UPDATE, WRITETHRU: Deadpool 2 strutted his stuff into 81 markets this weekend, grossing $176.3M at the international box office. That sets a new benchmark for Fox International as its biggest opening of all time, topping the previous record-holder, X-Men: Days Of Future Past. The offshore opening is also the biggest ever for an R-rated title, clawing away last year’s Logan. In all launch markets this session, Ryan Reynolds’ Merc with a mouth scored the No. 1 spot and bested Deadpool 1’s start by 7% (in like-for-like plays and at today’s exchange rates). The global debut cume is $301.3M.
Helmed by David Leitch, DP2 further scored Fox’s best launch ever in 10 markets including Mexico, India, Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam. The $176.3M bow is within the range we were hearing ahead of the weekend. While the film had strong debuts in Europe, it still had to face such distractions as the Royal Wedding, the FA Cup soccer final and fine weather.
Reynolds was tireless in his overseas promotional efforts and the travel paid dividends in such places as Italy where DP2 is the top X-Men opening ever and 25% bigger than the previous film (more detail below).
Japan is still to open in June, though DP2 doesn’t have that much runway ahead with Disney revving up the Millennium Falcon for next weekend’s Solo: A Star Wars Story and Universal’s Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom stomping in after that. How the very well-received DP2 plays out internationally will become clearer in the coming frame.
The full offshore weekend was worth $84.4M in 55 markets for a $1,218.7M cume. That zooms AIW past Furious 7 to become the No. 3 title ever at the overseas box office. Globally, the cume on Anthony and Joe Russo’s Disney/Marvel juggernaut is $1,813.7M to make it the No. 4 film ever worldwide and the highest grossing MCU/superhero release of all time. The global IMAX portion is $134M, behind only Avatar and Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
Breakdowns on the films above and more have been updated below.
NEW
DEADPOOL 2
Speaking of the rating, Deadpool 2 is now the highest grossing R-rated debut internationally, overtaking last year’s Logan (also a Fox/Marvel title) which bowed to $160M and included $49.7M from China.
The sequel topped the first movie by 7% in like-for-like markets and at today’s exchange rates which is notable given the difference in holiday playtime. Deadpool the first was released in the Valentine’s corridor in February 2016 and caught the end of the Chinese New Year holidays in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Malaysia and other South East Asian markets.
There was clear anticipation for the sequel with the property now better known around the world and markets where Reynolds (and Josh Brolin) traveled saw benefits although the UK was impacted by the Royal Wedding, championship soccer and great weather. The score was nevertheless the 2nd best R-rated opening of all time with $18M on 1,796 screens.
The film was No. 1 in each of its launch markets and scored Fox’s biggest opening weekend ever in 10 international hubs, including Mexico, India, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Argentina and Chile.
There’s not a ton of runway ahead, however, with Solo: A Star Wars Story and Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom hot on the Merc’s heels.
Looking at the rest of the Top 5 below the UK, Korea grossed $17M on 1,562 also with the 2nd best 18-rated opening ever. Reynolds had appeared on the King Of Masked Singer reality competition show there, wearing a unicorn mask and singing the anthem from Annie.
Russia grossed $11.8M with 75% of the market share, followed by Australia with $11.7M on 279 for 3% bigger than DP1. Rounding things out Mexico nabbed $10.1M on 3,013 for Fox’s biggest opening ever and at 32% above DP1. Reynolds also visited the market. On the previous film, the UK, Australia, France, Russia and Germany were the top overall markets.
In IMAX, DP2 grossed $19.2M on 731 screens globally, the 3rd best for Fox in the format. The international portion was $7.7M.
HOLDOVERS/EXPANSIONS
AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR
The film is now in 4th place on the all-time global box office chart with $1,813.7M and is the No. 3 movie ever overseas with $1,218.7M to date. That zips it past Furious 7. It is also the highest-grossing MCU/superhero title ever.
Is Infinity War getting to $2B worldwide? With a little over $186M separating it from the mark, it is an iffy proposition. Deadpool took a bite at it this weekend and the next few weeks will see both Solo: A Star Wars Story and Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom take screens and summer popcorn action. Getting all the way up there looks like a stretch, but it should land in the mid-high $1.9B range — and really, at these lofty heights, that’s nothing to throw stones at.
Across several offshore markets it is the biggest release in history. Those include Brazil, Central America, Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador, Peru, Venezuela, Latin America as a region, the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, India (western), Thailand (western) and Vietnam.
Outside of China this session, AIW dropped by 65% across the Asia-Pacific region. Especially strong holds were seen in Japan (-36%), Australia (-57%) and New Zealand (-57%). Regionally, the cume is $690M to make AIW the biggest ever Walt Disney Studios release
In Latin America, the drop was 53% and the regional cume has crossed $200M. Venezuela actually jumped 21% this session.
Europe saw a 65% regional drop for a $325M+ cume. Strong 4th weekend holds were seen in Finland (-46%), Austria (-47%), Poland (-47%), Spain (-49%) and Czech Republic (-49%).
The Top 5 markets are now: China ($302.5M), Korea ($89M), the UK ($87.8M), Brazil ($60.8M) and Mexico ($57.7M). All markets are released as Dis gears up for Solo: A Star Wars Story next weekend.
A QUIET PLACE
In holds, the UK added $169K during its 7th weekend for a $16.3M local cume. Australia now has $9.3M after seven frames and Germany’s 6th session brought the total to $3.7M. This is all ahead of major openings in France (June 20) and Japan (September 28).
RAMPAGE
Leading into a national bank holiday on Monday, Germany’s sophomore outing added $780K for a $2.6M running cume. The Top 5 markets are China ($156M), Mexico ($12.8M), the UK ($12.4M), Korea ($11.2M) and Malaysia ($7.9M).
PETER RABBIT
Director Will Gluck visited and attended the red carpet premiere in Japan with popular Japanese actor Yudai Chiba who is the local voice for Peter and sings “I Promise You” in the dubbed version. A digital campaign in Japan asked folks to send in cute rabbit photos with over 6,000 received. About 300 are included at the end of the local credits.
In Korea, influencer screenings were held with Heopop who is popular on YouTube with the elementary school crowd, as well as children and teen reporters in honor of Children’s Day on May 7. From early April to mid-May there was also a costume tour with Peter Rabbit costumes dispatched to major family and children targeted festivals. A viral video was further created and titled “Welcome Peter, First Time in Korea?,” a parody of a popular reality TV show to highlight Peter’s tour in Seoul.
The UK still leads all play with a $56.3M cume, followed by China ($26.5M), Australia ($20.2M), France ($12.3M) and Germany ($12.1M).
MISC UPDATED CUMES/NOTABLE
Truth Or Dare (UNI): $3.4M intl weekend (54 markets); $36.6M intl cume
Sherlock Gnomes (PAR): $2M intl weekend (23 markets); $31.7M intl cume
Life Of The Party (WB): $1.3M intl weekend (9 markets); $5.8M intl cume
Campeones (UNI): $800K intl weekend (Spain only); $17.6M Spain cume
Loro 2 (UNI): $600K intl weekend (Italy only); $2.4M Italy cume
Blockers (UNI): $600K intl weekend (30 markets); $27.9M intl cume
I Feel Pretty (STX): $572K intl weekend (UK only), $5.3M UK cume
Breaking In (UNIT): $300K intl weekend (6 markets); $1.7M intl cume
Loro 1 (UNI): $200K intl weekend (Italy only); $4.8M Italy cume
Tully (UNI): $100K intl weekend (UK only); $700K UK cume
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