‘Black Panther’ Runs Past $300M Offshore, $700M WW; ‘Operation Red Sea’ Rises In China – International Box Office

UPDATE, writethru: After shattering expectations in his opening frame last weekend, Disney/Marvel’s Black Panther tore up another $83.8M in 55 material markets this session. That lifts the international box office to $304M and the global cume to $704M and running.

Overall overseas, the Ryan Coogler-helmed superhero movie is now pacing 40% ahead of Doctor Strange, 15% above Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol 2 and 6% higher than Thor: Ragnarok at the same stage of play and in the same markets. Globally, Black Panther has become the No. 10 highest grossing title ever for the MCU, topping both Doctor Strange and Ant-Man.

The session was a straight 50% drop from last weekend’s $168.7M offshore bow when comparing the full initial frame which began on a Tuesday overseas and included previews. Stripping that down to a standard opening frame and excluding the new markets this session, it’s a 42% drop.

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Marvel pics typically see a second weekend dip in the 40%-50% range and BP is at the better end of that, which is impressive for a deeper MCU character. The runaway domestic success and the freshness of the pic are helping fuel offshore play, but eyes are on the coming weekends as the true test will be how BP holds up in faster-burn markets like Russia. And the jury is still out on what we’ll see from China beginning March 9. The movie currently has a 7 on reviews site Douban from a very small sampling. I hear advance ticket sales are looking good locally.

Elsewhere, the Wakanda wonder retained the No. 1 position in most markets, with holds particularly strong in Europe where he was down just 34% and moved into first position in Germany for the first time after being dominated by Fifty Shades Freed.

Other notable perfs this frame include a 7% jump in West Africa making it the biggest three-day weekend ever. In Asia Pacific, where last frame’s Chinese New Year spurred a lot of turnstile movement, the region dropped by 54%.

And speaking of Chinese New Year, although the holiday is over, there is still plenty of play at the Middle Kingdom box office with actioner Operation Red Sea continuing to rise as Deadline predicted earlier this week. It is the No. 1 movie internationally this weekend, taking the top spot in China with daily increases from Friday through Sunday. The cume is now an estimated $334M after a $106.4M weekend. The Lunar New Year leader so far remains Detective Chinatown 2 at a staggering $417M. Next weekend, the PROC adds local pic Girls 2 and Salman Khan’s Bajrangi Bhaijaan giving him his first shot at winning over Chinese audiences like his fellow Bollywood icon, Aamir Khan.

In other plays, Fox saw BAFTA bumps for winners Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri and The Shape Of Water while The Greatest Showman has passed $200M internationally, maintaining the No. 1 spot in Japan for the 2nd session in a row and staying flat in the UK where the cume is $45.7M after nine weekends.

Breakdowns on the films above and more have been updated below.

NEW
GAME NIGHT

New Line/Warner Bros’ Game Night started international rollout this weekend in 22 markets this weekend, including just two majors. The opening ante is $5.2M on 2,465 screens led by Australia and Russia. The R-rated comedy that stars Jason Bateman and Rachel McAdams focuses on a group of friends who get together to play games, but this one night turns into a real murder mystery. The R-rated comedy is a challenged sector, lately pulling less than 50% of box office from overseas. Comedy tends to translate best in the UK and Germany which don’t open on Game Night until next session, along with 21 other markets.

Directed and written by Vacation filmmakers John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein, who also have credits on the script for Sony/Marvel’s Spider-Man: Homecoming, this film’s origical script is by Mark Perez. The film tested well domestically and has an 82% Certified Fresh score on RT. The poster campaign overseas is focusing on the stars and one particularly crafty use of Scrabble tiles.

This weekend’s play was as follows: Australia $1.5M on 287 screens, No. 2 and 17% above Vacation and even with Horrible Bosses 2. Russia debuted to $1.3M on 1,069 screens for No. 4 and 57% ahead of Horrible Bosses, double Date Night and Identity Thief and on part with Bosses 2. Holland took in an estimated $570K on 105 for No. 3 and above all comps. The UAE was good for $425K on 55 screens at No. 2 with a start 65% bigger than Horrible Bosses.

HOLDOVERS/EXPANSIONS
BLACK PANTHER

With a 42% drop to $83.8M in the second session, Black Panther is now at $304M internationally and still has such markets as Japan and China to come — neither of which is a guaranteed slam dunk, however. Russia opens wide tomorrow after initiating IMAX/Deluxe format play this weekend. In total IMAX, the global cume is now $54.6M meaning this is the fastest Marvel title to reach the $50M mark. The international portion on 327 IMAX screens is $18.6M.

BP’s 2nd weekend dip is at the better end of the range for most Marvel pics which tend to shed 40%-50% of their offshore business in the sophomore frame. In general, the film is playing like a big Marvel pic as opposed to one of the deeper MCU standalone titles. It’s 40% above Doctor Strange, 15% over GOTG2 and 6% above Thor: Ragnarok. This picture is truly a domestic phenomenon while international’s true test will come when we see how it does in the fast-burn markets like Russia.

This weekend, Russia opened to $2.6M solely on in IMAX/Deluxe formats to post significantly above Doctor Strange and GOTG2. The $1.7M on 49 IMAX screens is a February record there. Vietnam was also new with $2.5M including previews for the No. 5 biggest opening weekend in industry history. And Trinidad scored $700K for the biggest opening weekend ever.

The good news on holds is already that Europe dipped by just 34%. No. 1s were maintained in key markets like France, the Netherlands and the UK. The film also rose above Fifty Shades Freed in Germany where it had been dominated by the erotic film up until this Saturday.

The movie is clearly having an impact in Africa where figures in West Africa were up by 7% to break last weekend’s record as the biggest 3-day weekend ever. In South Africa, the 2nd frame for T’Challa is now the 3rd biggest 3-day weekend ever, behind only the opening weekends of Black Panther last week and The Fate Of The Furious.

As Chinese New Year fueled a lot of business in South East Asia last weekend, the region was down 54% without the holiday. However, BP was still No. 1 in all markets save for India. There, and in Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand BP has topped the lifetimes of Ant-Man, Doctor Strange and GOTG.

In Latin America the drop was just 41% with strong holds in Brazil and Chile at -38%. The movie was No. 1 in all markets in the region.

The Top 5 plays so far are the UK ($41.2M), Korea ($36M), Brazil ($18.6M), Mexico ($17.5M) and Australia ($17.4M). Italy remains soft as the No. 15 market with $6.2M.

FIFTY SHADES FREED

Universal Pictures’ trilogy climax climbed atop of the $300M mark at the worldwide box office this weekend, getting to $320.4M through Sunday. The offshore total is now $230.8M. This session in the playroom was worth $22.3M in 61 markets which now include Korea where it was 7% hotter than Fifty Shades Darker at $930K.

Germany is still the film’s top holdover market, although Ana and Christian succumbed to Black Panther on Saturday to drop to No. 2 for the weekend. The total there is a sexy $26.9M. France added $2.2M to bring its cume to $19M and the UK collared another $1.6M for $23M to date. Brazil ($16M cume) and Italy ($17M) continue to throw off lusty numbers. Japan has still to open on October 5.

THE SHAPE OF WATER

With a boost from its BAFTA wins last weekend as it continues a stellar awards season, Guillermo del Toro’s lyrical fairy tale added $11.6M in 52 markets this session. That lifts the total to $55.5M which in turn spills the worldwide cume to $110.8M. This is the second of Fox Searchlight’s awards darlings to cross the $100M global mark — Three Billboards did it on February 14.

New plays for Shape this weekend include France with a great $2.1M start, followed by Korea at $1.3M to land behind Black Panther as the No. 2 MPA title in the market. Italy (-26%/$4.4M cume), Spain (-27%/$4.5M) and the UK round out holds. The latter is now at $6.2M. Next weekend, the film opens in Japan.

THE GREATEST SHOWMAN

Hugh Jackman’s legs have helped carry Fox’s musical to the $200M mark at the international box office. With $200.5M overseas, the global cume is now $361.3M. In 32 markets this session, the showbiz origins story added $7.7M. It held the No. 1 spot in Japan for the second week in a row, dropping just 8% for a $12.3M total to date and in the UK in its 9th weekend, it was flat at No. 2. The total there is $45.7M. Australia also jumped up a percentage point to cume $23.8M after nine frames. When it comes to international box office, a film can’t always be ruled out based on early play.

MAZE RUNNER: THE DEATH CURE
Another $7.1M in 65 markets takes Fox’s threequel to $215.4M overseas. France had a great hold, rising 5% to cume $16.8M to date. France is generally the lead market outside China on this franchise which still has Japan to come way down the line in June.

THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING MISSOURI

Coming off a bevy of BAFTA awards last weekend, Three Billboards posted $4.4M this session, notably seeing a bounce in the UK where it was up 25% for a $16.9M cume to date. Playing in 49 markets, the total is now $71M at the international box office. France also jumped, by 4%, for $5.6M so far and Australia dipped just 4% to cume $7.8M. Taiwan was the new play with $215K on 20 screens.

COCO

In the 14th weekend, Disney/Pixar’s Coco added another $4.7M in 34 markets. The international cume is now $531.2M for $739.2M globally. Holds are still tight in places like Norway (-10%), Sweden (-29%) and Spain (-38%). The Top 5 markets before Japan gets in on the gig March 16 are China ($183.5M), Mexico ($57.8M), France ($32.7M), Korea ($25.8M) and the UK ($23.2M).

THE POST
With $6.3M across 61 markets now open via Amblin Partners and Universal, the international total on the Steven Spielberg drama is $66.7M. In the UK, where eOne is releasing, the film has surpassed the lifetimes of Bridge Of Spies and Lincoln at £9M. France has also now outpaced Sully with $9.4M. Universal notably added Germany and Russia this session. In the former it opened to No. 3 at 287 dates for $1.96M. It’s tracking there ahead of Spotlight, Lincoln, Argo, Bridge Of Spies and The Iron Lady. In Russia, the launch was $523K at 501 locations to track above Argo, Spotlight, Lincoln and The Iron Lady. Taiwan got off to No. 3 with $400K at 77 dates

LADY BIRD

In 18 overseas markets, Oscar nominee Lady Bird plucked another $3.1M to cume $5.6M after the second weekend. Universal released in eight new markets including the UK where the Greta Gerwig-helmed film grossed $1.67M at 190, similar to Brooklyn and Silver Linings Playbook. Spain was worth $456K at 146; Hong Kong heard good word of mouth with $86K at 9 dates and above Brooklyn and Boyhood. Australia has cumed $2.1M to date. France and Italy are among the key openers next weekend.

JUMANJI: WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE
After crossing $900M last weekend, Sony’s jungle juggernaut roped in another $3M this weekend from 2,500+ screens in 86 markets. The international cume is now $532.7M and the worldwide total is $920M. The drumbeat should go quieter now ahead of the Japan opening on April 6.

PHANTOM THREAD

Adding $3M in 40 markets, including 14 new hubs, Paul Thomas Anderson’s drama has cumed $14.1M to date internationally. The starts this session were soft to good, word of mouth is positive as are reviews. Italy was the lead debut at $1.24M on 236 screens. Brazil also had a good start as PTA’s best ever in the market at $216K on 54 screens. Spain leads cumes in the 4th session with $1.84M followed by Germany at $1.44M and France just a touch below that at $1.436M. The next key market is Korea on March 8.

I, TONYA
Oscar nominee I, Tonya got some free publicity in the UK last weekend thanks to the BAFTAs where Alison Janney scooped the Best Supporting Actress prize and as Margot Robbie was spotted around London at all the attendant events. The very American story bowed in the UK (eOne) with $1.4M on 318 screens. The full weekend in all markets was $2.8M combined for an $11.1M overseas cume. France contributed $456K via Mars, in line with Moneyball. Spain (eOne) skated to $199K on 207 screens for a start that’s 18% bigger than Foxcatcher, international agent Sierra/Affinity notes.

DEN OF THIEVES

From STXinternational, the Gerard Butler-starrer has opened in a total 45 markets with eight new this session. The weekend heisted $2.7M at 2,732 locations. The offshore cume is now $23M. France opened to $656K at 250 dates and Mexico came in at $407K from 348 locations. Both are tracking behind John Wick, but ahead of End Of Watch and Contraband. The UK added $182K in the 4th weekend for a 47% drop. Here the cume is $4.3M, which is 87% ahead of John Wick, 50% ahead of End Of Watch and 41% above Contraband.

MISC UPDATED CUMES/NOTABLE

Ice (SNY): $6.2M intl weekend (Russia only); $18.3M intl cume
Ferdinand (FOX): $2.1M intl weekend (40 markets); $204.5M intl cume
All The Money In The World (STX): $1.9M intl weekend; $26M intl cume
Darkest Hour (UNI): $1.7M intl weekend (51 markets); $81.2M intl cume
Wonder (LGF): $1.4M intl weekend (44 markets); $163.1M intl cume (in Italy, this is now Leone Films biggest release ever in local currency)
Wendy 2 – Freundschaft Fur Immer (SNY): $1.4M intl weekend (4 markets)
Monster Hunt 2 (SNY): $1M intl weekend (4 markets, does not include China); $3.9M Sony intl cume
Les Aventures De Spirou Et Fantasio (SNY): $810K intl weekend (France only)

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