The latest global box office results paint a picture of striking contrasts, with a horror sequel exceeding expectations, a highly anticipated animated film underperforming its projections, and established hits continuing their strong runs and reaching significant milestones.
Leading the charge this weekend was Sony’s R-rated horror sequel, ’28 Years Later,’ directed by Danny Boyle. The film had a potent worldwide debut, raking in an estimated $60 million globally. This impressive start was split evenly, with $30 million coming from domestic markets and another $30 million from its opening in 59 international territories. The performance came in slightly above pre-weekend forecasts.
’28 Years Later’ demonstrated particular strength internationally, outperforming recent auteur horror like ‘Sinners’ by a significant 76% in like-for-like markets. It also opened on par with ‘Nosferatu’ and saw a bigger debut than horror franchise sequels such as ‘A Quiet Place: Part II’ (+13%), ‘Evil Dead Rise’ (+24%), and ‘Smile 2’ (+29%) when compared using current exchange rates in similar markets. Despite reports of a heatwave in some regions, the film stormed the UK box office with a No. 1 opening of $6.4 million. Other strong international bows included:
Mexico: $2.7 million
Middle East region: $1.8 million
Australia: $1.7 million
Korea: $1.5 million
Germany: $1.3 million
France: $1.3 million
Spain: $1.2 million
In stark contrast to the horror hit, Pixar/Disney’s animated adventure ‘Elio’ failed to meet expectations in its global debut. The film lifted off with a soft $35 million worldwide. A mere $14 million of this total came from 43 international markets, which represent about 80% of its planned overseas footprint (with China, Japan, and Spain still slated for later release). This figure landed well below pre-weekend projections, despite positive audience and social media reactions noted by the studio.
It’s worth noting that ‘Elio,’ which targets a younger audience, opened internationally before widespread kids’ school holidays have begun. This is a factor that could potentially impact its initial box office performance, though it’s a similar window to when ‘Elemental’ launched in 2023, a film that managed to build its box office over time after a modest start. ‘Elio’ did score its best overseas opening in Korea, where it climbed to No. 1 for the frame with an estimated $1.8 million. Other top international markets included:
Mexico: $1.4 million
France: $1.3 million
UK: $1.2 million
Italy: $800K
The film will need to leverage upcoming holiday periods and a relatively clear animation release calendar until ‘Smurfs’ arrives in mid-July to improve its trajectory. While it stands as one of Disney’s top 3 original animated global openers post-pandemic alongside ‘Elemental’ and ‘Encanto,’ it hasn’t captured immediate momentum.
Maintaining its dominance, Universal’s live-action adaptation ‘How to Train Your Dragon’ continued to lead both the overall offshore and global box office in its second weekend. The film added a robust $53.6 million from 81 international markets, showing a strong hold with only a 37% drop from its opening frame. This performance propelled its global cumulative total to $358.2 million, with $197.7 million sourced from international territories.
Excluding China, ‘How to Train Your Dragon’s international cume is pacing ahead of notable releases like ‘Sonic the Hedgehog 3,’ the animated ‘How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World’ (HTTYD3), and ‘The Little Mermaid’ at the same point in their runs. The film saw impressive holds in markets like Brazil (-13%), Australia (-28%), Germany (-28%), Netherlands (-32%), China (-32%), and Korea (-33%). It remained the No. 1 movie in most markets globally, with the UK/Ireland, China, and Korea being exceptions. The top international markets for ‘Dragon’ to date are:
Mexico: $24.5 million
China: $23.2 million
UK: $16.8 million
Brazil: $12.6 million
Korea: $9.6 million
The film’s global Imax cume reached $28.4 million, with $13 million originating from international Imax screens.
Meanwhile, Disney’s animated hit ‘Lilo & Stitch’ crossed another significant box office milestone. The film’s global total now stands at a staggering $910.3 million, surpassing the $900 million mark. In its fifth weekend, ‘Lilo & Stitch’ added another $19.7 million internationally (-39% drop) from 52 markets, pushing its international cumulative total to $523.6 million. Its top international markets contributing to this impressive total are:
Mexico: $64.2 million
UK: $46.3 million
France: $37.1 million
Brazil: $34.5 million
Germany: $29 million
Also in its fifth weekend, Paramount/Skydance’s ‘Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning’ continued its run, reaching a global total of $540.9 million. The film added $12.8 million from 66 international markets during the session, bringing its international cumulative total to $362.5 million. Its leading international markets include China ($60.6M), UK ($32.9M), Japan ($30.2M), Korea ($22.5M), and France ($21.8M). The film’s global Imax total stands at $74.5 million.
In local market news, estimates suggest that Indian superstar Aamir Khan’s latest film, ‘Sitaare Zameen Par,’ is on track for an estimated $8 million opening in India and an $11.5 million global debut this weekend.
Here’s a look at updated cumulative totals for other notable films:
Materialists (SNY/A24): $7.5M international cume / $31.4M global
Karate Kid: Legends (SNY): $48.8M international cume / $98.3M global
Final Destination Bloodlines (WB): $145.3M international cume / $280.1M global
The Phoenician Scheme (UNI): $15.8M international cume / $32M global
Sinners (WB): $86.5M international cume / $363.8M global
References
- deadline.com
- <a href="https://m.imdb.com/news/ni65346442/?ref=ttnwart_perm”>m.imdb.com
- uk.news.yahoo.com
- <a href="https://www.imdb.com/de/news/ni65346442/?ref=ttnwr_1″>www.imdb.com
- uk.news.yahoo.com
