Refresh for latest…: Disney/Lucasfilm’s Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny is off to a disappointing start with a $130M global opening. Of that, $70M is from 52 international box office markets as the the fifth installment in the beloved 42-year-old franchise came in below projections.
Anthony has run down the reasons behind the domestic launch hitting the bottom rung of the range, while overseas the picture is essentially as predicted, even if worse than expected. Europe is overall performing well, though France has been affected by early cinema closures as riots engulf the nation. Japan, where older audiences lean into nostalgia, has been good but not phenomenal while Latin America and Asia Pacific are lackluster.
We expected nothing out of China, and that was the correct bet — the market has no history with Harrison Ford’s adventuring archeologist and is heavy on local titles right now. The three-day gross there was a paltry $2.3M.
The James Mangold-directed entry originally world premiered at the Cannes Film Festival back in May where it garnered tepid reviews. Audience reactions have been better, but the movie sadly just didn’t hit the mark.
It opened No. 1 (non-local) in all material European markets and was the highest debut of 2023 in Finland, Denmark (hi, Mads Mikkelsen) and Greece.
Across Asia-Pacific, Dial of Destiny was No. 1 in Australia, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan and Thailand. In Korea, it was No. 2 behind the improved performance of Disney/Pixar’s Elemental.
As for Latin America, Dr Jones scored No. 1s in Argentina, Ecuador, Central America and Uruguay.
The Top 10 opening markets are the UK ($8.9M), France ($5.9M), Japan ($4.7M), Korea ($4.1M), Germany ($4.1M), Spain ($4M), Australia ($3.8M), Italy ($2.7M), China ($2.3M) and Mexico ($2.3M).
IMAX brought in $11M global, $5M of which came from overseas.
Also new this week is Universal/DreamWorks Animation’s Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken. The kids movie went out in 67 markets during the session, grossing $7.6M and coming in ahead of Spirit: Untamed. The worldwide start was $12.8M. Best performances were seen in Mexico ($1.3M), UK ($1.1M with Scotland over-indexing on Friday, as the only region in the UK currently in school holidays; schools across England and Wales break from July 21), Spain ($643K), France ($466K including the Sunday start of the Fête du Cinéma, though again with impact from the ongoing social unrest in the market), and Germany ($417K, with the strongest results coming from Dusseldorf, where schools are already on holiday).
Elemental has caught some fire in the past two weekends, grossing $29.8M from 40 offshore markets this session to lift the international cume to $98M and global to $187M. The offshore drop was just -7%; when excluding China it’s just -3%. Several markets saw increases including Korea (+41%), Australia (+39%), Germany (+18%), Brazil (+15%) and France (+5%) as well as Austria (+26%), Belgium (+19%), Switzerland (+12%), Malaysia (+12%), Czech Rep (+12%), Vietnam (+8%) and Peru (+1%).
The Top 5 markets to date are Korea ($17.3M), China ($14M), Mexico ($9.9M), France ($6.1M) and Australia ($4.4M). Still to come are the UK and Spain this month and Japan in August.
Paramount’s Transformers: Rise of the Beasts rose by another $14.9M in 65 markets, reaching $245.2M internationally (down 43% from last frame) and $381.3M global. Note that this is the second biggest movie ever in Peru, where the film was partially shot, with $13.1M.
Sony Animation’s Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse hit a new milestone, slinging past the six-century mark. The current weekend was $13.8M from 63 offshore markets to bring the international cume to $267.4M and worldwide to $607.3M. The offshore drop was 35%.
Leading all play is China at $48.6M, followed by the UK ($32.6M), Mexico ($27M), Australia ($18.5M) and France ($12.1M).
Warner Bros/DC’s The Flash added $11.4M in its third frame in 78 overseas markets. The running offshore cume is $146.1M for $245.3M global. Top 5 totals are China ($25.4M), Mexico ($16.9M), UK ($10.1M), Brazil ($6.6M) and Australia ($5.4M).
Turning back to Disney, and after it crossed $500M global earlier this week, The Little Mermaid swam to a further $7.2M from 52 overseas markets, bringing the international cume to $242.8M and global to $523.8M. The offshore drop was 31% and the Top 5 markets are the UK ($31.2M), Mexico ($20.6M), Japan ($17.1M), Brazil ($16M) and Australia ($13.7M).
In local play, China’s Lost in the Stars has reached $320M while sneak new entry Never Say Never opened to $39M.
MISC UPDATED CUMES/NOTABLE
Tokyo Revengers 2 Part 2 (WB): $4.2M intl weekend (Japan only)
Fast X (UNI): $3.2M intl weekend (84 markets); $551.4M intl cume/$697M global
Asteroid City (UNI): $2.8M intl weekend (38 markets); $11.4M intl cume/$29.5M global
The Super Mario Bros Movie (UNI): $2.5M intl weekend (81 markets); $764.5M intl cume/$1.338B global
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