‘Aquaman 2’ Surfs Past $100M In Global Bow, ‘Wonka’ Still Sweet & ‘Salaar’ Sees Action As ‘PAW Patrol’ & ‘Napoleon’ Near $200M WW – International Box Office

Nancy Tartaglione
·7 min read
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Refresh for latest…: Warner Bros/DC’s Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom hit the high end of pre-weekend projections overseas with $80.1M from 73 markets. The James Wan-directed sequel is at an estimated $107.7M through Sunday worldwide, and with Monday’s domestic estimate will hit $120.1M.

Despite a rough ride from critics, the holiday entry is the No. 1 film of the weekend internationally and globally. In offshore markets, it ranked as the top Hollywood title in 53 of its 73 hubs.

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In like-for-like markets and using today’s exchange rates, Aquaman 2 is tracking 14% ahead of Black Adam, 22% above The Flash and 42% over The Marvels. IMAX brought in $9.9M from international markets, including $6M in China to index 17% of the total box office there. The global IMAX tally is $14M from 1,522 screens for the 4-day holiday weekend.

China, which has been more than tepid towards Hollywood fare, was a bit of good news for Aquaman 2. At $30.4M, the start is the biggest superhero opening of 2023, coming in 16% over Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 and 68% ahead of Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania. It also performed more than double The Batman, The Flash, The Marvels and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.

Aquaman 2 will not hit the highs of the original in China, but this is the first time in a while that a studio movie has led the weekend. It’s projected to hit a final of $45M, per Maoyan. The end of the year is mostly reserved for local titles.

Overall, Aquaman 2 performed best in Asia where it was the top Hollywood movie in every market. Singapore nabbed the biggest WB opening weekend of 2023, and in Malaysia and Indonesia, A2 was the 2nd biggest opening for a WB movie this year. In Taiwan, it was the biggest opening weekend for a superhero movie in 2023.

In Latin America, the Jason Momoa-starrer was likewise the No. 1 Hollywood title in every market.

The Top 5 markets to date are China ($30.4M), Mexico ($5M), Indonesia ($3.6M), France ($3.2M) and the UK ($3M).

Still to come are Denmark on December 25, Australia and New Zealand on December 26, the UAE on December 28 and Japan on January 12.

Also from Warner Bros (and Village Roadshow/Heyday Films), Wonka had a terrific hold internationally, down just 33% to gross $33.2M in 77 offshore markets. The overseas running cume is $171.3M for $254.9M global including Monday’s domestic estimate.

The Top 5 here are: UK ($38.1M), Mexico ($15.3M), Germany ($9.7M), Australia ($9.5M) and Japan ($8.9M).

Meanwhile, Prabhas-starrer Salaar: Part 1 – Ceasefire is looking at an estimated $37M global for its opening weekend, per our sources. We will update accordingly. In IMAX, the Prasanth Neel-directed actioner grossed $225K from 50 screens in India and the Middle East.

Disney’s Wish dropped by just 37% in its fifth overseas frame, grossing $9.6M from 41 markets. The international cume is now $86.8M and global (not including Christmas Monday) is $144.3M.

Italy debuted at No. 2 this session with  $1.2M, 40% above Sing 2 to set it up nicely for the holidays.  After its second weekend in Japan, Wish has grossed an estimated $8.6M and remains the top non-local title. Its 40% sophomore drop is the best second weekend of all Disney/Pixar animation films since the start of the pandemic era.

Here are the Top 5 so far: France ($11.1M), UK ($10M), Germany ($9.2M), Japan ($8.6M) and China ($5.9M).

Markets still to release include Australia, New Zealand, Korea and Brazil.

Universal/Illumination’s Migration added another 17 offshore markets this frame as it continues its staggered release pattern. In full, the animated pic picked up another $7.9M overseas for a $22M cume to date. Debuting domestically, and including the three-day only, the global cume is now $34.3M.

Germany was the top new addition with $2M, including $500K from previews; this is above Puss in Boots: The Last Wish and on par with Elemental. Saturday’s performance saw the highest increase of all new openers and the highest of the top 10 films. Playout is expected to be strong playout throughout the holidays

Netherlands opened to $800K across 163 screens, including $500K in previews, at No.6 in a crowded market with two local holiday titles in the Top 5. The opening weekend result is above Puss in Boots: The Last Wish and Encanto excluding previews.

Spain bowed with $400K from 436 screens at No.3 in the market with 11% share and strong day-on-day growth. The film opened on four 4DX screens, six Screen-X, and one Ice. Forty-five theaters will show it in 3D during the opening week.

Top 5 to date are: France ($4.2M), Mexico ($3.6M), Italy ($2.5M), Germany ($2M) and China ($1.8M).

Still ahead are Australia, Brazil, Korea, UK and Japan.

Also notable (see below), both PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie and Napoleon are on the cusp of crossing $200M global.

And, just a reminder that Christmas Eve is a bit of a head-scratcher since cinemas in many overseas markets are closed or have non-traditional hours.

MISC UPDATED CUMES/NOTABLE
The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes (LGF): $3.9M intl weekend (84 markets); $162M intl cume/$315.6M global
Napoleon (SNY): $3.7M intl weekend (65 markets); $139.2M intl cume/$198.4M global
Trolls Band Together (UNI): $2.3M intl weekend (74 markets); $98M intl cume/$191M global
La La Land (LGF): $1.5M intl weekend (China only – rerelease); $36.5M China cume
PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie (PAR): $945K intl weekend (21 markets); $133.7M intl cume/$199M global
The Holdovers (UNI): $250K intl weekend (3 markets); $704K intl cume/$18.4M global

PREVIOUS, SATURDAY: Warner Bros/DC’s Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom began offshore rollout on Wednesday, and with numbers through Friday included has grossed $40.9M in 73 international box office markets. This portends a full overseas opening in the $70M range. With domestic’s three- and four-day, the global start will top $100M.

Overseas, the UK debuted on Thursday, with $712K from 1,1994 screens, ranking as the runner-up behind the strong continued performance of Wonka. The number is roughly on par with The Flash and 33% below the original Aquaman, both of which opened on a Wednesday. Through Friday, the UK is at $1.6M.

Germany also kicked off on Thursday, taking $520K on 589 screens and ranking No. 1. The results are more than double the opening day of The Flash, ahead of The Marvels (+81%) and Black Adam (+27%) and on par with Ant-Man and the Wasp. They are 31% below Aquaman. The launch saw 68% coming from 3D. Including previews, the running cume through Friday is $1.5M.

In China through Saturday the cume is $23.2M (today’s portion of that is not included in the international total above). The film has a 9 on Maoyan vs a 9.3 for the original film. Maoyan is projecting a final of $47M for the full run in the market which has become increasingly tepid towards Hollywood and where a host of local end-of-year titles will join next weekend.

The Top 5 markets on Aquaman 2 through Friday are China ($13.9M), Mexico ($3.4M), Brazil ($1.9M), Indonesia ($1.9M) and France ($1.6M).

Meanwhile, WB/Village Roadshow/Heyday Films’ Wonka has crossed the $200M mark worldwide, landing at $215.8M through Friday. The overseas portion of that is $151.9M. Thursday’s $7.1M in 77 markets was on par with the same day last week.

The Top 5 markets to date are the UK ($32.5M), Mexico ($14.3M), Germany ($8.7M), Australia ($8.2M) and Spain/Japan ($7.6M).

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