China Embraces ‘Green Book’; ‘Dragon 3’ Tops $375M WW Box Office

SUNDAY UPDATE, writethru…: Universal/DreamWorks Animation’s How To Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World ruled the overseas roost this session, adding $52M in 58 markets to lift the international box office cume to $277.7M. That’s better than yesterday’s estimates, and puts Hidden World 12% above the previous franchise entry at the same point in release. It also fires the global total to $375.4M through Sunday.

At No. 1 domestically, overseas and worldwide this frame, the third installment in the adventures of Hiccup and Toothless saw most of its action in China where it topped the chart and grossed $33.4M to score the 2nd best animated start ever for both Universal and DWA.

While HTTYD3 was dominating Middle Kingdom multiplexes, Best Picture Oscar winner Green Book also logged an impressive China opening. With a $17.1M launch, the Peter Farrelly-directed film has already become the market’s 2nd highest-grossing Best Picture winner, behind only Titanic.

Under a flat sale arrangement and boosted by Amblin’s relationship with Alibaba Pictures, Green Book had drummed up keen interest in China where audiences appreciate stories with an emotional edge. It’s not unusual for an Oscar title to pique interest in the Middle Kingdom, but the level of Green Book’s opening is particularly notable.

Terrific word of mouth is reflected in an 8.9 Douban score and a 9.6 on Maoyan while Alibaba leaned heavily into the Oscar wins, touting the victories on social media. It even got Jack Ma out to a screening in Beijing on Monday night where he promised, “Alibaba Pictures will introduce more movies like this into China. And we will learn from them and gradually produce movies like this.”

Overall, Green Book saw a sizable Oscar halo in the frame, grossing $31.9M in 63 Lionsgate and Amblin markets combined. This takes the offshore cume over $100M as hubs like France, Italy, Germany, the Netherlands, Australia and the UK all saw increases compared to last session. The global total is $188M.

Also in China, Fox holdover Alita: Battle Angel had a 62% drop from last week’s opening, falling to No. 2 with $24.2M in the session. This brings Alita‘s local total to $112.1M, and there is not much time left before her wings are clipped by the arrival of Captain Marvel on Friday. Alita was nevertheless the No. 2 movie internationally this session with $40.4M in 81 markets and with some strong holds in major plays. The global cume on the pricey pic is now $350M.

In rockin’ Fox news, Bohemian Rhapsody this week was approved for release in China. While it won’t hit local arthouses until March 22, the movie saw hikes in Japan, Germany and the UK, notably, after scooping four trophies at last Sunday’s Oscars. The overseas total is now $654.3M with $869M worldwide. Fox’s The Favourite, fronted by Best Actress Oscar winner Olivia Colman, also saw increases in Korea and the UK.

That latter market was led this session by a pic with a British pedigree. Lionsgate UK released Stephen Merchant’s Fighting With My Family and saw audiences smack down $2.64M over the weekend. From MGM and the UK’s Film4, the picture is the third widest release of 2019 in the market and the 4th widest ever from Lionsgate UK at 568 screens.

Also of note back in China, through Sunday, The Wandering Earth has grossed over $673M, becoming only the second film to ever cross 100M admissions.

As for the coming frame, Carol Danvers aka Captain Marvel takes flight internationally beginning Wednesday and rolls out essentially worldwide through Friday. The Disney/Marvel film will be playing on a record 1,360 IMAX screens in the network’s biggest day-and-date release ever, and overall will bring a superhero dose of action to global turnstiles.

In the meantime, breakdowns on the films above and more have been updated below.

NEW
FIGHTING WITH MY FAMILY

In its first major international bow, MGM’s Fighting With My Family tapped into the UK with a $2.64M No. 1 start. On 568 screens, this is Lionsgate UK’s 4th widest release ever. With great reviews, and a busy Merchant making the rounds to talk up his wrestling comedy/drama, as well as a media first partnership with the Amazon Treasure Truck, the movie is off to a great start.

Inspired by the Channel 4 documentary, The Wrestlers: Fighting With My Family, it’s based on the true story of WWE Superstar Paige and her family of professional wrestlers. Rising UK star Florence Pugh leads a cast that includes Lena Headey, Nick Frost and Jack Lowden with appearances by Vince Vaughn, Merchant and Dwayne Johnson.

Zygi Kamasa, CEO of Lionsgate UK says today, “Everyone at Lionsgate was enchanted by the story Stephen told about Paige and her family. We were thrilled when exhibitors and press shared our enthusiasm as we geared up for release and now couldn’t be happier with how UK cinemagoers have responded this weekend.”

HOLDOVERS/EXPANSIONS
HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON: THE HIDDEN WORLD

Universal/DreamWorks Animation’s threequel has been rolling out internationally since the beginning of the year, smartly taking advantage of key holidays in various markets. It traveled to China this weekend (Japan is the last market to release on August 23) and scored DWA’s 2nd biggest opening weekend (behind Kung Fu Panda 3) and Universal’s 2nd best animated opening (behind Despicable Me 3) with $33.4M. The IMAX China weekend was worth $2M.

Overall, in 58 markets, Hiccup and Toothless flew to another $52M to lift the offshore cume to $277.7M. That’s 12% ahead of the previous film at the same point in release and at current rates. It has already bested the first movie overseas at unadjusted rates while HTTYD2 finaled at $444.5M including $59.4M from the Middle Kingdom. There, HTTYD3 has strong word of mouth with a 7.8 on reviews aggregator Douban and a 9.3 on ticketing platform Maoyan.

Elsewhere, the UK leads play with $22M after five weekends and a good hold. Mexico in week 5 dipped just 10% and has cumed $19.9M. France is at $19.8M and took the No. 2 slot this week which is its 4th in release. Russia saw a No. 1 hold in week 2 with $17.8M to date. Germany has cumed $15.9M so far, holding at No. 2 in week 4.

ALITA: BATTLE ANGEL

Fox’s Alita: Battle Angel carved out another $40.4M in 81 international markets this weekend, taking the No. 2 spot overall and the No. 2 spot in China. There, the Robert Rodriguez-helmed film saw a 62% drop from opening with $24.2M as competition heated up on either side. The Middle Kingdom total thus far is $112.1M as the market (and the world) awaits Captain Marvel on Friday and Alita loses screens. The current overseas cume is $278.2M with $350M global.

There were some strong holds in some major markets, including France which is the No. 2 offshore play behind China. There, the film dipped 33% in the 3rd weekend to cume $14.5M so far. In Germany, the hold was -29% for $6.8M to date. Australia fell 36% and maintained No. 1; the cume there is $6.77M. Japan has cumed $6.2M. Alita has earned about 58% of her total in 3D and 11% from IMAX. The IMAX total is now over $40M globally.

GREEN BOOK

China earlier this week savored the Best Picture Oscar win of the Participant-backed Green Book, which has investment from Alibaba Pictures via its stake in Amblin Partners. Alibaba got out in front of the film’s victories, hosting a premiere on Monday night that was attended by eCommerce tycoon Jack Ma who extolled the virtues of the film he said he’d already seen three times. Word of mouth was already strong on the picture — which drew an 8.9 on Douban and a 9.6 on Maoyan — and the weekend’s box office held that up.

With a $17.1M start in the Middle Kingdom, Green Book became the 2nd highest-grossing BP Oscar winner ever in the market, behind only Titanic. Chinese audiences responded to the movie that saw a big jump on Saturday and then stayed about even on Sunday. As noted above, it’s not unusual to see Chinese interest piqued by Oscar wins, but the film clearly struck a chord this weekend. Also helpful is that Mahershala Ali is well-known locally thanks to House Of Cards.

In total this frame, Green Book felt an Oscar halo. It grossed $31.9M from 63 Lionsgate and Amblin markets combined. That brings the offshore total to $112.1M and the global haul to $188M (Universal handles domestically).

In 51 Lionsgate markets, Green Book added $9.5M. That includes a strong $2.5M Japan opening on 180 screens. There were also increases in France (via Metropolitan at +45%) and Italy (+65%).

For Amblin’s 12 markets the weekend take was $22.43M, driven by China. Germany was up 50%, the Netherlands jumped 35% (in the 5th frame to land No. 2), Australia (via eOne) was up 30% and the UK’s Saturday was 40% bigger than last (also via eOne).

The top markets are China ($17.1M), France ($10.2M), the UK ($9.7M), Italy ($8.4M) and Germany ($7.8M).

HAPPY DEATH DAY 2U

Universal/Blumhouse’s sequel unwrapped $6.2M in 56 markets as it expanded this weekend. The overseas cume is now $29.2M for $54.5M worldwide. Among the 10 new hubs for 2U, Mexico led with a No. 1 start of $1.19M at 847 locations and 46% above the original film. Russia was a No. 3 opening at 961 sites with $1.1M, followed by Italy with $678K from 267.

In Asia, Hong Kong bowed No. 1, nabbing $305K from 52 locations to track above the first movie by 46%. Germany ($2.1M cume) and Brazil ($1.49M) had good holds this session. Japan opens July 12.

THE LEGO MOVIE 2: THE SECOND PART
A further $6.1M from 74 markets brings the WB sequel to $61.1M internationally and $152.8M worldwide. The UK continues to lead by a wide margin with $20.3M, followed distantly by Russia ($3.3M), Germany ($3.2M), Poland ($3.2M) and Mexico ($3.1M). The film has now been dated for China, on March 22 which is the same day as Bohemian Rhapsody’s arthouse release. The only Lego movie to previously release in the Middle Kingdom is 2017’s Lego Batman Movie which did $6.1M.

ESCAPE ROOM
Sony’s horror thriller made off with another $6.3M in the session, playing in 47 markets. New openers were France with $1.9M and Germany with $1.2M, both including previews. The offshore total is now $69.3M with Italy, Korea and Spain still on deck in the wake of Captain Marvel.

MISC UPDATED CUMES/NOTABLE

Ralph Breaks The Internet (DIS): $3.6M intl weekend (22 markets); $319.8M intl cume
Bohemian Rhapsody (FOX): $3.5M intl weekend (41 markets); $654.3M intl cume
Total Dhamaal (FOX): $3.4M intl weekend (2 markets); $14.3M intl cume
Instant Family (PAR): $2.8M intl weekend (25 markets); $47.2M intl cume
A Dog’s Way Home (SNY): $2.6M intl weekend (34 markets); $25.1M intl cume
The Favourite (FOX): $2.5M intl weekend (45 markets); $55M intl cume
The Mule (WB): $2.1M intl weekend (33 markets); $47.6M intl cume
What Men Want (PAR): $1.1M intl weekend (11 markets); $6.3M intl cume
Mary Queen Of Scots (UNI): $800K intl weekend (29 markets); $25.6M intl cume
Glass (DIS): $700K intl weekend (24 markets); $134.3M intl cume
Mary Poppins Returns (DIS): $600K intl weekend (12 markets); $175.4M intl cume
*Greta (UNI): $400K intl weekend (2 markets); $400K intl cume
(*Denotes new)

NEW LOCAL-LANGUAGE

In Korea, where five local films are leading play this weekend, drama A Resistance opened $5.6M. From Lotte, the Joe Min-ho-directed pic is set during Japanese colonial rule when Yu Gwan-sun is imprisoned for starting the March 1 Movement, a peaceful protest for Korea’s independence. She unites her fellow inmates to resist Japan, but is found out and tortured. She then secretly plans another protest that spreads beyond prison to the streets. Though Yu dies two days before she is set to be released, her spirit is liberated.

According to local reporting, Indonesian teen romance Dilan 1991, which set a new benchmark for opening day box office on Thursday, breaking the all-time record previously held by Avengers: Infinity War, grossed an estimated $7.6M throughout the weekend. This tops a number of heavy-hitting Hollywood movies, coming in just behind Infinity War‘s Th-S of $9.56M (that does not include the Marvel movie’s opening Wednesday).

PREVIOUS SATURDAY: Universal/DreamWorks Animation’s How To Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World is off to a toothy start in China, eyeing a $33M+ opening weekend. Boosted by the Middle Kingdom, the threequel, which has been rolling out offshore through the past two months to tap into key holidays around the world, is expected to top $275M at the international box office through tomorrow, and will nose right up against $370M global.

In China, the No. 1 start on Friday was $8.4M ($8.8M including limited previews). The opening day was in line with Kung Fu Panda 2 ($91M lifetime) and 60% ahead of How To Train Your Dragon 2 ($59.4M lifetime). This is the first Dragon movie under DWA’s new home at Universal and has strong word of mouth with a 7.8 on reviews aggregator Douban and a 9.3 on ticketing platform Maoyan.

Comping to other Uni animated titles released in China in the past five years, HTTYD3 scored the 3rd biggest opening day behind Despicable Me 3 and Minions. For DWA, it’s the No. 3 best opening day behind the latter two Kung Fu Panda movies. It’s also the 5th biggest studio launch day for an animated film. On Saturday, local estimates are seeing a $13.4M haul which we’ll update tomorrow when the total should be above $33M for the three-day. Japan will be the final Dragon market, in August.

In other China news, the Middle Kingdom is getting its first look at Best Picture Oscar winner Green Book. The Peter Farrelly-directed film, which Universal handled domestically, has the muscle of Alibaba Pictures behind it via its investment in Amblin Partners and has drummed up strong word of mouth with a great 8.9 on Douban and 9.6 on Maoyan. A $16M weekend is potentially in store after Saturday saw a big jump from Friday with an estimated $6.9M vs $3.8M.

Green Book — which enters China as a flat sale rather than a quota title — is seeing an Oscar halo effect and has also benefited from Alibaba’s promotion which included getting eCommerce tycoon Jack Ma out to a Bejing screening on Monday night to talk up the picture.

And in more China box office, Fox’s Alita: Battle Angel crossed the $100M mark on Saturday as it looks at a 60+% drop from opening. All pictures will face Captain Marvel next weekend.

Meanwhile, in Indonesia, a local teen romance set a new benchmark for opening day box office. Dilan 1991, the sequel to Dilan 1990, last year’s most-viewed Indonesian title, grossed a reported $2.05M on Thursday, breaking the all-time record previously held by Avengers: Infinity War which opened to $1.79M on a Wednesday last year. Directed by Pidi Baiq and Fajar Bustomi and starring Iqbaal Ramadhan and Vanesha Prescilla, it’s an adaptation of Baiq’s novel Dilan Bagian Kedua: Dia Adalah Dilanku Tahun 1991 (Dilan Part Two: He’s My Dilan In 1991), the second book in a series. Infinity War, for the record, finished its first 5-day frame at $11.35M in the market.

We’ll have a full international update on Sunday.