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Refresh for latest…: Warner Bros unleashed Tim Burton’s Beetlejuice Beetlejuice this weekend, as the ghost with the most tallied up a $145.4M global start. That’s in line with where we saw it ahead of the weekend, and includes $110M from domestic as well as $35.4M from 69 international box office markets. The launch gives the sequel bragging rights to being front of the line this frame domestically, internationally and globally.
The Michael Keaton-starrer racked up No. 1 starts in 40 overseas markets (including the UK, Mexico and Australia) while such key plays as France, Germany and Japan are still on deck to release in the coming weeks and months.
Internationally in like-for-likes and using today’s exchange rates, the film is tracking 28% ahead of Alice Through the Looking Glass and 74% over Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire.
In Latin America it was No. 1 everywhere, and roughly on par with the opening weekend of Wonka, as well as the 3rd best launch for a Burton film ever.
In Europe, and in like-for-likes at today’s rates, BJBJ is running 10% ahead of the opening weekend of Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, 76% over Alice Through the Looking Glass and 77% higher than Frozen Empire.
Warner Bros was smart to launch the movie in its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival last week, and then immediately follow that up by a London red carpet to drum up awareness. But this remains a more domestic-skewing property — similar to the rebooted Ghostbusters franchise which did significantly more business from North America as compared to international in its most recent iterations. It’s good news for BJBJ that it is so far outpacing the last Ghostbusters movie, but still fair to say that overseas audiences don’t carry the same familiarity or nostalgia for these decades-old classics.
Here’s how BJBJ performed in its biggest debuts. In the UK, the gross was $9.6M at No. 1 and with 73% of the Top 5 films. Results are 80% over Frozen Empire. In Mexico, a $6.5M start was tops with a 63% share of the market. Family audiences turned out on Saturday and Sunday. Relative to Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, the weekend is 188% bigger. Australia also gave the sequel a No. 1 launch ($2.6M) which is 75% bigger than Frozen Empire. BJBJ opened with a very wide footprint of 320 locations, the third widest release ever for a WB title. These are some great stats, but we expected these markets to do well, so legs will be interesting to watch.
So far, the Top 5 opening weekend markets are as follows: UK ($9.6M), Mexico ($6.5M), Australia ($2.6M), Spain ($2.5M) and Italy ($1.7M).
In the meantime, let’s also take note of some new milestones.
Elsewhere this frame, Disney became the first studio to cross $4B in global box office this year. It got there with just five wide releases, including the two highest grossers of 2024 so far, Inside Out 2 and Deadpool & Wolverine, followed by Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, Alien: Romulus and The First Omen. This is the third year in a row Disney gets to the benchmark, and the 10th time since 2010 — the most of any major.
Speaking of Inside Out 2, its global cume is now $1,675.1M, stomping past Jurassic World ($1,671.5M) to become the No. 8 biggest movie of all time worldwide. It likewise moved up a notch internationally, landing at No. 10 on the all-time chart with an offshore cume of $1,023.2M.
Sticking with Dis, 20th Century’s Alien: Romulus chomped across $300M, taking the global cume to $314.4M. Also getting to the three-century mark, Sony/Wayfarer Studios’ hit romantic drama, It Ends with Us, reached $309.4M globally with this weekend’s business, and more markets yet to blossom.
Romulus for its part has now grossed $314.4M worldwide, of which $217.2M is from overseas. It’s still No. 1 in Korea and has now crossed $100M in China. The overall offshore drop this session was 51% for a $13.7M weekend in 52 markets.
Japan opened this weekend, the final market to release, and claimed the No. 2 spot behind a local title. The $2.3M bow makes it the 4th highest live-action opening for an import this year. It came in 125% ahead of A Quiet Place: Day One and 25% over Alien: Covenant. Social scores are positive.
Here are the Top 5 markets to date: China ($100.6M), UK ($15.9M), Korea ($13.9M), France ($10.7M) and Mexico ($7.9M).
As for smash hit romantic drama, It Ends with Us, through Sunday it’s at $309.4M globally. Sixty overseas markets contributed $10.8M in the current session, down just 37%. The overseas cume is $168M. The Blake Lively-starrer is now the highest grossing original Hollywood title and the top female-led event film of 2024.
The phenom from director Justin Baldoni and based on Colleen Hoover’s novel, was already the highest grossing romantic drama globally since 2018’s A Star Is Born. It has also surpassed the lifetimes of The Fault in Our Stars, Crazy Rich Asians, Anyone But You, Little Women and Me Before You.
It Ends with Us is also resonating in the Middle East: it’s the biggest female-led Hollywood drama since cinemas opened; and in the UAE, it’s the 2nd highest-grossing female-led Hollywood drama ever, only behind Twilight: Breaking Daw – Part 2.
And, there’s more yet to blossom with Korea, Hong Kong and Japan still to release.
To date, the Top 5 markets are the UK ($26M), Germany ($14M), Australia ($14M), Mexico ($13.6M) and Brazil ($9.8M).
Deadpool & Wolverine is not ready to say Bye Bye Bye, adding another $8.4M in 52 markets for an overseas cume of $673.2M and a running global total of $1,287.2M after seven weekends. The offshore drop was 43% with strong holds in some key markets including Germany (-15%), Brazil (-17%), Italy (-27%), Spain (-28%), France (-36%), China (-41%), Japan (-47%) and Australia (-47%).
The Top 5 through Sunday are the UK ($71.7M), China ($59.5M), Mexico ($43.4M), Australia ($41.8M) and Germany ($36.9M).
Illumination/Universal’s Despicable Me 4 added $7.3M to reach an international cume through Sunday of $571.6M. The overseas performance is above Minions: The Rise of Gru and DM3 at the same point (excluding China). Globally, Gru and the gang are now at $929.5M.
Italy stood out in its third frame, retaining the No. 1 spot despite the arrival of Beetlejuice 2 (and its Venice platform). The gross is now $14.5M after three weekends, making it the 3rd highest grossing movie of the year in the market. The overall top play remains the UK with $58.7M, followed by China at $57.3M.
Also of note, Tamil title The Greatest of All Time, starring Thalapathy Vijay, is expected to log an estimated $34M worldwide opening weekend per our sources. We will update accordingly.
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