Tom Hanks’ ‘Inferno’ Opens with $50 Million Internationally
Tom Hanks’ thriller “Inferno” has opened internationally with an estimated $50 million in 53 markets for Sony, two weeks ahead of the domestic launch.
Ron Howard returns as helmer after directing Hanks in the franchise’s previous installments: “The Da Vinci Code” (2006) and “Angels & Demons” (2009).
Howard and Brian Grazer are producing. David Koepp wrote the script, as he did for “Angels & Demons.”
The two previous installments, also adapted from Brown’s novels, grossed more than $1.2 billion at the worldwide box office with a lion’s share from international markets, where “The Da Vinci Code” took in $540 million and “Angels & Demons” totalled $352 million.
“Inferno” carries a budget of about $75 million, about half of “Angels & Demons.” The movie opens with a mysterious death, followed by Hanks’ Robert Langdon character being awakened in an Italian hospital with amnesia.
It turns out that a madman is trying to wipe half the world’s population, and kill Langdon. Langdon teams up with a doctor — played by Felicity Jones — in hopes that she will help him recover his memories and stop the madman’s plot.
Omar Sy, Ben Foster, Sidse Babett Knudsen and Irrfan Khan also star. “Inferno” will launch Oct. 28 in the U.S., Japan, South Korea and China, then open Nov. 9 in France.
The film premiered on Oct. 8 in Florence, Italy, and generated its top performance in that market with $5 million at 676 screens. Germany and Russia both saw $4.4 million launches, followed by $3.8 million in the U.K., $2 million in Spain and $1.2 million in the Netherlands.
“Inferno” launched in first in 11 Latin American markets for a combined total of $9 milllion, led by $4 million in Brazil and $2.6 million in Mexico. Southeast Asia generated $6 million in seven markets, led by Taiwan with $1.7 milliom, India with $1.3 million and Indonesia with $ 1 million. Australia launched with $1.8 million and the UAE took in $1 million.
Fox’s Tim Burton fantasy “Miss Perregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children” came in second with $23.5 million in 73 markets, pushing the international total to $130.9 million.
China’s crime thriller “Operation Mekong” followed in third with $21 million in seven markets, lifting its total to $138 million.
Steven Spielberg’s “The BFG” finished fourth on the international chart with $23 million in 17 markets for Disney, lifting the international total to $89 million.
Korean comedy “Luck-Key,” in which an actor and a killer take each other’s identity by accident, followed with $12.5 million in its opening weekend in Korea.
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