With a drop of just 22% from its opening frame, Interstellar’s 2nd weekend grossed an estimated $ 106M on more than 15.4M admissions from 21,290 screens in 63 markets.
The international cume to date is $ 224.1M, which is 13% over director Christopher Nolan’s 2010 hit, Inception, and 6% ahead of last year’s similarly space-minded Gravity in the same markets at the same point of release. IMAX results are an estimated $ 12.4M – down just 10% from the opening session. The overseas cume in the format is now $ 24.1M. Interstellar’s worldwide cume is now $ 321.9M.
After blasting off with a Wednesday open of $ 5.4M in China – giving Nolan his biggest bow ever in the market – Interstellar came out of the five-day with an estimated $ 42M (256.9M Rmb) from 7,740 screens. With a 55% share of the market, this is now Nolan’s highest-grossing opening weekend in the Middle Kingdom, Warner Bros’ all-time biggest 2D open and the studio’s second-biggest opening weekend of all time behind Pacific Rim 3D.
The sci-fi epic bested the three-day opening of Oriental DreamWorks’ Penguins Of Madagascar, which debuted in China two weeks ahead of its domestic bow and the beginning of its international rollout. The movies grabbed two of the last slots available to Hollywood films in China this year, but Interstellar had two extra days after releasing on Wednesday and Penguins entered the market cold, without the benefit of a big U.S. opening to build buzz.
The Eric Darnell-/Simon J Smith-
directed Penguins took $ 11.3M from 3,500 China locations after bowing on Friday. That was good for a No. 2 slot. Interstellar and Penguins will now run for another three weeks and will have to face off with local competition as that grows into the end of the year. There’s also The Hunger Games – Mockingjay Part I to contend with next Friday, although the franchise has not been as strong in China as elsewhere.
Meanwhile, Interstellar is enjoying an out-of-this-world run in Korea, with a weekend gross of $ 15.8M on 1,410 screens – up 11% from last frame. The film is carrying nearly 80% of the market, which is shaping up to be the second biggest for Interstellar with a cume of $ 35.9M.
In the UK, the gross is estimated at $ 6M from 1,298 screens with a drop of 30%. The major competition in the UK’s second frame was the bow of The Imitation Game. Warner says Interstellar is outpacing that film by 42%. The cume in Nolan’s home territory is now $ 19.3M.
In Russia, Interstellar has a 60% share of the Top 5 films with a gross of $ 5.3M from 1,680 screens and a cume of $ 16.8M. France grossed an estimated $ 4.1M for a 2nd week at No. 1 on 745 screens. The cume is now $ 12.8M. In Germany, where there is competition from soccer documentary Die Mannschaft, Interstellar retained the No. 1 slot on 715 screens with $ 3.6M. The total there is $ 9.6M. Faced with local pic The Best School In The World from hitmaker Luca Miniero, Interstellar is expected to rank No. 2 in Italy with $ 2.9M from 604 screens. The total now stands at $ 7.7M. Spain maintained the No. 1 position on $ 2M from 542 screens and holding 41% of the Top 5. Total in the market is $ 5.8M.
Australia gave Matthew McConaughey and crew another No. 1 ranking, dropping just 14% for a take of $ 3.1M from 551 screens. The Endurance has a 50% share of the Top 5 films and a total of $ 8.15M.
In Mexico, Interstellar added $ 1.7M on 1,075 screens for a cume of $ 5.7M. Brazil’s weekend tally is an estimated $ 1.5M on 416 screens, down only 19% from opening weekend. The cume is now $ 3.9M. Japan opens next weekend on November 22.
Below are figures and run-downs on the other movies at the global marketplace this weekend, including Universal’s international debut of Dumb And Dumber To. More to come…
Disney just passed the $ 4B milestone at the global box office this weekend while its Big Hero 6 is jockeying domestically with new entry Dumb And Dumber To. The animated film started rolling out internationally on October 25 and now has an overall cume of $ 148.4M worldwide. It added a total $ 11.9M overseas this frame in 23 territories for an international total of $ 36.7M.
Ahead of the Revolution Day Memorial holiday, Mexico opened this frame taking $ 4.8M – equal to the bow of Frozen during last year’s Christmas season. It also inflated in Malaysia and Singapore where it was the highest grossing Disney/Pixar animated opening of all time in both territories, with $ 1.6M and $ 1.2M respectively. The Malaysia opening was the No. 2 biggest industry opening ever for an animated film, behind only Despicable Me 2. In the Philippines, Big Hero 6’s cume to date of $ 3.1M has already passed the lifetimes of Frozen, Tangled and Wreck-It Ralph to become the second highest grossing Disney/Pixar animated release ever behind only Toy Story 3. In Vietnam, Big Hero 6 is the highest grossing Disney/Pixar animated release ever. In Russia, it has now advanced to be the second highest grossing Disney/Pixar animated release of all time with $ 19M; only Frozen is out in front. Speaking of which, Frozen did super-hot business in Japan earlier this year and given Big Hero 6’s Japanese elements, it’s gearing up to be a big player there when it opens on December 20.
As it begins to wind down its run in China, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles added $ 2.4M this frame for a local cume of $ 57.2M. In all this session TMNT added $ 4.2M from 3,071 locations in 20 territories. The overseas total to date is $ 283.2M. Apart from China, TMNT added $ 689K on its 5th UK weekend for a cume of $ 21.7M. France was worth $ 381K for a tidy $ 15M total and Germany made $ 220K for $ 10.2M. Japan will be the Paramount title’s last market on February 7.
Ouija scared up another $ 3.3M at 1,800 dates in 22 territories, taking its international total to $ 17.5M. Opening in Russia behind the Interstellar holdover, it came in No. 2 with $ 1.5M at 604 dates. Universal says that’s bigger than both Sinister and Insidious. Ouija’s next openings are Czech Republic and Greece on November 27, and Turkey on November 28.
Universal released Farrelly brothers sequel Dumb And Dumber To in four markets this frame: Germany, Spain, Austria and German-speaking Switzerland. In total, the gross-out comedy grossed $ 3.2M at 946 dates and was the no-brainer choice for folks looking for an alternative to the intellectual and philosophical bent of Interstellar. In Germany, DADT bowed at No. 3 behind Insterstellar and Die Mannschaft, a documentary about the World Cup-winning German national football team. DADT took $ 1.4M in the market at 487 dates. In Spain, the tontissimos Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels cut a No. 2 bow with $ 1.3M at 308 dates. The score is the best non-local comedy opening this year and falls at No. 3 overall behind local hits Torrente 5 and Spanish Affairs. Austria opened at No. 2 with $ 290K at 60 dates and German-speaking Switzerland was also a No. 2 with $ 280k at 44 dates. Universal will release DADT in the UK/Ireland on December 19 and in Australia and New Zealand on January 8.
La Scuola Pui Bella Del Mondo (The Best School In The World) is an Italian comedy being released by Universal locally. It opened at No. 1 in Italy with $ 3.2M at 400 dates this weekend. Directed by Luca Miniero, who already has the No. 2 film of the year with Un Boss In Salotto at $ 16.5M, the comedy is set at a middle school where a misunderstanding leads to a group of unexpected visitors. The box office weekend in Italy was impacted by severe floods in the north.
Universal’s Dracula Untold sucked up another $ 3.1M at 2,800 dates in 55 territories this weekend. The international total is $ 153.1M. Brazil was a strong holdover at No. 3 in week four with $ 1.1M at 345 dates for a 25-day total of $ 10.9M. Venezuela, the last market for Dracula to seek its teeth in, opens on November 21.
Sony’s Fury is still rolling along in 19 SPRI markets with an estimated $ 3.1M weekend. The Sony cume on the Brad Pitt WWII pic is $ 45M. Denmark launched to $ 225K on 63 screens while solid 3rd and 4th weekend holds were found in Russia ($ 403K, $ 8.1M cume), France ($ 358K, $ 6M cume), Australia ($ 616K, $ 7.2M cume) and the UK ($ 576K, $ 12.6M cume),
The Boxtrolls lifted the lid on an estimated $ 1.6M at 3,000 dates in 44 territories this frame for a total of $ 53.9M. Colombia and Slovenia opened this weekend with figures due in tomorrow via Universal The film has one more territory to release: South Africa on November 28.
Stephen Daldry’s Brazilian-British Trash grossed an estimated $ 650K at 290 dates in 10 territories for an international total of $ 2M. Universal will continue to release over the next several months with the next dates Italy and Spain on November 27 and 28, respectively. Rooney Mara stars with Martin Sheen in the film about a group of kids who find a wallet in a garbage dump and end up in a whole mess of trouble. It opened in seven territories this frame including France with $ 430K at 161 dates.
Paramount’s Hercules earned $ 421K from 1,505 sites this weekend bringing the international total to $ 169.2M, including MGM markets.
Richard Linklater’s Boyhood is showing no signs of growing pains. The family drama has added $ 370K at 200 dates in 16 territories this frame for a Universal total of $ 18.7M. There are still seven territories to release in what has been a methodical rollout. Next weekend, Boyhood opens in Estonia and Lithuania.
Nancy Tartaglione
