4th UPDATE, MONDAY, 4:00 PM PT: Paramount Pictures is the only studio that has not reported, and it has, of course, Transformers: Age of Extinction, which is pounding it way across international markets. So we have finals for everything but the No. 1 pic internationally. The studio is still on holiday in the states. But Sony, Disney, Fox, Warner Bros and Universal have weighed in with updated numbers for their international releases this weekend.
The titles we have final updates for include 22 Jump Street, Deliver Us From Evil, Maleficent, Frozen, The Fault In Our Stars, How To Train Your Dragon 2, Rio 2, The Other Woman, X-Men: Days Of Future Past, Edge Of Tomorrow, Blended, Jersey Boys, Tammy, Neighbors, Mrs. Brown’s Boys D’Movie, A Million Ways To Die In The West, Heaven Is For Real, Think Like A Man Too, and Boyhood. Warners’ Edge Of Tomorrow had a bigger weekend than previously estimated with $8.8M from 3,600 screens in 61 markets, bringing the international cume to $248M. Also from Warners, Tammy was slightly higher than predicted at $2.6M in five markets. And, Fox’s X-Men: Days Of Future Past has passed the $500M mark with $500.03M after adding $4.61M in 52 markets. HTTYD2 was $3.5M lower than estimated, with $30M in 68 markets. Finally, Fox also added the Brazil opening for The Grand Budapest Hotel, which debuted to $382K on 54 screens in the market. All numbers are updated throughout the previous posts below.
3RD UPDATE, 4:15 PM PT: Despite the massive opening and 2nd-frame hold of Michael Bay’s Transformers: Age Of Extinction overseas, the Top 10 international titles are down 29% on last year and 38% on last weekend. Much of that can be attributed to TAOE, which sucked a lot of air out of the market coupled with the World Cup, which led studios to strategically avoid certain dates. In 2013, Despicable Me 2 catapulted from No. 5 to No. 1 thanks to a big offshore expansion worth $88.8M. Other movies playing well abroad included World War Z, Monsters University, The Lone Ranger and Man Of Steel.
Still, this weekend will go down as the one that got TAOE inches away from beating Avatar’s record as the all-time biggest grosser in China. TAOE held the top spot at the international box office this frame and now has a staggering China cume of $212.8M (and an international total of $400.9M). The Paramount film is expected to best Avatar’s record as the biggest film ever in the Middle Kingdom this week — Wednesday, I hear. That the film would do well in the world’s 2nd-biggest box office market was essentially a no-brainer given all of the local elements it employed. However, its local involvement has also been a magnet for attempts at pesky lawsuits spurred on by Chinese sponsors. These folks are clearly getting publicity from the film, and their gripes have also made headlines, resulting in an even higher profile. How that goes down in China is one thing, but the complaints have looked a bit wobbly from overseas.
Imax is on a thrill ride with TAOE globally, led by China. In the Middle Kingdom, it added $5.7M this weekend and reached $20M after just nine days for a 10-day cume of $22.7M. It’s the 2nd biggest movie ever for IMAX and should handily become its top release ever when it passes Avatar’s $24M this week. IMAX’s global weekend for TAOE was $13.1M, on 668 screens. The worldwide cume is $53M. It’s the fastest title in IMAX history to cross $50M, which it did today.
Elsewhere in Asia, last week’s local alternative to TAOE, The Break Up Guru, added $17.5M in China for a cume of $65M. In Korea, The Divine Move debuted to a gross of $8.75M moving it into the Top 20 internationally. Lower down the list, horror pic Bunshinsaba 3 earned $3.5M in China.
Meanwhile, the World Cup is winding down this week with Argentina, Brazil, Germany and the Netherlands still in contention. Studios have been wise at counterprogramming and/or staying out of the way of the football tournament that has captivated fans around the globe. Along with TAOE’s arrival in several Latin American and European territories next weekend, the big gorilla in the room will be Fox’s Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes. That movie, which looks really, really good based on footage I saw in Barcelona, debuts in about 15 markets – though none of them the hottest, save for perhaps up-and-comer Malaysia. The U.S. debuts on July 12, and on July 17 the movie starts chest-beating in big Western Europe markets. Territory round-ups follow the earlier posts below.
2ND UPDATE, 12:01 PM PT: Led by How To Train Your Dragon 2‘s additional $33.5M weekend ride, I’ve added in numbers for Fox films below. Same goes for Warner Bros, led by Edge Of Tomorrow with $4.5M in its Japanese bow. Melissa McCarthy’s Tammy, by the way, was No. 1 in Germany, but had a so-so go of it over the holiday weekend in the United States. See more below…
1ST UPDATE, 9:45 AM PT: In its 2nd frame overseas, Michael Bay’s Transformers: Age Of Extinction held the No. 1 position in all 37 markets where it’s playing this weekend — and where the 4th Of July holiday is not a factor. The haul for its 2nd frame was $95.8M, a bit less than three times its three-day U.S. tally, and good for an 
international cume of $400.9M. More explosions, some Mark Wahlberg, and the addition of the Dinobots equal a 21% lift on 2011’s Dark Of The Moon in the same number of markets and over the same number of days. China added a big $50.9M, down 45% from last week, and 100% up from DOTM. The total box office there is $212.8M, taking it well past this year’s previous top movie, The Monkey King, which ended its reign with $167.8M after bowing in January. It’s also bigger than last year’s No. 1 film, Journey To The West: Conquering The Demons, which earned $196.7M. The all-time box office record sits with James Cameron’s Avatar and its $221.9M, meaning the Autobots are well on their way to besting the Na’vi, perhaps as soon as Wednesday.
TAOE earned $8.9M in Korea to cume $34.2M. Russia’s 2nd frame was worth $7.4M for an increase over DOTM of 20% and a $35.7M total so far. In Australia, TAOE added $4.7M, though that is off 28% from DOTM. Its cume Down Under is $17.7M. Hong Kong’s tally after two frames is $10.3M, on par with the lifetime DOTM gross there. Malaysia, which is increasingly delivering strong numbers for Hollywood, added $2.3M for a total to date of $10.5M. TAOE is already the second-biggest film of all time in the market. I’ll delve into more Asian results in the territory round-ups later today. Next week, with the World Cup winding down, TAOE hits several Latin American and Western European territories including Argentina, Mexico, the Netherlands and the UK.
Here are overseas numbers from Fox, Warner Bros and Sony (Disney and Universal are in the original post below):
How To Train Your Dragon 2 opened in several markets this week, including France where the Fox release had the 2nd biggest Hollywood opening of the year. It was No. 1 with a very strong $7.6M on 768 screens — especially when a lot of young boys were still wrapped up in hopes this week that Les Bleus might continue to advance in the World Cup. In total, HTTYD2 picked up $30M from 9,821 screens in 68 overseas territories. Also notable was the film’s 18% increase on last weekend in Australia with $2.7M. Mexico ($2.37M) and Brazil ($2.28M) were still No. 1 in their 3rd frames. The international cume is $149.68M, with the UK, Germany, Italy, Spain, South Korea, and China still to come.
Major World Cup counterprogrammer The Fault In Our Stars added $10.28M this frame from 4,006 screens in 55 markets. That pushed the romancer above $100M for an international haul of $104.4M. In Brazil, it’s at No. 2 with $1.83M on 534 screens – despite the home side facing off with Colombia on Friday night — and a local cume of $24.8M. In Spain, TFIOS tear-jerked its way to a No. 1 bow with $909K on 350 screens, and in India it earned $350K at 83 dates. Meanwhile, the film isn’t out in the Netherlands yet, but a bench used in the movie was reported missing from Amsterdam earlier this week. According to the AP, the green bench that sat on the Leidsdegracht has been absent for at least a month. It may have been taken by the city for repairs, or by fans — or could it have been neighbors frustrated by extra tourist traffic? Either way, it’s being replaced.
Brazil also saw the arrival of Sony’s Heaven is For Real, which added $50K on 42 runs to raise its’ overall cume to internationally to $5.5M. It grossed $610K this weekend on 444 screens in 17 markets. For more numbers in Latin America, see the below territory-by-territory breakdown below.
Tom Cruise actioner Edge Of Tomorrow was the other big game in town in Japan this weekend. It opened at No. 2 behind Maleficent with $4.5M including previews and from 331 sites. The movie is expected to play well through the July holidays there. All told, it grossed an estimated $8.8M this weekend with 772K admissions on about 3,600 screens in 61 markets. The international cume to date is now $248M.
Think Like A Man Toobowed in four African markets — Nigeria ($71K on 13 screens), Kenya ($21K on 13 screens), Ghana ($15K on only two screens for a wonderful per screen average of $7,500) and Ethiopia ($4K on one screen).
Warner Bros’ Adam Sandler comedy Blended added $6.1M with 1.1M tickets sold at about 3,385 dates in 47 markets. That takes the cume to $42M. Notably, Mexico had a small 7% drop with a $6.2M cume to date.
Rio 2 added another $5.16M from 848 screens in 11 markets. It debuted in Australia, the last international market to bow, with a wing-flapping $4.3M. That was 22% above the first film in the franchise and takes the international cume to $354.7M.
X-Men: Days Of Future Past has passed $500M adding $4.6M from 2,769 screens in 52 markets this frame. Now in its 3rd weekend in Venezuela, its last international bow, DOFP is still No. 1.
Collaring $4.1M in Russia to be the No. 2 film behind TAOE, 22 Jump Street opened 67% bigger than its predecessor. In all, the comedy added $10.2M this frame for an overseas cume of $63.5M, down from an estimated $69.7M on Sunday. Among other territories it has already infiltrated, Australia held well with $2.5M for a market cume of $16M. In Israel, it was No. 1 for a 4th weekend. The cume there is $1.6M. Upcoming releases include markets where the film waited out the World Cup like Italy, Germany, Spain, France, Brazil and Mexico.
Clint Eastwood’s Jersey Boys opened in Australia with an estimated $1.9M from 301 screens. Warner says it expects the film to keep hitting the high notes Down Under through the holiday period. In 17 markets, the Broadway transfer earned an estimated $2.7M on 1,100 screens. The cume is $7M.
Warner Bros’ new comedy Tammy (apologies all around, but why can’t I get the last sequences of The Good Wife S2 finale out of my head: “What about Tammy? How’s Tammy”) opened in five international markets and earned $2.6M from 783 screens. The Melissa McCarthy movie had lousy reviews in the U.S., but Germany took kindly to it despite warm weather and the ongoing World Cup. It was No. 1 in the market with $1.4M and the highest per-screen average on Saturday. Austria was also a No. 1 with $253K and Singapore placed the picture at No. 3 with $121K. The UK wasn’t quite so hot with an estimated $806K from 338 screens.
Horror pic Deliver Us From Evil had its first overseas bows this weekend with $2.3M in 16 markets. Big openings were seen in Southeast Asia with the Philippines delivering $552K, more than double the openings of comps The Exorcism Of Emily Rose and The Devil Inside. Malaysia, there’s that market again, was sweet on Evil with $420K — 68% bigger than Emily Rose and more than double The Devil Inside. Evil also found followers in Sweden ($168K), Norway ($98K) and the Czech Republic ($49K, much lower than the $79K reported on Sunday).
PREVIOUS, 8:35 AM PT: Disney’s Maleficent crossed $600M this week, as I reported on Wednesday. But the big news here is that it is also the film that has finally snatched the No. 1 crown from Disney’s own Frozen in Japan. I suspected it would do so, and it earned the title with a $6.8M debut which was slightly lower than the estimated projection of $7.1M. That marks the biggest opening weekend for a live-action import in 2014 and is also the biggest bow for an Angelina Jolie title in the market. Frozen, which was No. 1 for an amazing 16 consecutive frames, added $1.8M in Japan this weekend (the cume there is a regal $240.8M). That is likely to put it into the No. 3 spot given Edge Of Tomorrow also bowed locally. I’ll update with numbers from Warner Bros (and others) as they arrive.
In all, Maleficent earned $19.4M this weekend from 55 territories and crossed the $400M international mark with a current tally of $418.5M. Mexico remains the top overseas market with $44.4M, followed by China at $42.8M. The worldwide box office total is $630.2M.
In the UK, Universal’s TV-to-film transfer of sitcom Mrs Brown’s Boys (full title: Mrs Brown’s Boys D’ Movie) is holding well in its 2nd frame. On Saturday, it was No. 3 behind previews of Transformers: Age Of Extinction, Uni says, and How To Train Your Dragon 2 in its 2nd frame. The comedy earned an estimated $3.7M at 525 dates for a 10-day total of $15.7M. Universal releases in Australia and New Zealand on July 24.
Universal comedy Neighbors is headed past $100M on Monday at the international box office. It added $3.6M in 35 markets for a cume of $99.72M. Mexico opened at No. 4 with $2.3M at 518 dates, and Korea bowed at No. 6 with $220K at 108 dates. There are nine territories to come including Uruguay, which has been out of the World Cup for about a week now, so could perhaps use some cheering up.
Comedies have been performing well overseas during the mega football tourney including 22 Jump Street, which, as my colleague Anita Busch reported on Friday, had a $1M opening in Russia and went onto gross $4.1M, 67% bigger than 21 Jump Street’s $2.4M two years ago. In fact, the $1M opening Friday number was bigger than 21 Jump Street‘s full weekend gross in the territory. With $4.1M, 22 also passed Neighbors lifetime gross in Russia.
Seth MacFarlane’s A Million Ways To Die In The West will hit Russia on July 10. In 39 markets this weekend, it grossed $2.2M for an international cume of $35.77M. We’re still waiting to see how another comedy performed overseas this weekend with Warner Bros’ Tammy hitting the UK, Germany, Austria, India and Singapore.
Key territory round-ups
CHINA
With a staggering $212.8M cume after its 2nd frame in China, TAOE is on its way to beating James Cameron’s Avatar as the all-time biggest grosser in the Middle Kingdom. It’s unsurprising that the film is doing so well there given all the local elements and a massive publicity push. Wednesday could be the day it dethrones Avatar, I hear. There have been currency fluctuations since that movie came out in 2010 and went on to earn 1.39B yuan renminbi so we’ll keep a keen eye on that. IMAX numbers are impressive with an additional $5.7M this weekend for a 10-day cume of $22.7M. But there are other movies playing in the market. The bow of TAOE and local hit The Break Up Guru last weekend basically monopolized screens leaving just 6.7% to other movies, per FilmBizAsia. That meant that Maleficent added just $1.17M that frame, and Godzilla in its 3rd frame took just $590K, the local site reports. The Break Up Guru this week was good for $17.5M. Also bowing this week was horror sequel Bunshinsaba III which earned $3.5M. China is still awaiting How To Train Your Dragon 2 which had been understood to be opening this weekend. It’s now eyeing a debut sometime in August, after TAOE finishes its run. We’ll keep a keen eye on that given DWA’s big 2013 with The Croods which some might say overperformed locally. It’s interesting to note that in the first half of 2014, 31 films grossed over 100 RMB including 14 domestic titles, but also 17 foreign films. Domestic films are riding at 48% of the market with imports at 52%. And TAOE’s performance, though expected, could give pause to the powers that be. The last time imported movies did better than local films was 2012 and the trend vocally reversed itself the following year. We’ll stay tuned to see if there are so-called (and unofficial, of course) blackout periods to come. There are competitive domestic titles to come including The White Haired Witch Of Lunar Kingdom with Fan Bingbing, and Jiang Wen’s Gone With The Bullets. Meanwhile, India’s record-breaking international success Dhoom 3 is finally getting a Chinese release on July 25.
UK
In the UK, the only new studio offering was Tammy which placed at No. 6. Melissa McCarthy is a better-known commodity in the U.S. than internationally and this film, with its pretty awful reviews in the States, is not expected to reach the heights of 2013’s The Heat. That film co-starred Sandra Bullock in a very different turn to her lauded Gravity performance the same year. The Heat did very solid business overseas with $71.5M. In other news, continuing its lucrative relationship with local pics, Universal is releasing Mrs Brown’s Boys D’ Movie in the UK. After a strong No. 1 debut last weekend, it took a further $3.7M this frame. 22 Jump Street continued its hot streak there with an additional $1.1M for a $28M cume. Transformers shifts into gear in the UK on Thursday.
FRANCE
Earlier this week, France held its annual Fête du Cinéma which sees ticket prices slashed to 3.50 euros for all showings. That benefitted mega-comedy Qu’Est-ce Qu’On A Fait Au Bon Dieu?! which passed the coveted — and rarely attainable — 10M admissions mark on Wednesday. In new openings, Fox’s How To Train Your Dragon 2 was the No. 1 movie with $7.6M. The bow was the 2nd biggest Hollywood opening of the year, and its first showings on Wednesday in Paris were record-makers with more than 7,500 tickets sold at 2pm local. Wednesday is the weekday in France where kids have the afternoon off — and summer vacation didn’t officially begin until Saturday this week. Universal’s A Million Ways To Die In The West opened at No. 5 with $833K at 250 dates. After passing $100M recently, Fox’s The Other Woman held well in France with $922K on 391 screens. The international cume is now $108.78M. Also, Universal’s Babysitting grossed $246K at 183 dates in its 12th frame. The 86-day total is $19.48M It is the 4th biggest local film in France for 2014.
GERMANY
Box office is down in Germany over the first half of the year, unaided by the ongoing World Cup as the home side advances. Even if it hadn’t, Germans are habitually among the most avid of followers of the matches in Europe. Warner Bros’ Tammy had its best bow here with $1.3M and a No. 1 slot. The Fault In Our Stars was No. 2 with $816K. Universal’s Boyhood is still performing in its run in German-speaking territories. The movie was aided by a terrific reception at the Berlin Film Festival last February and this weekend added $144K at 162 dates for a 32-day total of $1.9M and the 4th biggest per-screen average in the market. The total in Germany, Austria and Switzerland is now $2.32M.
KOREA
Transformers: Age Of Extinction is now the 3rd biggest opener of all time in Korea. Its 2nd frame brought in $8.9M for a cume of $34.2M. Dark Of The Moon went on to be the biggest movie of 2011 with over $69M, and TAOE is thus far performing slightly lower. Local action/crime pic The Divine Move grossed$8.75M this weekend. The plot sees a man framed for his brother’s death and exacting revenge. Korea this week signed a co-production pact with China which will allow films that meet the criteria to be treated as local. That is expected to mean they will no longer fall under an import quota system. FilmBizAsia reported this week that by obtaining co-production status, a film is already considered a local film as was the case with CJ’s A Wedding Invitation, which was released in the Middle Kingdom as a local title. FBA says the real significance of this new pact will be found in the details of the criteria for obtaining the status. Stay tuned…
BRAZIL/LATIN AMERICA
Counterprogrammer The Fault In Our Stars continues to work its magic in Brazil with a 5th weekend hold of $1.83M, down 19% on the previous frame. Fox, which has been really smart in this World Cup hosting nation, says the 5th frame is bigger than recent pics like Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Maleficent, Noah and its own Rio 2. Also from Fox, HTTYD was the No. 1 movie in the market with $2.28M at 851 dates. Brazil saw the arrival of Sony’s Heaven is For Real, which added $50K on 42 runs. In Venezuela, Heaven made $46K on seven screens and $15K on seven screens in Ecuador.
JAPAN
Japan saw a shift this weekend as Disney’s Maleficent unseated reigning queen Frozen as the No. 1 movie. The Angelina Jolie fairy tale spinoff took $6.8M for the biggest opening weekend for a live-action import in 2014. Frozen is understood to have moved down to No. 3 with $1.8M this frame after 16 consecutive weeks at the top – Elsa and Anna will just have to sing Let It Go. Edge Of Tomorrow lived, died and repeated for the first time this weekend in Japan with a strong $4.5M and the No. 2 slot.
ELSEWHERE IN ASIA
Apart from in China, Transformers: Age Of Extinction is barreling through Asia with strong holds. Taiwan gained $3.2M in its 2nd frame for a cume of $14.7M. Indonesia took $2.9M to double the 2nd frame result of Dark Of The Moon. The cume there is $9.1M making it the 4th biggest movie ever. The Philippines added $2.1M. With an $8.6M to-date total, it will surpass the entire run of DOTM next week to become the 5th highest grossing U.S. title of all time. Thailand was good for a $1.9M 2nd weekend, 11% above DOTM with a $7.8M cume. In Singapore, the movie added $1.7M, 15% below the previous instalment, for a cume of $6.7M. New opener Deliver Us From Evil, by the by, bowed in Singapore with $198K. Vietnam earned $190K for Evil.