‘Smile’ Continues to Kill at International Box Office, ‘Ticket to Paradise’ Hits $70 Million Overseas

Rebecca Rubin
·2 min read
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Paramount’s R-rated thriller “Smile” continues to beat box office expectations in North America and beyond. Over the weekend, the horror movie added $16.3 million at the international box office, boosting its overseas tally to $66.4 million.

Globally, “Smile” has grossed $137.5 million, a killer result for a film with a $17 million production budget. It’s an even bigger win when taking into account that “Smile” was originally commissioned for the streaming service Paramount+ and wasn’t intended to play in theaters at all. But positive test screenings encouraged Paramount to give the film a full theatrical rollout. It’s the studio’s latest win following “Top Gun: Maverick,” “The Lost City,” “Scream” and “Sonic the Hedgehog 2.”

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Ticket sales for “Smile,” which is playing in 61 international markets, dropped only 16% from last weekend. Top-earning markets include the United Kingdom with $8.1 million, Germany with $6.6 million, Mexico with $6.1 million, France with $4.8 million and Australia with $3.4 million.

Also at the international box office, “Ticket to Paradise” is defying odds for theatrical rom-coms. The movie, starring George Clooney and Julia Roberts as ex-spouses who reunite for a common cause, hit $72 million overseas. It’s a good sign as the two-hander readies to land in North America on Oct. 21.

In terms of newcomers, “Halloween Ends,” the grand finale in the long-running slasher series, kicked off with $17.2 million from 77 overseas markets. That’s not a bad result, but it’s also not great considering its less than $1 million off from “Smile,” which has been playing in theaters for three weeks. Domestically, “Halloween Ends” opened to $41.2 million while landing day-and-date on Peacock, bringing its global tally to $58.4 million.

Jamie Lee Curtis returns as a grandmother with deep-rooted trauma in “Halloween Ends,” the third entry in the rebooted trilogy. Though 2018’s “Halloween” was quite successful at the international box office with $96 million, the 2021 sequel “Halloween Kills” earned less than half that amount, tapping out at $39 million overseas.

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