackout period. In Argentina ($22.6M cume), DM3 was No. 1 for the 5th session in a row while the UK was at No. 2 ($47M cume). Germany held No. 1 for the 4th frame with a cume of $31.6M.
WAR FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES
SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING
VALERIAN AND THE CITY OF A THOUSAND PLANETS
The film was No. 1 in 6 markets: France, Hong Kong, French-speaking Switzerland, Croatia, Serbia and Slovenia; and No. 2 in 6 including Belgium, Portugal and Vietnam.
France was the key new major this session where it kicked off on Wednesday with the 2nd best launch day of the year locally (and also topped Besson’s most recent helming effort, Lucy, albeit on 355 more screens).
The full weekend was $12.2M which made it the best start of the year in dollar terms; although admissions-wise (1.3M) it came in 3rd likely owing to the higher cost of 3D tickets. Reviews have been mixed in France. The local press here has given it 3.1 out of 5 stars with audiences scoring higher at 3.9, according to AlloCiné. Ahead of the weekend, exits on the movie, which is based on a beloved French comic, were said to be very positive.
In Germany, the drop was 25% for the sophomore outing and a $7M cume.
Major hubs still to take flight include the UK, Brazil, Spain, Russia, Mexico Italy, Japan, Korea and China which is going August 25. That’s starting to look like a crowded day with Cars 3 and Baby Driver also both zooming into the Middle Kingdom as the blackout lifts.
TRANSFORMERS: THE LAST KNIGHT
BABY DRIVER
Holdover hubs dipped 40% collectively. Upcoming key market releases include Mexico, Russia and Korea. China now has an August 25 date on what is looking to be a crowded weekend with Cars 3 and Valerian And The City Of A Thousand Planets also moving in then.
CARS 3
In particular this weekend, Cars 3 revved up by 10% in the Netherlands; scored the 2nd best Disney/Pixar launch day ever in Finland ($400K weekend); had the 2nd best animation opening this year in Belgium ($500K weekend); and was tops in the Philippines with $800K.
As of today, the lead markets are Mexico ($15.5M), Russia ($10.5M), Australia ($9.9M), Japan ($9.8M) and Brazil ($9.7M). France is on deck this week.
THE MUMMY
Unwrapping in Japan, Universal’s The Mummy unearthed $3.7M there to land No. 2 and score bigger than recent Tom Cruise titles Edge Of Tomorrow, Oblivion and Jack Reacher. The full weekend was $4.1M in 49 markets. Play is essentially done in most hubs with the Top 5 breaking down thusly: China ($91.5M), Korea ($27.6M), Russia ($16.9M), Brazil ($14.2M) and Mexico ($13M). The offshore total is $317.9M for $397.6M worldwide.
PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MEN TELL NO TALES
MISC UPDATED CUMES/NOTABLE
Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie (FOX): $3.86M intl weekend (11 markets); $14.6M intl cume
Baywatch (PAR): $1.8M intl weekend (36 markets); $115.6M intl cume
Wonder Woman (WB): $1M intl weekend (41 markets); $393.4M intl cume
The Beguiled (UNI): $614K intl weekend (15 markets – $350K Russia for Sofia Coppola best); $4.26M intl cume
LOCAL-LANGUAGE
CHINA
Response from critics and audiences has been higher than on the original Wolf Warrior. On Douban, the story of a commando who heads to Africa to rescue Chinese nationals is at 7.5 versus the previous film’s 6.8. On Mtime, it’s at 7.4 versus 7, per communist party-leaning Global Times which bills it as “an exciting action film” that’s also “heavily patriotic.” The paper says it grossed RMB 306.7M ($45.5M) on Saturday to score the second highest single-day take ever for a domestic film and the sixth for any film at the mainland box office. Indeed, grosses rose throughout the weekend play.
KOREA
INDIA
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