‘Transformers: The Last Knight’ Rises To $199M Overseas, $267M+ Global Bow – International Box Office
UPDATE, TUESDAY AM, with actuals…: Paramount’s Transformers: The Last Knight came in with a $3M bump in the actuals compared to Sunday’s estimates. That puts the fivequel at $199.2M in 41 markets at the international box office. The result is closer to the high end of the pre-weekend range. The opening is also 2% ahead of Transformers: Age Of Extinction’s 2014 launch on a like-for-like basis and at restated rates. The global haul is now looking at $267.7M for the debut frame.
That T5 rises closer to a $200M offshore launch is part of what was a swingy weekend. Initial reporting on Sunday, with $196.2M, was down from where we saw the film coming in on Saturday — partially the result of a bigger-than-expected drop in China from Saturday to Sunday. But the debut FSS cume there has lifted from $123.4M to $125.3M. (With unofficial numbers out of China, it’s at $138.2M through Monday.) Those are strong figures, but the film is not expected to leg out to top Age Of Extinction’s record run there, in what could be a sign of franchise fatigue.
Along with the Middle Kingdom, increases from Sunday’s estimates to Monday’s finals were notably seen in Germany, Italy, the UK, Malaysia and Poland.
Actuals for all films reporting have been updated below.
PREVIOUS, Sunday: Launching in 41 offshore markets, Paramount’s Transformers: The Last Knight opened to $199.2M at the international box office. That’s a big number and is towards the higher end of the pre-weekend range. But it’s also a swing from where we saw this coming in yesterday — partially the result of an unexpected 31% drop in China from Saturday to Sunday. The debut FSS cume there is $125.3M (63% of the full offshore bow). Factoring in domestic, the global total on The Last Knight is $267.7M.
Par is calling the overseas opening 2% ahead of Transformers: Age Of Extinction. Its 2014 launch was $189.1M in like-for-like markets, and at restated figures. Comping to another recent franchise fivequel, Last Knight came in 42% above Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, per Par.
The continuation of the Hasbro toys-turned-action-stars movie had industry sources ahead of the weekend projecting an international opening between $167-$200M, so this came within the range — and rival distribution execs don’t sniff at a nearly $200M start.
But after China debuted bigger than some had expected, it began to look like T5 was moving across the $200M mark abroad to defy expectations. Then that market proved to be the wild card we often term it. Although the film lost no Middle Kingdom screens between Saturday and Sunday, the drop was bigger than we’ve recently seen — and daily growth was also soft in other hubs contrary to typical patterns on a movie that was teed up for overseas, and China in particular. China currently reps 63% of the full overseas total — with just 25% of Middle Kingdom receipts flowing back to the studio. The film cost a reported $217M before P&A.
The PROC opening is still the best for the Michael Bay franchise, but Hollywood tentpoles lean towards a 2-2.2 multiple there. That means Last Knight should fall below TAOE‘s final $320M in non-restated dollars. Age Of Extinction played into the (unofficial) July blackout and became the biggest import ever (at the time) after 12 days of release. It’s not clear if the temporary moratorium on outside pics is being fully enforced by PROC powers-that-be this year; Illumination/Universal’s Despicable Me 3 is the last Hollywood film currently slated for a while (on July 7).
In all, 40 out of 41 Last Knight markets debuted at No. 1. Behind China, Korea took $13M at 1,727 locations; Russia was next with $8.5M at 2,382; the UK with $5.9M at 1,022; and Germany on $4.9M at 1,107. That’s a similar mix of the ultimate Top 5 on Age Of Extinction.
Majors still to open include France, Brazil, Mexico, Japan and Spain. France, which did $21M on the previous movie, notably bows Wednesday this week to take advantage of the final day of the local Fête du Cinéma reduced-price ticket scheme.
Coming up next weekend DM3 hits an additional 44 markets. It will also be worth keeping an eye on Sony’s Baby Driver in the UK where the Edgar Wright-helmed film begins unspooling this Wednesday. It was a big topic of positive conversation at exhibitors’ confab CineEurope this past week.
Breakdowns on The Last Knight and other films in the international marketplace have been updated below.
NEW
TRANSFORMERS: THE LAST KNIGHT
Unsheathing his sword in 41 offshore markets, Optimus Prime (and co-stars Mark Wahlberg, Josh Duhamel, Anthony Hopkins and Laura Haddock) clocked a $199.2M start. There were No. 1s in 40 hubs.
The film ($217M reported cost before P&A) fell within pre-weekend projections, although some saw it getting to $200M or more. Still, the international figure lands it in the Top 20 openings of all time and by rival accounts is a solid number. Notable, though, that 63% of the weekend came from China where studios recoup a lower 25% of the door than elsewhere.
China leads with $125.3M at 7,200 locations for the biggest opening in the Michael Bay-directed franchise, and the 4th best start ever in the market. Age Of Extinction, made under a co-operation agreement with Chinese partners, and co-starring Li Bingbing, bowed to $92M in China in 2014. There has been considerable growth in the market since then and this film has Chinese investors and a marketing partner in Wanda, owner of the most screens in the PROC. But a steep 31% drop from Saturday to Sunday was not expected and that was partially responsible for T5 not getting to a $200M offshore launch.
Sunday dips are typical, although recent films have held better. Wonder Woman saw a roughly 20% drop in China while The Mummy came in at -26% and Alien: Covenant at -24%. Comping to Pirates 5 is not apples-to-apples as it opened on a holiday weekend.
This is a franchise that has wider overseas appeal and has been teed up for foreign, and China. T5 has a 4.9 score on Middle Kingdom reviews site Douban compared to Age Of Extinction‘s 6.6; audiences are giving it a 7.4 on ticketing site Maoyan while Age Of Extinction was at 7.
Hollywood tentpoles have about a 2-2.2 PROC multiple which would see Last Knight fall below TAOE‘s final tally in non-restated dollars. The last pic made $320M there. Last Knight has some China runway with no major studio movie hitting the market until Despicable Me 3 on July 7. Spider-Man: Homecoming swings into wide international play the same day.
Korea was the second biggest market behind China with $13M; followed by Russia with $8.5M; the UK with $5.9M; and Germany on $4.9M. That’s a similar mix of the ultimate Top 5 on Age Of Extinction, but the film did not follow a typical pattern with low growth in some hubs from Friday to Saturday.
Elsewhere, hubs in South East Asia and Australia round out the Top 10. In Ukraine, T5 scored the biggest opening of the franchise, and Paramount’s biggest all-time bow.
IMAX earned $16.7M on 652 screens internationally making it the biggest opening ever in the Transformers franchise and the 5th biggest for the format overseas. In China, the start was $11.7M in 414 IMAX plays. That’s the 2nd best FSS IMAX bow ever.
China made 99% of its box office in 3D; Germany was good for 86%; and Russia had 58% of moviegoers sporting glasses. Overall, 67% of the worldwide weekend came in 3D.
Domestically, Last Knight scored the lowest opening of the series this weekend.
All of the previous films have gone from strength-to-strength offshore with critical response unable to ding Optimus Prime’s armor as key and emerging market growth has helped propel grosses. Majors still to open include France, Brazil, Mexico, Japan and Spain.
Bollywood titan Salman Khan’s latest opened this weekend in India and some overseas markets. The total FSS in India was 64.77 crore ($9.7M). Factoring in Monday’s holiday, the total was 83.86 crore ($12.6M). Those are net figures, after the entertainment tax is stripped out.
Timed to the Eid holiday, of which Khan is king, the film was No. 1 at the weekend, but has not received the lavish praise of some of his earlier hits. The Times of India notes that it registered the second highest opening day of the year, behind only Baahubali 2, but did not see growth on day two.
The end-of-Ramadan holiday falls on different days each year meaning release dates have varied on Khan’s previous Eid pics, although Tubelight’s first day came in below recent titles like Sultan, Bhajrangi Bhaijaan and Kick. The worldwide gross through Sunday (and with Monday’s India number factored) is 127.2 crore ($19.1M). It made $7.5M in the U.S. in the debut frame but was bested by Telugu bow DJ Duvvada Jagannadham on $8.7M.
Tubelight is set during the 1962 Sino-Indian War and sees Khan as a man from India who falls in love with a woman from China. It co-stars Chinese actress Zhu Zhu and is expected to have a wide release in the Middle Kingdom.
HOLDOVERS/EXPANSIONS
WONDER WOMAN
Warner Bros/DC’s Amazon princess lassoed another $21.7M internationally this frame in 65 markets. That lifts the overseas total to $335.8M. The Gal Gadot-starrer landed in Spain for the first time with $2.2M for No. 1 and topping comps.
In holds, WW maintained the No. 1 spot in Brazil for the 4th consecutive weekend. The cume there is $27.2M to become the 3rd highest grossing WB film of all time.
China leads offshore play with $87.6M as the run nears its end. Brazil follows with the UK next at $24M; Australia’s total is currently $17.7M and Korea has nabbed $15.4M. The last market to open will be Japan on August 25.
THE MUMMY
Universal’s Tom Cruise-starrer unearthed $17.9M in 69 hubs this weekend to raise the international total to $275.2M. Worldwide, the Dark Universe pic is at $343.7M. Egypt was a new opener at No. 1 with $43K at 19 dates. China’s 3rd week brought the film to $89.4M and Korea was No. 3 in its 3rd frame for a $26.3M total to date. Brazil held No. 2 in week 3 with $11.4M so far. Japan gets in on the action July 28.
CARS 3
In its second weekend, Disney/Pixar’s Cars 3 put $12.6M in the international tank from a handful of key markets, bringing the offshore cume to $42.1M. Worldwide, Lightning McQueen has clocked $142M.
Australia opened this weekend pre-holidays to rev up $2M. The film also had strong holds across Latin America where it was again No. 1 in Mexico with a cume of $12.1M. That is currently the leader, followed by Russia with $8.6M, Panama and Colombia with $2.4M, and Poland at $2.3M.
Still to join the race are France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the UK, China, Japan, Korea and Brazil.
BAYWATCH
Paramount’s Dwayne Johnson-starrer surfed up another $11.2M in 56 markets this frame. The international cume is now $80.9M. France, where the old TV show is well-known, rode the wave to No. 1 with $2.6M at 545 locations. (Incidentally, this comes the same week that Pamela Anderson announced she is opening a pop-up restaurant in St Tropez where she is a local fixture.) Holdover cumes include Germany at $13.3M and Mexico with $5.6M.
PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MEN TELL NO TALES
In the 5th offshore frame, Disney’s 5th Pirates movie sailed to $9.5M for a $519.1M international total to date. Globally, the Johnny Depp-starrer is at $679.1M. In Europe, Belgium was up 8% while France (-6%), the UK (-14%), Netherlands (-18%) and Denmark (-24%) saw good holds.
China is still the top play with $172.2M, followed by Russia ($39.6M), Germany ($25.7M), the UK ($23.6M) and France ($22.9M).
In the same suite of markets at today’s rates, POTC5 is 10% ahead of Pirates 4 and +28% ahead of Pirates 3. The pic docks in Japan next weekend.
DESPICABLE ME 3
Illumination and Universal’s third Despicable pic is playing in six markets including Australia ahead of the rest of the world to tie in with school holidays. The international weekend estimate is $6.6M for a total of $18.36M so far. These are very early days with 64 markets still to open, notably China on July 7.
India was a No. 2 start behind Salman Khan’s Tubelight with $1.8M for the biggest Illumination opening ever there. In week 2, Australia is holding at No. 2 for an 11-day total of $7.8M. The film is keeping pace with Despicable Me 2 and Minions. Other releases so far include Malaysia ($2M), Philippines ($2.7M), Singapore ($2.7M) and Thailand ($1.3M).
Next weekend, the film opens in 44 territories along with the U.S. and Canada.
MISC UPDATED CUMES/NOTABLE
Everything, Everything (WB): $3.1M intl weekend (36 markets); $8.6M intl cume
Alien: Covenant (FOX): $2.5M intl weekend (32 markets); $154.5M intl cume
Beauty And The Beast (DIS): $2M intl weekend (10 markets – $1.9M in Japan for $105.9M to date); $753.2M intl cume
The Boss Baby (FOX): $1.15M intl weekend; (37 markets); $320M intl cume
Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie (FOX): $987K intl weekend (8 markets); $6.2M intl cume
King Arthur: Legend Of The Sword (WB): $895K intl weekend (40 markets); $101.6M intl cume
Diary Of A Wimpy Kid: The Long Haul (FOX): $846K intl weekend (11 markets/up 12% in UK); $10.6M intl cume
Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol 2 (DIS): $800K intl weekend; (20 markets); $471.2M intl cume
Get Out (UNI): $292 intl weekend; (22 markets); $76.3M intl cume
*NEW The Book Of Henry (UNI): $91K intl weekend (UK only)
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