UPDATE, WRITETHRU with actuals: Thor: Ragnarok has Hulk-smashed his way to $308.3M at the international box office, a couple of million more than the Sunday estimates. This is coming off of a sophomore overseas frame that added $153.7M, including a $56.3M debut in China — the biggest industry opening weekend ever for a November release. Combined with the domestic start this session, the worldwide cume on the god of thunder’s third outing is $431M through Sunday. The numbers on Thor: Ragnarok have pushed the Marvel Cinematic Universe over $13B globally and over $5B domestically. That’s across 17 releases.
Also, Kenneth Branagh’s Murder On The Orient Express opened strong in the UK after a significant marketing push from Fox in the market. Sony’s Blade Runner 2049 crossed $150M; Disney’s Coco actually made more in its second Mexico weekend than its first; and Geostorm is continuing to post double digits overseas despite its cloudy domestic performance.
But back to Thor: The Taika Waititi-helmed refresh on the series, which, despite all the Hulk-ing and thundering, comes with a lighter touch, is playing 9% ahead of Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol 2 and 29% above Doctor Strange. Those figures rep the same suite of markets and are at today’s exchange rates. Also at current exchange rates, GOTG2 finaled at $481M internationally while Doctor Strange earned $456M.
Thor is looking muscular in holds — and is on track to get across $500M internationally with runway ahead before Justice League hits the world in a day-and-date release starting November 15. Next weekend sees Murder On The Orient Express expand, while Paddington 2 cracks open the marmalade jar in the UK.
The Disney/Marvel threequel rocked up in new plays this frame including Germany, Russia, Mexico, China and Japan for a total 55 material offshore hubs, or 99.9% of the overseas footprint. The China debut is 9% ahead of GOTG2, 25% more nimble than Doctor Strange, and has bested the entire lifetime cume of Thor: The Dark World there.
The Top 5 plays so far are China ($56.3M), the UK ($27.2M), Korea ($25.8M), Brazil ($19.3M) and Australia ($15.5M).
In IMAX, this weekend delivered a record-breaking $25.4M globally to bring the total through Sunday to $34M. In newly-opened overseas markets, $13.2M from 788 screens was the best ever November debut for the format.
Actuals on all films (save Lionsgate titles) have been updated in the breakdowns below.
NEW
A BAD MOMS CHRISTMAS
STXinternational opened A Bad Moms Christmas this week in 15 markets including UK, Australia, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, and Poland for an estimated international weekend of $6.67M from 1,410 locations. The sequel to their 2016 hit comedy opened 13% ahead of the debut of the original Bad Moms in like-for-like territories. The original Bad Moms went on to gross $183.9M worldwide.
Bad Moms Christmas in its opening weeken unwrapped $28.27M worldwide so far.
In the UK, the film grossed an estimated $2.4M from 474 locations which is 21% ahead of the first film as well as 45% ahead of Horrible Bosses 2, 9% ahead of Neighbors 2 and 53% ahead of Office Christmas Party.
In Australia, the film grossed an estimated $3M from 359 locations, which is 5% ahead of the original 2016 hit as well as 73% ahead of Horrible Bosses 2, 47% ahead of Neighbors 2 and 69% ahead of Office Christmas Party.
Once again, Mila Kunis, Kristen Bell and scene-stealer Kathryn Hahn starred in the comedy with Susan Sarandon, Cheryl Hines and Christine Baranski for a very funny six-tet. The film was directed by Jon Lucas. Internationally, the original Bad Moms wrapped with a tidy $70.67M.
The film comes as STX Entertainment is readying for a public offering on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange which is expected to take place first quarter of next year.
Next up for the raucous Moms is Germany on November 9.
MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS
The Kenneth Branagh-directed version of the beloved Agatha Christie novel debuted in the UK this weekend ahead of its November 10th release in the U.S. It rolled into the UK with a No. 1 spot at the box office with $6.6M from its 1,020 screens. The film outperformed The Great Gatsby by 41% as well as Gone Girl (+34%) and The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (+11%).
The film is an ensemble that stars Johnny Depp, Daisy Ridley, Michelle Pfeiffer, Judi Dench, Penelope Cruz, Josh Gad, Leslie Odom and Willem Dafoe.
Fox prepared for the release in the UK with an incredible marketing push that included a complete takeover of the the popular Graham Norton Show and a premiere at the Royal Albert Hall (November 2) while on the same day having the Orient Express arrive in London at St Pancras station where Branagh and others did interviews. The reviews coming out of the UK were very good.
Murder On The Orient Express travels into 57 major markets next weekend. Those territories will include China, Germany, Russia, Australia and Mexico.
HOLDOVERS/EXPANSIONS
THOR: RAGNAROK
With an added $153.7M overseas in his second frame, Thor 3 has hammered to $308.3M international and $431M at the worldwide box office. Internationally, the Chris Hemsworth-starrer is playing 9% ahead of Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol 2 and 29% above Doctor Strange. At current exchange rates, GOTG2 finaled at $481M internationally while Doctor Strange earned $456M.
In IMAX plays, this weekend delivered a record breaking $25.4M globally to bring the total to date through Sunday to $34M. Overseas, $13.2M from 788 screens was the best ever November opening.
The second session play in already opened markets was 40% down. That’s well ahead of Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol 2 which saw a 50% drop for the same suite of markets in its sophomore session. Doctor Strange dipped 37% in same grouping.
This session, China led play, natch, with an impressive $56.3M to land the best-ever industry opening for a November release. The IMAX gross there was $6M from 446 screens. Overall, the PROC opening weekend is 9% ahead of Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol 2 and 25% ahead of Doctor Strange. It’s already beaten the lifetime of Thor: The Dark World. The film should ultimately top $100M in the Middle Kingdom.
Mexico was the next best start at $10.8M (+65% on Doctor Strange/-8% on GOTG2). In Germany, Thor 3 bowed to $5.5M ($8.9M including previews). The opening weekend is 70% ahead of Doctor Strange.
India set a new record for a November opening with $5.2M. The start is 142% above Doctor Strange and has topped the lifetimes of GOTG2 and The Dark World.
Japan bowed No. 1 with $3.5M, landing 7% below GOTG2. Russia opened to $3.7M from just IMAX/PLF/CIS states. The movie opens across the whole of Russia tomorrow. The limited opening was above Doctor Strange which had a similar release pattern last year.
Already opened markets saw an overall 40% drop. Holds were strong in such plays as Belgium (+4%), Brazil (even), France (-26%), New Zealand (-34%), Australia (-35%), Poland (-35%), Portugal (-35%), Singapore (-36%), Denmark (-36%), the UK (-38%) and South Africa (-39%).
Latin America and Europe saw overall regional drops of just 30% and 36%, respectively. No. 1s maintained in Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, South Africa, Spain, Sweden and French-speaking Switzerland.
In Asia, Thor 3 is still No. 1 in Australia, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan and likely Vietnam.
The Top 10 plays overall so far are China ($55.6M), the UK ($27.2M), Korea ($25.8M), Brazil ($19.3M), Australia ($15.5M), France ($14.9M), Mexico ($10.8M), Indonesia ($9.5M), Germany ($8.9M) and Italy ($8.1M).
GEOSTORM
Geostorm from Warner Bros is playing strong in overseas markets despite having grossed only $28.9M in three weekends domestically. The film grossed $18M after opening in an additional four markets this weekend to bring its territory total up to 65. It’s currently playing on a big 13,000 screens to bring its running international cume up to $154.3M. Worldwide, the film has racked up a total of $183.2M.
Dean Devlin’s sci-fi that stars Gerard Butler opened this weekend in France, where it debuted to $1.7M (including previews) from 211K admissions on 303 screens, which was good enough to outpace London Has Fallen by 24%, Into The Storm by 29% and Olympus Has Fallen by a big 40%. In Italy, the film debuted to $1.1M on its 258 screens, which is on par with Into The Storm and about 33% ahead of White House Down.
In its sophomore frame in China, Geostorm chased in another $7.7M on 6,000 screens to rank No. 2 and adding to the total cume in the Middle Kingdom of $57.4M. China is, by far, the film’s biggest market not only globally but also overseas. Geostorm‘s second best overseas market is Russia which $9.7M.
Geostorm next opens in Japan on January 19; that is the film’s last key market.
JIGSAW
Jigsaw, Lionsgate’s 8th pic in its Saw franchise, grabbed another $13.7M in its second weekend from 62 markets to bring its international cume up to $30.7M. Leading the charge this weekend was Italy, which grossed $2.2M on 268 screens; that’s 61% better than Saw 5 and 330% better than Saw 6. In France, the horror film opened strong with $1.9M from its 203 screens; that’s 27% better than Saw 5 and 20% better than Saw 6 in toe-to-toe comparisons with their opening weekends.
Australia debuted with a nice $773K on 201 screens, which was good for a No. 3 opening there. Korea opened to $611K on 175 screens.
In terms of top markets, that goes to the UK which has a tally of $4.7M after two weeks in play. Following closely behind that is Russia with $4.2M in its sophomore frame and then Germany with $3.6M after two weekends.
Worldwide, Jigsaw has pieced together $59.5M.
Upcoming major markets for Jigsaw includes Japan and Mexico on November 10 followed by Spain (11/24) and Brazil (11/30).
COCO
Disney’s and Pixar’s animated Coco is beloved in Mexico where it opened last weekend ahead of the Dia de Muertos (Day of the Dead) holiday and in its second weekend moviegoing saw an increase of 12%. That is an unusual feat but word of mouth is very strong on this critical favorite.
The family film from directors Lee Unkrich and Adrian Molina has already grossed $28M in the country and has earned more in its first 10 days in Mexico than any other animated film ever has. It’s already the highest-grossing new IP animated release there ever.
In 2014, the Guillermo del Toro-produced The Book Of Life, from director Jorge R Gutiérrez, which was also animated and delved into the Day of the Dead, opened to $3.3M and went on to gross $10.39M in Mexico. By comparison, Coco opened to $9.3M last weekend in the country and is now surging. Its international weekend haul this weekend was $10.8M.
Coco opens in the states as a Thanksgiving release on November 24th.
IT
The film based on the Stephen King IP that just keeps playing scared in another $5M this weekend on 2,000 screens. The Warner Bros and New Line phenom is still playing in 38 markets and has grossed a whopping $351.6M internationally and $677.5M worldwide. The top overseas markets for the film are the UK with $42.5M, Germany with $34.8M and Mexico with $27.6M.
It enjoyed a fantastic $2.5M opening in Japan this weekend on 202 screens and took the No. 2 spot. The opening exceeded the opening weekends of pretty much all U.S. horror comps and even several local horror films including Zan’E and Sadako Vs. Kayako.
In Italy, the crazy clown is still bringing them in after three weekends of play, grabbing another $1.2M from 510 screens and sitting nicely at No. 2. Cume there is $16.8M.
BLADE RUNNER 2049
The sci-fi actioner grabbed another $5.1M this weekend from 9,100+ screens in 61 markets for an international cume of $155M. Sony is handling this one overseas. With strong word-of-mouth and equally strong reviews, in Japan the film dropped only 43% in its sophomore session to deliver $1.1M for a local cume of $6.1M. The film was an Alcon Entertainment production in association with Columbia Pics.
Worldwide, Blade Runner 2049 has grossed just over $239.9M so far.
KINGSMAN THE GOLDEN CIRCLE
Fox is reporting that its sequel to its 2014 worldwide box office hit, has culled together another $4.7M from 7,586 screens this weekend in 47 markets for a total international run so far of $291.1M. Japan is the final international market to come where it will bow on January 5. It’s still playing in China, France and the UK. Worldwide, it has grossed $389.6M.
MY LITTLE PONY: THE MOVIE
My Little Pony: The Movie, the animated film about the adventures of Twilight Sparkle, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy and Rarity, rode in with another $2.4M from its 67 markets. That brings its international cume up to $26.3M. Opening this weekend was Australia, where the ponies ponied up $353K on 213 screens. So far, the leading market for this kiddie film is the UK. with $4.3M. So far, it’s grossed around $48M.
The next big market to open will be Italy, but not until December 7th.
HAPPY DEATH DAY
Universal and Blumhouse opened in seven more territories this weekend to bring the total up to 46 markets. So far, Happy Death Day has grossed $25.6M after scaring in another $2.8M over this weekend. Worldwide, the film has grossed $78.5M. The horror film is in its second weekend in Mexico and is holding at No. 4 in the market with $340K to bring its total there to $1.6M. Next weekend will see an expansion into 16 more countries, including Korea and Spain.
THE MOUNTAIN BETWEEN US
Adding another $2M this weekend to its international total of $19.8M, Fox enjoyed a great opening in Brazil for the drama thriller that stars Kate Winselt and Idris Elba with a No. 2 showing. The film grossed $950K on 244 screens there. Playing in 26 markets overseas, it’s grossed over $48M worldwide. It still has yet to release in France on November 8 and both Italy (November 23) and Germany (December 7) will follow.
CAPTAIN UNDERPANTS: THE FIRST EPIC MOVIE
Opening in Italy with $1.3M to land in the Top Five there, this animated family film from Fox took in a total of $2.1M for the weekend. It’s still playing in 10 markets and on 1,711 screens. Italy was the final territory for this comedy. So far, it has grossed $49.5M internationally and $123.4M worldwide.
THE SNOWMAN
Playing in 38 markets this weekend, Universal and Working Title’s The Snowman is estimated to gross $1.9M this weekend to bring the total gross up to $28.2M. The mystery/crime film opened in the Netherlands this weekend at No. 3 with a total of $294K. The top holdover market is Germany where it has grossed a total of $4M on a weekend of $601K. The film has grossed $34.7M worldwide.
THE EMOJI MOVIE is still playing in 35 markets to add another $2M this weekend from 1,200+ screens. Its overseas cume is now $128.7M. France held well in its 3rd weekend, down only 10% to gross $1.3M for a market cume of $5M. This film from Sony has now grossed $214.19M worldwide.
VICTORIA AND ABDUL
The Judi Dench and Ali Fazal film about an unlikely friendship between Queen Victoria and her clerk is playing in 42 territories and opened in Denmark, Malaysia and Taiwan this weekend. It grossed $1.7M in all markets for an international tally of $37.1M. Italy is still the top market for the film with $761K and a total of $2.3M. Worldwide, the film is up to a solid $57M. Denmark opened to No. 4 with $217K; Taiwan opened to No. 6 with $84K and Malaysia, with $21K, earned the second-best screen average in the market this weekend. The film is being handled by Universal.
MARROWBONE
This thriller from Spain, released by Universal, is in its second weekend of play and still holding strong at No. 2 in the market. The horror thriller from director Sergio G Sanchez is about siblings who, after concealing their mother’s death, are haunted by a sinister presence. It looks to pull in $1.2M, which actually means it rose 10% over its opening weekend. The 10-day total for the film is $3.5M.
DADDY COOL
A new French comedy which Universal picked up for France opened on Wednesday in moderate release of 254 dates. The film debuted at No. 12 with $1.1M.
NOTABLE:
American Made (UNI), $849K w/e; $82M total; $132.1M worldwide
