‘Wolf’ Whistles To $685M; ‘Annabelle’ Conjures $35M+; ‘Spider-Man’ Leaps Past $700M WW – International Box Office

UPDATE, WRITETHRU with actuals: New Line/Warner Bros’ Annabelle: Creation came to life at the international box office this weekend with $35.4M in her first wide frame. That was a slight bump for the doll versus Sunday estimates. The prequel spinoff was the major expanded title in overseas markets, while pictures like Spider-Man: Homecoming, Dunkirk, Valerian and more passed new milestones. Nevertheless, offshore play continued to be dominated by China‘s action phenom, Wolf Warrior 2.

The Wu Jing-helmed title saw a roughly 48% drop in the 3rd frame as it whistled to a cume of $684.5M in the Middle Kingdom through Sunday. That was after 18 days in release and made it the No. 3 movie internationally this year. It’s also No. 3 on the list of all-time biggest grossers in a single market. Through Tuesday, the pic had grossed $712M per research firm Ent Group. (That figure includes a roughly 7% online ticketing fee that China has been folding into their numbers since the beginning of the year.)

Having passed The Dark Knight, The Avengers, Jurassic World and Titanic this session, WW2 t sits behind Star Wars: The Force Awakens ($936.7M) and Avatar ($760.5M). All films outside WW2 achieved their milestones in North America, and all figures are historical.

There is every reason to believe WW2 will knock the Na’vi off their No. 2 perch as daily grosses in the midweeks were around $30M on average. This weekend, per Ent Group, the total was $84.9M, a 48% drop from last frame which itself was up 30% on the debut session. The Rambo-esque pic is due to run into September.

Doing her bit for Hollywood, Annabelle: Creation expanded into 38 more markets this weekend after taking her first steps in Italy last session. The prequel spinoff snatched the top bow for the Conjuring franchise in 26 markets and now has an offshore cume of $37.1M. So far, the David F Sandberg title is dominated by Asia. The Latin American markets, where this sort of horror can overindex, will open this week. The previous Annabelle made over 67% of her ultimate $256.8M worldwide box office abroad.

There was yet more good news for Warner Bros as Christopher Nolan’s Dunkirk crossed $200M at the overseas box office this weekend with a $14.8M session that lifts the boats to $210.5M in 62 markets. And, WB’s Wonder Woman, which opens in Japan on August 25, has a running total right now of $395.2M internationally and a worldwide cume of $797.3M.

Elsewhere, Despicable Me 3 passed $150M in China, and is now the No. 6 highest-grossing animated movie ever at the international box office, having stepped over Toy Story 3 this week. Also, Universal’s breakout comedy Girls Trip took a jaunt past $100M worldwide. EuropaCorp’s expensive Valerian And The City Of A Thousand Planets too got across $100M global this session.

And, swinging into Japan, Sony/Marvel’s Spider-Man: Homecoming netted No. 1 and $7.1M from 779 screens. The offshore cume is closing in on $400M with $395.5M to date while worldwide the webbed wonder has topped $700M. And, he’s still got China on deck.

Next weekend won’t see a major wide release across international markets. Ryan Reynolds/Samuel L Jackson-starrer The Hitman’s Bodyguard hits Russia and the UK via Lionsgate, and Steven Soderbergh’s Logan Lucky breaks into Australia. Key expansions include Annabelle: Creation in Latin America and Baby Driver in Japan, as well as continued rollout on Atomic Blonde, The Dark Tower and others.

Actuals, which were slow to arrive this week, have been updated below on all films. We also have more detail on Valerian‘s overseas weekend.

HOLDOVERS/EXPANSIONS
ANNABELLE: CREATION

New Line/Warner Bros’ doll matched her domestic opening with $35.4M from 39 international markets this session. After taking first steps in Italy last frame, the fourth pic in the lucrative Conjuring franchise now has a $37.1M overseas cume. International box office on The Conjuring 2 rose more than 19% from the first film, while Annabelle made $173M overseas with Mexico, Brazil, France, the UK and Indonesia the biggest plays. She did over 67% of her box office abroad.

Penned by Gary Dauberman and directed by David F Sandberg, the Anthony LaPaglia/Miranda Otto-starrer surpassed the international opening weekends of The Conjuring and the previous Annabelle. It also had the highest opening weekend in the franchise in 26 markets In Asia, the current dominant play-space, there were No. 1 bows in seven of eight markets. The start is expected to log the biggest launches for a horror film of all time in Sweden, Poland, Portugal, Malaysia and Vietnam.

Korea was the major debut with $6.7M from 1,006 creens and ranking as the top foreign film in the market behind local pics A Taxi Driver and Midnight Runners. The launch topped the lifetime of Annabelle, despite diplomatic tensions which appear to have little impact on moviegoing.

After a non-traditional Wednesday opening, Indonesia produced $3.9M on 752 screens for No. 1. This was a key market on the last Annabelle. France played house with $2.8M on 262 screens for the best per-screen average of all films in release. The results are 37% ahead of The Conjuring and just shy of the original Annabelle.

In the UK, where Christopher Nolan’s Dunkirk is holding No. 1 for WB, A:C picked up $2.6M from 468 screens at No. 2. That’s on par with comps. Russia debuted at No. 2 with $2.3M on 1,038 screens, besting all previous films in the series.

Malaysia saw the best horror opening ever with $2.2M on 450 screens. Australia was also a No. 1 start with $1.8M from 231 at 28% ahead of The Conjuring and 21% ahead of Annabelle.

Scandinavian markets generated a weekend gross of $2.1M, tops in each, and each the best of the franchise.

Italy’s hold puts it at $2.4M so far. Next weekend sees the important Latin American markets bow. This sort of horror fare can overindex there.

WAR FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES

Fox’s third installment in the Apes franchise took $17M more this session with no new openers. The critically-praised film maintained No. 1s in eight markets out of 53 and has an international cume of $176.3M. Holds were strong in France, where it is still No. 1 with a $13.6M cume; Germany dipped by 24% for a $6.1M cume; Brazil was down 39% and has $8.2M to date while Mexico has $14.7M after three frames.

Korea opens this week, followed by China on September 15 and Japan on October 13.

DESPICABLE ME 3

Illumination/Universal’s threequel heisted its way to another $15.1M in 65 markets this frame for an overseas cume of $673.3M and a global $921.1M. Speculation that the film would not get to the $1B mark is looking questionable at this point as the Kyle Balda/Pierre Coffin-helmed franchise entry has a chance to get there with continued play and a trio of markets — including Italy — still to go.

The Steve Carell-starrer has become the No. 6 highest-grossing animated film of all time at the International box office, overtaking Toy Story 3 this week. It will pass Zootopia next at No. 5 with $683.1M.

Also notable, it had a No. 2 hold in Japan during the 4th session for $38.7M to date. Other key cumes include the UK’s $54.7M after seven frames, Brazil’s $38.3M, Germany’s $38.1M, France’s $36.1M, and Mexico’s $34.7M.

In China, DM3 has crossed $150M to clock $151M in the middle of this long blackout period. Italy is on deck for August 24.

DUNKIRK

Riding a wave of praise to cross $200M overseas, Christopher Nolan’s WWII epic now has a cume of $210.5M. This weekend was worth $14.8M from 7000 screens in 62 markets. That’s down only 41%. The worldwide tally is $363.7M. In the UK, the film has maintained No. 1 and now has a fantastic $58.4M total for Warner Bros. Holds were great in France (-25%), Germany (-18%) and Holland (-11%).

Behind the UK, the top plays to date are Korea ($21.2M), Australia ($15M), France ($14.9M) and Spain ($8M).

The total in IMAX is $62M global of which $27.7M is from international. Italy, China and Japan join the mission later this month and in early September.

VALERIAN AND THE CITY OF A THOUSAND PLANETS
Luc Besson’s sci-fi passion project has crossed $100M worldwide with $114.7M in 29 markets including North America through Sunday. New this frame were Russia ($5.64M/No. 1), Australia/NZ ($1.22M/No. 3) and Brazil ($1.08M/No. 2) in an overseas weekend of $17.4M for an international cume of $76.2M.

THE EMOJI MOVIE

Sony’s take on the ubiquitous characters took in $14M from 6,830+ screens in 42 markets this weekend to bring the international cume to $33.6M. The film is benefiting from summer vacations as a whole across Europe with a 23% regional drop. Notable holds include: Switzerland (German-speaking: +15%), Germany (+2%), Israel (-23%), Austria (-23%), and the UK (-30%).

Spain was new this frame, debuting at No. 1 with $1.4M from 516 screens. That tops The Peanuts Movie by 21%, the studio says. The Netherlands launched to $1M (including previews) on 132 screens, or four times bigger than the opening of The Peanuts Movie.

Russia opens this week as the picture continues rollout through October.

SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING

Swinging into Japan, Sony/Marvel’s Spidey reboot scored $7.1M on 779 screens. Along with plays in 63 other markets, the superhero pic had a $12.1M weekend to snare $395.5M so far internationally. Worldwide, the webslinger has caught $702M. The Jon Watts-helmed title currently holds the No. 7 slot on the global chart for 2017. In terms of the character, this film will soon overtake The Amazing Spider-Man 2 in worldwide (non-restated) grosses.

The No. 1 Japanese opening includes $770K in IMAX on 28 screens. That’s the fourth biggest IMAX weekend for a Marvel property in the market. China is still on deck for Spidey with a September 8 release set.

THE DARK TOWER

Sony/MRC’s Stephen King adaptation was erected in Europe this weekend, adding to last frame’s debut markets. In total, the Idris Elba/Matthew McConaughey-starrer scaled $7.4M from 5,400+ screens in 35 for an early offshore cume of $19.1M.

New plays break down thusly: Germany ($1.43M/603 screens), France ($1.21M/290), Italy ($885K/347). There are several majors to come including Australia, the UK and Spain this weekend. Korea, Brazil and Mexico go the following session.

CARS 3
Nine weekends in and Cars 3 has put $150.9M in Lightning McQueen’s tank overseas. The weekend was worth $6.5M in 28 markets with a new opening in Vietnam that exceeded the full runs of Cars and Up. Holds were good in Switzerland (+18%), the Netherlands (-1%), Japan (-16%), Belgium (-19%) and France (-36%). China (August 25) is the next major market to open on the Disney/Pixar movie.

BABY DRIVER

The Sony release of Edgar Wright’s getaway pic revved up another $6.2M this weekend from 3,600+ screens in 47 markets. It now has an international cume of $66.9M. The top start this weekend was Mexico with $1.7M on 878 screens. Europe dipped 31% off strong word of mouth, with Germany increasing 3% in the frame.

There are many key markets to come including Japan this week, followed by Russia, China, Italy and Korea.

ATOMIC BLONDE
Focus’ Charlize Theron-starrer packed a $5.1M punch this session in 36 Universal and Sierra/Affinity markets. The international total to date is $18.8M for $61.5M worldwide. The Uni markets added $3.9M for $6.4M on the studio side. S/A’s markets added $1.2M for $12.4M so far. Openers include the UK at No. 3 with $2.2M (which included $720K from previews) and on par with Bridge Of Spies. The Netherlands kicked in a No. 2 start of $676K that was bigger than Bridge Of Spies and Jack Reacher, and in line with Wanted. Australia’s 2nd session takes the total there to $2.9M. Universal has 13 more territories to open over the next month including France, Italy, Belgium and Switzerland next session.

GIRLS TRIP

Universal’s breakout comedy from Malcolm D Lee was again No. 1 in South Africa and Trinidad, and had a $964K hold in the UK ($7.2M to date). The weekend is worth $1.3M for an offshore total of $8.4M. That lifts the worldwide cume to $105.6M. Australia is the next major on August 31.

MISC UPDATED CUMES/NOTABLE
Transformers: The Last Knight (PAR): $3.7M intl weekend (39 markets); intl vumr $464.2M
Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie (FOX): $1.9M intl weekend (10 markets); $21.3M intl cume
Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales (DIS): $1.8M intl weekend (18 markets); $614.6M intl cume
The Mummy (UNI): $1.1M intl weekend (28 markets); $325.3M intl cume (Japan rises to $10.5M)
Baywatch (PAR): $527K intl weekend (22 markets); $118.5M intl cume
The Beguiled (UNI): $272K intl weekend ($172K Brazil; best opening for Sofia Coppola there); $5.29M intl cume
An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth To Power (PAR): $135K intl weekend opening (Australia only)

LOCAL-LANGUAGE

China’s Wolf Warrior 2 dropped by about half this weekend after last session’s 30% increase on the debut. The frame in the Middle Kingdom was an estimated $84.9M, per local research outfit Ent Group. Stirring national pride and repeat visits, WW2 is a big boost for the market and topped all newcomers despite shedding some screens. It currently sits at No. 3 on the all-time list of single-market grossers and will need to get to $760.5M to top Avatar and move up to No. 2, a feat that is entirely plausible. The movie was also the No. 8 biggest grosser of 2017, from just one market, through Sunday. Through Tuesday, it has jumped to No. 7 with $712M (that’s if including the online booking fee which currently appears to be the standard by which the Chinese, the Hollywood studios and box office trackers like comScore and Ent Group are operating).

WW2 will continue to play into September and reportedly has director/star Wu Jing in Hollywood’s sights. Co-star Frank Grillo told state news agency Xinhua this week, “I’ve got about 15 calls from Hollywood studio people, casting people and producers, asking, ‘Can Wu Jing speak English?'”

Opening this session in the Middle Kingdom was Guilty Of Mind, a crime pic based on the book of the same name. It’s directed by Xie Dongshen and stars Mr Six’s Li Yifeng. The cume including previews is $24.1M.

Also new, The Adventurers grossed $22.5M. A Hong Kong actioner with Jean Reno, Qi Shu and Andy Lau, it’s directed by Stephen Fung. Fastany romance Legend Of The Naga Pearls, starring Darren Wang and Zhang Tianai, came in fourth with $13.3M.

In Korea, Jang Hun’s buddy picture-cum-political thriller A Taxi Driver, led the box office again and now has a cume of $54.7M per Kobiz. New was Midnight Runners, a police comedy that’s made $13.5M to date.

And, in Mexico, Do It Like An Hombre (Hazlo Como Hombre) picked up $3.8M, according to final Monday numbers, which makes it the third highest film debut in history for Mexico. The Nicolás López-directed comedy set records on its opening Thursday with over $591K, more than doubling the start of Baby Driver. It stars Mauricio Ochmann and Aislinn Derbez (both exec producers) who recently opened production company A Toda Madre Entertainment in LA. Lopez wrote the script with frequent collaborator Guillermo Amoedo. His Chile-based label, Sobras Intl Pictures, produces along with Mexico’s BH5 and A Toda Madre. Sobras’ Miguel Asensio Llamas is producer. The pic releases Stateside on September 1.

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