UPDATE, WRITETHRU: It’s been a while since we had more than one major studio rollout in the same frame at the international box office, and this weekend provided two — plus some key expansions. MGM/Sony’s The Magnificent Seven narrowly topped Warner Bros’ Storks in their offshore debuts making Antoine Fuqua, Denzel Washington, Chris Pratt and the gang the No. 1 new kids in town. They set new records for the Western genre and Washington in some key plays while also jockeying for position with Storks and others in various markets. Mag 7‘s launch was $19.2M in 63 with Storks bundling up $18.3M in 33. The overall weekend victory, however, went to Universal’s two-week old Bridget Jones’s Baby at a healthy $21.9M.
Sony MGM
This weekend’s domestic champ, Mag 7 had actually moseyed into Korea last frame, capitalizing on the presence of local star Byung-Hun Lee. That lifts the offshore cume to $24.8M when factoring in last session’s take. In Korea and Brazil, the film set new records for the Western, a genre which doesn’t always resonate overseas. Washington also had his best debuts ever in Russia and Brazil. For the same group of markets which have opened and at current rates, Mag 7 is bigger than both Fuqua/Washington team-up The Equalizer (+10%) and Coen brothers Western remake True Grit (+55%).
Warner Bros’ Storks had delivery dates in 33 international markets where it swooped in on about 14,500 screens. Openings included China where the pic is No. 2 behind last weekend’s fantasy holdover A Chinese Odyssey: Part 3 ($48.4M cume). It came in at $5.2M there and on par with Hotel Transylvania. Playing to a young demo, Storks found the best reception in the family-friendly Latin American market and overall picked up a number of No. 1s.
Highlights elsewhere include Jason Bourne now getting thisclose to $400M worldwide ahead of the Japan bow on October 7; Finding Dory about to eclipse Despicable Me 2 as the No. 5 animated film ever at the global box office; and Bad Moms rocking up a No. 1 start in Germany. Details on those and more are in the breakdowns below.
As many pictures get late into their runs and with few new Hollywood or local titles having made significant global impact the past few weeks, international box office has been sluggish. This frame was down 50% from last week and 62% from this same weekend last year across the Top 10 titles.
Ahead next weekend are Deepwater Horizon from Lionsgate’s Summit Entertainment label, notably in the UK and Russia, as well as 500 worldwide IMAX hubs; and Fox’s Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children. Sixty-six markets get the Tim Burton film including Australia, Brazil, Mexico, Korea, Spain and the UK.
In Asia, the big titles to watch are crime drama Operation Mekong from director Dante Lam; adventure comedy Mission Milano with Andy Lau and Xiaoming Huang; and L.O.R.D: Legend Of Ravaging Dynasties starring Fan Bingbing.
NEW
THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN
Sony Pictures
Director Antoine Fuqua teams with Denzel Washington and Chris Pratt who lead a band of outlaws in a new take on John Sturges’ classic 1960 oater which starred Yul Brynner, Eli Wallach and Steve McQueen (and was based on the Akira Kurosawa original Seven Samurai). The weekend was $19.2M on the MGM/Sony pic in 63 markets. IMAX was $1.4M of the total at 234 locations. The global IMAX tally, which is eyeing the No. 2 2D September bow, is $4.3M from 606.
Sony has Mag 7 at a No. 1 opening in Russia with $1.8M although Warner has Storks at $1.9M. This will wash out in the actuals tomorrow. Spain and Malaysia were No. 1s of $1.1M/450 screens and $560K/220, respectively. Brazil opened to $1.1M from 440 screens, 31% ahead of Django Unchained.
The UK was the top launch with $2.6M from 820 screens, to best The Equalizer by 7%. Bridget Jones is dominating play there. In Germany, the ladies had it as Bad Moms opened No. 1 to top Mag 7’s Stetsons and spurs. The Western ended up at No. 2 with $1.4M from 537 screens.
Last weekend’s Korea debut was $5.1M including previews and set a record for the genre (per Sony, the TFSS opening was four times Django Unchained). The pic is No. 4 in its 2nd frame there, behind Age Of Shadows, Ben-Hur and a Japanese title I Am A Hero. The local cume is $6.7M. Elsewhere, the UAE grossed $855Kfrom 54 screens; 2x bigger than the opening of Django and on par with The Equalizer.
Mag 7 was positioned at fall festivals to help boost its international potential. After premiering in Toronto, the movie bowed at the Venice Film Festival with both Washington and Pratt in attendance. Having such a high-profile film play so late in the Lido fest — on the last night — was something of a departure for Venice.
It’s early days for the film in what’s currently a sluggish overseas market coming off the summer. Remaining key territories include France and Australia this week. The stars are well-liked, and Fuqua and Washington working together have gone from strength to strength (Training Day: $28.2M, The Equalizer: $90.7M). Pratt’s international base is growing.
Some see a possible $100M internationally once the dust settles, although few westerns reach those heights. For comps, there’s the Coen brothers’ 2010 True Grit ($81M intl), Django Unchained ($263M), The Lone Ranger ($172.4M) and The Hateful Eight ($101.6M). Of those, Django and H8 were branded Quentin Tarantino — Django also had Leonardo DiCaprio — and that should be taken into account. It’s not yet clear if Mag 7 is getting a China release.
STORKS
WB
The second film from Warner Animation Group after 2014’s The Lego Movie, Nicholas Stoller and Doug Sweetland’s Storks swooped into 33 international markets for an estimated $18.3M debut. Family friendly Latin America was a strong play with about 40% of the total estimated weekend box office. The film came in No. 1 in nearly all markets there (save Peru and Argentina where it was No. 2 behind local pics).
China was the best individual market at $5.2M on 6,000 screens. That was good for the No. 2 slot behind local holdover A Chinese Odyssey: Part 3 — although local reporting has the movie at No. 1 for the day on Sunday. The full weekend tops last year’s Peanuts Movie by 75%, coming in on par with Hotel Transylvania.
Storks feathered its nest with a No. 1 in Mexico ($2.4M) on 1,992 screens to quadruple Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs and equal Hotel Transylvania; both original IP franchise-starters.
Russia auds opted for Storks over Mag 7 also in its debut, with $1.9M on 1,831 screens. It was No. 1 ahead of local holdover Fiancé and topped comps Cloudy and Peanuts.
WB has Brazil expected at No. 1 with $1.5M, again ahead of Mag 7, and topping Cloudy by 29%.
Australia, where kids are on school vacation, gave Storks a No. 4 landing with $931K on 256.
The rollout on Storks, which skews to a young crowd but is resonating with families overseas, is staggered with the next key market Spain on September 30. France and the UK don’t go til October 14. There is some clear space ahead in the family demo for ahead of DreamWorks Animation’s Trolls. Oz is the only territory currently on vacation but there are holiday periods ahead in some key plays including France, the UK, Germany and Japan.
HOLDOVERS/EXPANSIONS
BRIDGET JONES’S BABY
Universal
In her second weekend of offshore play, Bridget Jones’s Baby — Universal, Miramax and Studiocanal’s presentation of the Working Title production — delivered a strong $21.9M in 47 territories. That takes the international total to $67.1M for a worldwide cume to date of $83.6M.
The UK continues to embrace Bridget Jones’s Baby with a second No. 1 in a row and 50% of the market. The weekend was worth $8.4M for a 10-day total of $27.5M. Australia is also cooing at No. 2 behind Universal release The Secret Life Of Pets for an 11-day total of $7.7M. The Netherlands maintained No. 1 and has $3.7M to date. Spain stuck at No. 2 for $3.3M over 10 days.
New additions to the family were in eight markets including No. 1s in Iceland and New Zealand; each topping the previous franchise installments. Italy opened No. 2 with $1.7M at 430 dates. Next weekend adds Brazil, Korea and Malaysia.
THE SECRET LIFE OF PETS
Universal Pictures
Pets power continues with another $8.1M in 57 territories for an international total of $456.6M. Combined with the estimated U.S. total of $364.3M, the worldwide cume is $820.9M. The only new play this weekend was Poland with a $1.7M No. 1 at 189 dates, topping all comps. For the 3rd week in a row, the Illumination/Universal title is No. 1 in Australia with kids off school through early October. The 18-day total is $13.3M. Still to come are South Africa next week and Italy on October 6.
SULLY
Warner Bros’ Clint Eastwood Miracle on the Hudson movie grossed an estimated $6.5M from 2,300 screens in 45 international territories. The offshore cume is now $34.5M. In new openers, Japan bowed to $2.3M on 360 screens. The start tops all Eastwood pics outside American Sniper and Letters From Iwo Jima. Australia held well above water with a 26% drop in its 3rd frame. The total there is now $6.8M to lead offshore play. Korea releases September 28, although previews have begun with about $363K, per local reporting.
FINDING DORY
Disney
In weekend 14 of searching for her family, Disney/Pixar’s Dory found another $5.3M in 14 territories. With Germany still to come, the forgetful blue tang continues to swim closer to the $1B worldwide mark. Current stats are: $484.2M domestic, $485.6M international and $969.8M global. Dory just overtook The Jungle Book to become the No. 3 grossing movie globally of 2016. It has also become the No. 6 animated movie ever at the worldwide box office, overtaking The Lion King, and is fast approaching Despicable Me 2’s $971M. Italy continued to lap up Dory’s story in its 2nd weekend of release with another No. 1 (topping newcomers Mag 7 and Bridget Jones) and…
