Refresh for latest…: As they approach $900M worldwide, Disney’s Beauty And The Beast clocked a $66.5M overseas frame for a running cume of $480.8M at the international box office — all before Japan attends the ball on April 21. This offshore weekend was a 45% drop from the sophomore session and, with domestic, lifts the global total to $876.3M. Belle and her kindhearted captor led the overseas dance for the 3rd frame in a row.
Paramount/DreamWorks/Reliance’s Scarlett Johansson-starrer Ghost In The Shell came in at No. 2 overseas this weekend, summoning $40.1M in 52 markets. That includes No. 1s in 11 — several in South East Asia and with China and Japan still on deck. The best dollar start was in Russia with $5.3M at 1,100 locations for No. 2. In IMAX, the Rupert Sanders-helmed pic that’s based on the popular manga made $3.3M on 278 screens. Some watchers expected this to come in closer to $50M at launch, although Paramount is comping it to sophisticated sci-fi fare like Elysium (+7%), Oblivion (-6%) and Edge Of Tomorrow (-6%). More detail to follow.
DreamWorks Animation/Fox’s The Boss Baby, which came out screaming in just five markets last frame, expanded to 34 playpens this session. The besuited tot added $36.2M to his briefcase including a DWA record opening in Mexico ($6.5M). In Russia, the 2nd weekend has lifted the local cume to $21.4M making it already the 9th biggest animated title of all time there. This Baby is off and running ahead of a bunch of comps through the same point in release and at current exchange rates including +71% on Trolls and 96% above The Lego Movie. Still in its infancy, the Tom McGrath-helmed pic has 44 markets to go through the spring.
WB
Meanwhile, Warner Bros/Legendary’s Kong: Skull Island continues waging war in China with $124M to date. That means it has surpassed the lifetime grosses of all previous WB titles in the market, including Godzilla, Pacific Rim, Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice, Interstellar and The Hobbit: The Battle Of The Five Armies. It is the No. 3 import so far this year. In a total 67 markets, the full weekend was $34.6M for an offshore cume of $329.5M and a global $477.4M.
In other new plays outside Ghost, Sony Pictures Animation’s Smurfs: The Lost Village opened in 32 markets this frame for $15.1M as rollout continues through the Easter holiday period.
Breakdowns on those and more are being updated below.
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