Cat & Mouse: ‘The Lion King’s $963M WW Through Sunday Pushes Disney To Record $7.67B Global B.O.; 1st Studio To Pass $5B Overseas – International Box Office

UPDATE, writethru: Disney’s The Lion King roared through its third weekend at the international box office, lapping up $142.8M from 53 offshore markets, and bringing the overseas total to $611.9M with worldwide at $962.7M through Sunday. In doing so, it also helped push Disney to a new all-time yearly global box office record of $7.67B, surpassing the studio’s previous record of $7.61B in 2016. Overseas, Disney has become the first studio to cross $5B in a single year with an estimated $5.09B to date. These figures do not include Fox titles.

Disney gets to the records with the aid of three other movies that have topped $1B in 2019: Avengers: Endgame ($2.793B WW/$1.937B international), Captain Marvel ($1.128B/$701.4M) and last week’s crosser, Aladdin ($1.010B/$663.8M). In 2018, the studio’s full-year gross was $7.325B. There are still five months left in 2019. When all is rolled up, with Maleficent: Mistress Of Evil, Frozen 2 and Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker still to come pre-2020, it’s Disney’s world.

Coming off the current frame, The Lion King, which held No. 1 in nearly all of its markets abroad, is now the No. 5 release of the year globally. A 45% dip from such a strong debut last weekend suggests the movie is not frontloaded. It will get to the $1B mark early this week, and should soon be joined by Toy Story 4 which is at $917.9M global through Sunday after a slight 28% drop overseas and with some markets increasing from the previous session.

Directed by Jon Favreau, The Lion King is still led by China (where it debuted early, but has not maintained the No. 1 position due to local competition). The gross there is $114.8M. Note that Japan and Italy are still to come for the Big Cat. Globally, Lion King has grossed $50M in IMAX.

Elsewhere, Sony/Marvel’s Spider-Man: Far From Home, which also crossed $1B worldwide this week, added $21M in the overseas frame to bring its international cume brushing up against $700M and the global total to $1.03B.

In new China play, Enlight Pictures’ Ne Zha topped $100M in its debut, following strong previews and rising steadily throughout the weekend. It took in $7.7M from IMAX on 618 screens and is the format’s biggest animated opening and the best for July in the Middle Kingdom.

Next week, we’ll be talking about Universal’s Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw which starts offshore rollout on Wednesday. In the meantime, breakdowns on the films above and more have been updated below.

HOLDOVERS/EXPANSIONS
THE LION KING

The mighty roar continued at the international box office for Disney’s CGI/live-action remake of its animated classic with a $142.8M weekend in 53 material markets. This lifts the offshore cume to $611.9M and global to $962.7M. The Jon Favreau-directed film will become The Mouse’s 4th movie to pass $1B this year when it gets there early this week. It is already the No. 5 global release of 2019 (currently behind its own Aladdin and Sony/Marvel’s Spider-Man: Far From Home which is the only non-Dis title to the mark this year).

TLK posted a 45% drop in like-for-like markets across the 3rd frame, suggesting we are not seeing frontloading. The only hub where it is not still stalking the top of the charts is China, although the gross there is $114.8M to lead all offshore play. Two local titles have dominated the Middle Kingdom in what’s been a rough summer for homegrown fare there.

Europe as a region dropped by just 41% and The Lion King remained as the No. 1 release. Strong holds included Switzerland (+10%), Portugal (-16%), Spain (-27%), Israel (-29%), France (-32%), Netherlands (-32%), Germany (-39%) and UK (-41%). The estimated regional cume is now $252M, making The Lion King the 2nd biggest release of 2019. It’s Disney’s world in Europe where the studio has the Top 4 movies of the year. Also, in the Netherlands, TLK has become the fastest movie ever to reach 1M admissions.

In Asia Pacific, the cume is now an estimated $236M. Outside China, TLK remained the top draw in all markets. Strong holds included Malaysia (-33%), Singapore (-35%), Vietnam (-42%) and Australia (-45%). Hong Kong just opened, with $2M, to pace above both The Jungle Book and Aladdin.

In Latin America, the dip was 39% and all holds were No. 1. Argentina, at -16%, leads the drops, along with Peru (-21%), Brazil (-30%), Chile (-34%) and Colombia (-37%). The estimated regional cume is now $123M with the movie already the highest grossing Disney-branded live-action release in Brazil, Mexico, Chile, Colombia, Peru, Central America, Trinidad, Uruguay and Paraguay.

Behind China, the Top 5 is rounded out by the UK ($45.1M), Brazil ($42.1M), France ($40.1M) and Mexico ($37.1M).

Still to come are Japan and Italy in August.

SPIDER-MAN: FAR FROM HOME

After crossing the $1B mark at the worldwide box office earlier this week, Sony/Marvel’s Spidey sequel caught another $21M in its web in 67 markets during the 5th offshore frame. The international total is now $692.4M for $1.03B global. The Jon Watts/Tom Holland reteam is the biggest of the franchise both overseas and globally, and is Sony’s 2nd biggest worldwide release ever with leader Skyfall in its sights.

The Top 5 overseas markets to date are China ($2.4.7M), Korea ($58M), UK ($38.2M), Mexico ($30.6M) and Japan ($26.4M).

TOY STORY 4

In what’s likely to be Disney’s next $1B global grosser after The Lion King gets there in the next few days, Pixar’s TS4 picked up another $19.4M in 40 material markets this session. That lifts its international playdate to $522.3M for $917.9M worldwide. The film will soon pass Shrek globally to become the No. 11 animated release ever, and Pixar’s 5th outing within the group.

There were no new openings this session for Forky with a drop of just 28% overseas. In Europe, the dip was a slight 8% despite a new heatwave. That’s notable in France where the fourquel went up 8% while Portugal (+12%) and Belgium (+9%) also saw increases. The Netherlands was even with last weekend, Spain dipped 3%, Italy 7% and the UK just 14%. In the latter, the movie is now the 3rd biggest animated title ever.

In Latin America, where Woody and the gang have really excelled, the region’s total is $190.2M. TS4 is the No. 1 ever release in Argentina, No. 2 in Mexico, Chile and Colombia and No. 3 in Bolivia.

The Top 5 markets are: Mexico ($70.7M), UK ($64.9M), Japan ($51M); Brazil ($31.4M) and China ($29.1M).

ALADDIN

There’s still gas in that magic carpet as Disney’s Aladdin added $7.2M this international weekend from 33 material markets. The offshore total is now $663.8M for $1,009.7M global. Aladdin passed the $1B mark at the worldwide box office on Friday as it continues its surprising run, undaunted by critical reaction.

Despite all the competition in overseas markets, Jasmine, Ali and the Blue Genie saw a minimal 23% drop versus last weekend. There were also three markets that rode higher than the previous session: Belgium (+6%), France (+3%) and Spain (+1%).

Elsewhere, Japan continues to excel, now at $101.3M to date while Korea has rubbed the lamp to $84.6M, becoming the No. 11 release of all time in the market, including local titles.

Behind those two, the Top 5 is rounded out by China ($53.3M), UK ($45.5M) and Mexico ($32.5M).

THE SECRET LIFE OF PETS 2

Illumination/Universal’s sequel padded into Japan this weekend, landing No. 5 with $2.6M amid strong competition. The full weekend in 48 markets was worth $7.2M for an offshore cume of $178.3M and a global total of $332M, far off from its predecessor but profitable nonetheless. Germany had a good hold (-33%) in its 5th weekend for $14.4M to date; Netherlands and Belgium also posted increases well into their runs. Latin America saw strength this session: Argentina was up 32% and Brazil dipped by just 22%. And, still to come are such biggies as France, Korea, Spain and Mexico.

UPDATED CUMES/NOTABLE

Annabelle Comes Home (WB): $3.7M intl weekend (78 markets); $137.7M intl cume ($207.4M global)
Yesterday (UNI): $3.6M intl weekend (34 markets); $46.3M intl cume ($109.6M global)
Crawl (PAR): $3.4M intl weekend (30 markets); $14.4M intl cume ($45.9M global)
The Hustle (UNI): $1.4M intl weekend (15 markets); $59.5M intl cume ($94.9M global)
Rocketman (PAR): $491K intl weekend (28 markets); $89.7M intl cume ($184.63M)
Ma (UNI): $300K intl weekend (9 markets); $15.1M intl cume ($60.5M global)
The Dead Don’t Die (UNI): $300K intl weekend (12 markets); $6.7M intl cume ($13.3M global)
Avengers: Endgame (DIS): $200K intl weekend (15 markets); $1,936.6M intl cume ($2.793B global)