HIGHLIGHTS: The Hobbit: The Battle Of The Five Armies (WB) reaches $ 405.1M cume overseas; Exodus: Gods And Kings (FOX) flexes $ 31M muscle; Night At The Museum 3 (FOX) sets Ben Stiller record in Mexico; Russell Crowe’s The Water Diviner (UNI) is biggest Oz bow for a local film in 2014; Into The Woods (DIS) & Unbroken (UNI) tie at $ 2.7M; Paddington (SC) enters Top 10 2014 UK box office chart; Aamir Khan still drawing in PK; More…
Below are studio reported figures on the major titles playing overseas this weekend. Five Armies won the box office battle among Hollywood pics in the frame while some local records were set amongst other titles. New entries The Water Diviner, Into The Woods and Unbroken planted flags in just a few markets with many holdovers finding increased figures during this holiday session. See below for initial studio reported numbers and I’ll update with lots about local movies a bit later on.
NEW
Russell Crowe’s The Water Diviner debuted through Universal in Australia and New Zealand this weekend and grossed an estimated $ 3M at 335 dates. In Oz, the epic historical drama was No. 4 with $ 2.9M at 255 dates. Although it didn’t best The Hobbit in its arrival in the market, it is the biggest opening for an Australian film this year. It will now play as the key adult drama going into the Down Under summer. In Crowe’s native New Zealand, The Water Diviner was also No. 4 with $ 173K at 80 dates. Universal will release in 11 further markets next year.
Disney’s Into The Woods was propelled to a $ 46.11M four-day opening weekend in North America. Overseas, where the property, based on the Stephen Sondheim musical, is perhaps less well-known east of London’s West End, the film bowed in Korea and Russia, along with some smaller markets. Those two fast-burn hotspots are key for high-profile titles and were worth $ 2.7M this frame. That’s 9% of the movie’s international footprint and unsurprisingly Korea, where audiences appreciate fantasy, spectacle and emotion, was the biggest of the offshore openings with $ 1.9M, followed by Russia with $ 600K. In a staggered release over the next months, the Rob Marshall-helmed Into The Woods will notably cast a spell in the UK, Spain, France and Brazil in January before leaving a glass slipper in Mexico and Germany in February, followed by Japan in March and Italy in April.
Angelina Jolie’s directorial effort Unbroken earned $ 47.3M in North America in its opening while it also bowed in Spain and the UK/Ireland to an estimated $ 2.7M at 759 dates. Debuting on Christmas Day in Spain, the story of the indomitable Louis Zamperini opened at No. 5 with a gross of $ 1.6M at 322 dates over the weekend. The UK/Ireland was worth $ 1.1M after opening on the Boxing Day holiday Friday which also saw the arrivals of Exodus: Gods And Kings, Annie and Big Eyes. The Universal release was No. 7 in the market. It rolls out overseas over the next few months. Next weekend, Unbroken brings its spirit to nine territories including Korea, Egypt, the UAE and other Middle East countries.
HOLDOVERS
The Hobbit: The Battle Of The Five Armies marched out to an $ 89.2M weekend internationally with about 11.6M admissions on 17,100 screens in 62 markets. The film has now passed $ 400M overseas with a cume of $ 405.1M. The worldwide spoils are now $ 573.6M. After previously bowing in New Zealand, Five Armies stormed Australia this frame with a Friday-Sunday gross of $ 10.1M with over 1M admissions from 603 screens. That’s the biggest 3-day opening of the franchise by a wide margin (HAUJ opened on a Wednesday and HDOS on a Thursday). Poland also opened to a very strong No. 1 with $ 5.3M from 843K admissions on 699 screens, including previews.
In holdovers, Bilbo and the gang continue to dominate Germany’s box office with $ 11.65M in its 3rd weekend. At $ 56.16M, Five Armies is the biggest movie of the year in the market. France’s 3rd session added $ 6.86M with 720K admissions on 884 screens. It ranked No. 2 behind local comedy The Bélier Family and now has a cume of $ 35.9M putting it firmly in the Top 10 of the year. In Five Armies’ 3rd trip through the UK turnstiles, it turned up a No. 1 slot for the 3rd straight week, grossing $ 6.6M from 614K admissions at 1,232 screens. Korea’s 2nd weekend was worth $ 5.5M for a cume of $ 18.3M; Italy added $ 5.3M for a $ 13.1M cume; and Scandinavia continues to over-perform ranking No. 1 in Finland, Norway and Denmark, with a regional total to date of $ 32.15M. Other market cumes include: Spain ($ 13.3M), Mexico $ 14.0M, Russia $ 25.1M, Brazil ($ 16.2M), and Japan ($ 8M).
Off muscular bows in Brazil, France, the UK and Germany, Ridley Scott’s Exodus: Gods And Kings earned $ 31M on 6,671 screens in 39 markets this holiday frame. Although the film won’t be getting released in some Middle Eastern markets, the international cume is a burning bush away from the $ 100M mark with $ 97.03M. Brazil opened at No. 1 and earned $ 6.68M from 901 dates this session giving Fox its second biggest opening ever in the market. In France, it was No. 3 behind local heartwarmer The Bélier Family and The Hobbit with $ 5.35M from 587; the UK was No. 2 behind Hobbit with $ 4.25M from 750; and Germany was No. 3 behind Hobbit and Til Schweiger’s Warner drama Honig In Kopf with $ 3.64M at 597. Among other markets, Mexico was up 8% in its fourth frame for a cume of $ 11.2M; Spain was also up 11% in its fourth outing with a $ 9.8M cume and Holland was up 28% for a $ 1.66M cume. Russia sees the Red Sea part next weekend.
Night At The Museum: Secret Of The Tomb dug up $ 30.3M from 6,467 screens in 40 markets in its second international session. The 10-day offshore cume is $ 48.6M with 15+ markets yet to release, including 11 big ones. Mexico had an opening fit for a pharaoh with $ 5.85M from 2,061 screens. That’s Ben Stiller’s biggest ever bow in the market and 183% above NATM2 and 239% above NATM1. Malaysia, at $ 3.07M on 345 screens is Fox’s biggest opener ever in the market, and Singapore ($ 2M from 66) is the fourth highest opening weekend ever for a Fox film. Other debuts include Australia ($ 2.8M from 268), Taiwan ($ 1.55M from 150) and Thailand ($ 967K from 190). In holdovers, the UK cume is $ 8.46M after two frames; Germany is $ 4.78M; Hong Kong is $ 4.4M (and was up 7% this frame); and Central America is $ 1.34M with a 1% drop this go-round.
Disney’s Big Hero 6 bounded into Australia, Brazil and a handful of other markets in time for the holidays with a fantastic $ 24.7M weekend in 51 territories. The international cume is now $ 120.9M after 10 weeks in release with a total global box office of $ 320.83M. Bowing on Christmas Day in Australia, Big Hero 6 was No. 2 behind The Hobbit’s first frame there with $ 3.2M. The opening is 18% behind Frozen’s debut weekend and 19% ahead of Wreck-It Ralph. Brazil took in $ 2.8M for the weekend ($ 4.5M cume including previews), which Disney says is around the same level as Tangled. Elsewhere in Latin America, Big Hero 6 opened above Frozen in both Colombia and Peru.
Russia remains the top offshore play for Big Hero 6 but Japan is gaining quickly with $ 17.2M. The film opened there last frame and numbers keep inflating — in the good sense — for the animated story that’s set in San Fransokyo and is titled Baymax locally. This frame was off a slight 20% from the opening weekend. Also among the top markets are Mexico with $ 16.4M, followed by Malaysia with $ 6M and recent opener Italy with $ 5.8M. In Italy, BH6 bested its opening weekend by 149% with $ 3.7M this frame. Spain was also up in week two with $ 2.1M and a jump of 24%. The film has yet to hit Korea, Germany, the UK and France, all of which land in late January and February. China is prepped for a March 1 release.
The Penguins Of Madagascar are still on a mission with a further $ 16.1M from 7,201 screens in 43 markets. The international cume on the Fox release has been lifted to $ 160.6M. Mexico’s $ 4.57M frame from 1,895 screens was an 11% drop from last session and brings the cume to $ 11.44M; France was up 9% from its opening with $ 3.26M from 727; and with the kiddies out of school, Holland was also up — 132% — for a $ 2.4M cume to date. Belgium and Denmark also saw increases of 42% and 37%, respectively. There were solid openings in Scandinavia, led by Norway ($ 821K from 200), Sweden ($ 784K from 230) and Finland ($ 524K from 188). DreamWorks Animation’s Penguins will soak up some Australian summer sun next weekend.
Bollywood comedy/drama PK was far from alienated this weekend, taking in a further $ 14.3M internationally, inlcuding $ 11.8M at home where the cume is now an estimated $ 51.6M. The UTV release of the Aamir Khan-starrer took in $ 2.45M in other markets, plus $ 1.75M in North America. The worldwide total on the Rajkumar Hirani-helmed pic is $ 69.4M. It’s the story of an alien who lands in the Rajasthan desert with a mission to study life on Earth. When the device that allows him to communicate with his spaceship is stolen, he sets out to find it while attempting to blend in.
Lionsgate’s The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 now has a worldwide cume of about $ 670M with the domestic gross crossing $ 300M this frame. Internationally, the penultimate film in the series added an estimated $ 7.9M from 80 markets over the Christmas holiday. The offshore cume is $ 363M still led by the UK with $ 47.3M, followed by Germany ($ 37.2M), Australia ($ 27.2M), France ($ 24.9M) and Mexico ($ 23.4M). Looking at the numbers as they stand, it remains to be seen if Mockingjay can catch Catching Fire overseas. That film’s gross was $ 440M internationally and Mockingjay still has China and Japan to go. The previous installment earned $ 28M in China and $ 1.75M in Japan.
Sony’s Annie update grossed an estimated $ 5.9M on 1,250 screens in 21 territories this weekend, bringing the overseas cume to $ 8.2M. SPRI’s total is $ 5.6M and Village Roadshow’s total is $ 2.6M. New openings this frame included the UK with a pretty solid $ 3.6M, including previews, from 380 screens. Sony says that was good for the No. 3 slot but Studiocanal is reporting $ 4M on Paddington which would push it into the show spot. We’ll see how it shakes out in the actuals tomorrow. Elsewhere, Belgium launched with $ 310K from 117, and as was the case with many films in the Netherlands this frame, Annie lifted in its 2nd outing — by 125% — taking $ 345K for a $ 720K total. Village Roadshow added $ 760K in its markets.
Gone Girl had a resurgence this weekend, surfacing with increased numbers in both Italy and Venezuela. Fox’s David Fincher film added $ 4.25M from 818 screens in six markets for a $ 191M cume. In Italy, Rosamund Pike and Ben Affleck added $ 3.35M from 399 for a jump of 188% from last weekend’s opening. Venezuela was up 12% in its 3rd frame for a $ 728K cume and Japan dropped 31% for a $ 5.8M cume.
Paddington is showing some furry legs at the UK box office with a 3rd place finish this weekend behind Battle Of The Five Armies and Exodus which just opened there, although Studiocanal tells me the polite little bear is sandwiched right behind Ramses’ chariot. The Paul King-directed Paddington had an estimated $ 4M weekend for a local cume of $ 37.2M bumping the film into the Top 10 grossers at the 2014 UK box office and, along with The Inbetweeners 2, one of only two local pics in the
mix.
Dumb And Dumber To added an estimated $ 1.8M at 750 dates in five Universal markets this frame. The studio’s total is now $ 15.1M with a full cume to come later on. Universal has two more territories to release: Australia and New Zealand on January 8.
James Marsh’s The Theory Of Everything configured an estimated $ 1.5M at 425 dates in eight territories this weekend. The international total is now $ 4.5M on the Universal release. Five markets were added this frame including Germany where it grossed $ 901K at 248 dates for the fourth best per-screen average in the market that’s dominated by The Hobbit and several local titles. Australia ($ 157K/41 dates), German-speaking Switzerland ($ 148K/ 22 dates) and Israel ($ 112K/18 dates) also opened with Uruguay results due on Monday. The Stephen Hawking biopic takes its smarts to the UK/Ireland on January 2.
Universal’s fantasy title Seventh Son conjured an estimated $ 1.3M at 421 dates in 10 territories this weekend and raised the early total to $ 2.6M. The film opened in Cyprus, Estonia, French-speaking Switzerland, Greece, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania and Slovenia this frame. A notable holdover, France was worth $ 740K at 270 dates for a 12-day total of $ 2M. The Kit Harrington-starrer hits 14 more territories next weekend including Russia and Spain.
Studiocanal’s The Imitation Game is in its 7th UK frame with an estimated $ 400K and a total of $ 21.17M which puts it very close to the company’s Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. This weekend’s £935 per-screen average was just a tick off of Unbroken’s £953 in its start.
Nancy Tartaglione
