‘Tomb Raider’ Tops $100M Offshore, Digs Up $41M In China – International Box Office

In its 2nd weekend of overseas play, Warner Bros/MGM’s Tomb Raider unearthed $84.5M across 65 markets. That includes China where the No. 1 debut came in at a solid $41.1M, ranking as Warner Bros’ 7th biggest opener ever and landing on par with Wonder Woman and Jumanji: Welcome To The Jungle. The full cume at the international box office is now $102.5M for $126M worldwide.


Rival distribution sources like the offshore debuts on the reportedly $90M-budgeted movie — although it does not have a lot of theatrical runway ahead with Pacific Rim: Uprising and Ready Player One coming down the pike. Japan, which opens this week, will be one to watch.


This weekend’s figures give the Lara Croft origins story a leg up as the No. 1 movie internationally. It’s also the No. 1 title across Europe and Latin America, comping above Red Sparrow, Divergent, Salt and Ghost In The Shell. The Alicia Vikander-starrer sprang into action in nine Asian markets last weekend, looking to get out early ahead of Pac Rim 2 . The results there were good, although Korea continues to be a disappointment.


Meanwhile, last week’s champ, Black Panther, has reached $1,182.5M worldwide to edge Captain America: Civil War and Minions. The Disney/Marvel phenom is now the No. 14 movie ever at the global box office. Internationally, T’Challa swung past Spider-Man 3 and is the No. 5 MCU release of all time — it has also outgrossed all non-MCU superhero titles except The Dark Knight Rises.


The Wakanda crew added $30M in 57 markets to lift the international box office total to $577.1M. The drop in China was steep with the movie now at $96M as it struggles towards $100M. Holds were strong elsewhere including South Africa where it’s the No. 1 film of all time. In Europe, BP is the 4th highest grossing MCU title ever.


In other news, Sony’s Peter Rabbit had a hopping good start in the UK with $9.5M after cast engaged in a local press push and family gala premiere. That sets it up nicely for Easter; it also crossed $100M domestic this weekend.


Another animated title, Pixar’s Coco finally landed in Japan where it opened to $5.8M including previews. The picture should settle into a long and successful run in this slow-burn market. The offshore total is now $549M, topping Finding Dory and The Lion King to make it the No. 4 grossing new IP animated release of all time. The global total is $757.7M.


Disney’s A Wrinkle In Time, however, is having a rough go of it overseas with a cume after two frames of just $10.6M.
And, Best Picture Oscar winner The Shape Of Water has topped $100M overseas, grossing $110.8M through Sunday. That was aided by a $10.35M start in China.


The coming frame sees Universal/Legendary’s Pacific Rim: Uprising start offshore rollout on Wednesday in France and Korea, notably. It adds majors, save Japan, throughout the weekend including China on Friday. IMAX will have it on more than 1,200 screens globally.


Breakdowns on the films above and more have been updated below.

NEW


MARY MAGDALENE

Focus’ biblical drama spread the word in eight markets in its debut, bowing to $2.2M. The majors in the first suite include Italy, the UK, Germany, Brazil and Spain. Italy was the top opener with $667K at 350 locations, above Lion which shares a director in Garth Davis. Brazil also opened above Lion with $375K at 369. The UK came in at No. 10 at 425 with $341K.


Universal has 35 more markets to release including 22 next weekend. The film stars Rooney Mara in the titular role alongside Joaquin Phoenix as Jesus in the portrait of his devout yet misunderstood follower. Mary, constricted by the hierarchies of the day, defies her traditional family to join a new social movement led by the charismatic Jesus of Nazareth. She soon finds a place for herself within the movement and at the heart of a journey that will lead to the capital city of Jerusalem.


Pic is written by Helen Edmundson and Philippa Goslett, and also stars Chiwetel Ejiofor and Tahar Rahim. See-Saw Films’ Iain Canning and Emile Sherman are producers alongside Liz Watts.


SHERLOCK GNOMES

Opening a week early overseas, Paramount/MGM/Rocket Pictures’ sequel to 2011’s Gnomeo & Juliet bowed in its first five international markets with $2.1M. Russia was the top start on the John Stevenson-helmed animated picture with $1.4M at 1,000 locations. That’s 13% bigger than the original. Emily Blunt, James McAvoy and Johnny Depp voice the lead garden gnomes who recruit renowned detective Sherlock Gnomes to investigate the mysterious disappearance of other garden ornaments. Mexico is the next major market to release as rollout continues through May.


HOLDOVERS/EXPANSIONS


TOMB RAIDER

After accessing nine Asian markets last weekend to start the ball rolling internationally, Warner Bros/MGM’s Tomb Raider dug into $84.5M in a total 65 hubs this session. That lifts the overseas cume to $102.5M for a worldwide take of $126M.


In IMAX, Tomb Raider grossed $8.3M globally on 1,209 screens including $5.7M on 809 offshore. The international IMAX cume is $7.1M.


Coming 15 years after Angelina Jolie last donned a holster to play heroine Lara Croft, the Roar Uthaug-helmed Tomb Raider origins story is off to a decent start overseas. The $90M-budgeted pic will need to flex offshore muscle. Rival distribution execs expects it to reach break-even — but it does not have a lot of runway ahead with Pacific Rim: Uprising and Ready Player One coming down the pike.


The China start, despite a 6.5 Douban rating, is solid at $41.1M, on par with Wonder Woman. It looks set on a path to a figure in the $60M+ range given the other activity in the increasingly fast-burn market (whereas WW got to $90M). This was not expected to do Resident Evil style business in the Middle Kingdom; the game is more familiar to an older demographic and the picture was sold on Alicia Vikander’s strong female lead action hero. Although it also features local star Daniel Wu, there was no China tour. A key gamer market to watch will be Japan which was big on the previous movies.


Let’s look more closely at this weekend. The Lara Croft origins tale is the No. 1 movie internationally and across Europe and Latin America, comping above Red Sparrow, Divergent, Salt and Ghost In The Shell. The major disappointment is Korea where they are just not feeling it — the film dropped to No. 6 this weekend and has cumed just $4M to date.


The top opener this session was Russia at $4.4M, 11% ahead of Wonder Woman, 30% ahead of The Hunger Games and more than double Divergent. The UK follows with $4.2M on 1,089 screens for No. 2 and on par with Lucy, but above Ghost In The Shell (+30%), Red Sparrow (+63%) and Divergent (+70%).


France ($3.2M), Germany ($2.15M) and Mexico ($2.15M) round out the Top 5. In Asia, where the overall drop was about 50%, the top markets outside China are Indonesia ($4.4M), Korea ($4M), Taiwan ($3.6M), Malaysia ($2.9M) and Hong Kong ($2.3). Japan comes online Wednesday.


BLACK PANTHER

In its 5th weekend, Disney/Marvel’s Black Panther added $30M in 57 markets. The international cume is now $577.1M for $1,182.5M worldwide.

Overseas, it has now passed Spider-Man 3 to become the No. 5 MCU release of all time, and has also grossed more than all other non-MCU superhero titles except for The Dark Knight Rises. BP is likely to taper off around the $600M range offshore, having passed the milestone domestically this weekend.


China is still the top market at $96M through Sunday, as it inches towards $100M which is the low end of the range coming out of last week’s first frame. That will land it lower than Thor: Ragnarok and Doctor Strange in the market, and around Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol 2, while above Wonder Woman.


As a region, Europe was down 45% with the film now the No. 4 MCU release ever, crossing $200M this weekend. In South Africa, the Ryan Coogler-directed movie held No. 1 for the 5th straight session and is the highest-grossing film of all time. In Asia Pacific, Singapore had a great -14% hold while Latin America was down 47% as a whole.


Rounding out the Top 5 after China are the UK ($59.5M), Korea ($42.7M), Brazil ($32.7M) and Australia ($28.1M).


THE SHAPE OF WATER

The Best Picture Oscar winner crossed $100M internationally this session, rising the tide to $110.8M in 63 markets for Fox. The $17M weekend was boosted by a fantastic China opening at $10.3M, topping all comps. The awards halo also helped in Germany where Guillermo del Toro’s fairy tale was down just 28% for a $4M cume and in his home country Mexico where the drop was 30% for a $14.7M total. The next releases are in Malaysia and Indonesia this week and next. For a closer look at the China performance, see my separate story here.


PETER RABBIT

Sony’s animated adventure from Will Gluck started wider international rollout this weekend, hopping to a fantastic $9.5M in the UK. The updated take on Beatrix Potter’s classic was bigger than the original Paddington by 32%. In Mexico, it doubled that film with $1.4M. The total session was worth $15.5M on 8,600 screens in 22 markets. That lifts the overseas cume to $42.7M with the movie on track to play well through the Easter holiday. It has a similar dating strategy to last year’s Boss Baby, opening ahead of the holidays and building word of mouth.


The UK did over 50% market share, which is great for a family film outside holidays and with Tomb Raider entering the market — and despite heavy snowfalls with play throughout the day including evening shows.


The UK number for a non-holiday 3-day weekend also topped Zootopia and Secret Life Of Pets. For the release, James Corden, Daisy Ridley, Domhnall Gleeson, Elizabeth Debicki and Gluck did local press last weekend and attended a family gala premiere. Corden appeared on ITV’s Ant And Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway. He and Ridley also did Chris Evans’ BBC Radio 2 show while Ridley and Debicki were on This Morning, also on ITV.


Next weekend adds Australia, Brazil, Germany, Italy, Russia and Spain.


RED SPARROW

Fox’s spy pic uncovered $8.9M in 72 markets this weekend for a $66.6M total so far. Drops in Germany (-25%) and Holland (-31%) were solid. The lead plays are the UK — currently in the midst of a very serious real-life issue with Russia ($7.3M), Germany ($7M), Australia ($6.1M), Spain ($5.5M) and Taiwan ($4.9M). The international cume is 4% bigger than The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo in the same group of markets and at current exchange rates. The Jennifer Lawrence-starrer opens in five more markets this week, including Kuwait, Qatar and the UAE.


COCO

Little Miguel and his otherworldly family finally hit their final market of Japan this weekend. They came in as the top Western release, posting $4.6M ($5.8M including previews). That’s 43% ahead of Wreck-It Ralph ($30M final), 20% above Inside Out ($32.5M final) and 8% bigger than Zootopia ($70M final, all at historical rates). Japan is a slow-burn market where movies play and play, and the sentiment is that this is set up for a nice run.


The full international weekend for Disney/Pixar was $6.5M in 27 markets with an overseas cume of $548.5M and a global take of $757.7M.


THE GREATEST SHOWMAN

Closing in on $400M worldwide, Fox’s Hugh Jackman singalong earned $3.8M in 25 markets this session. The offshore total is now $229.1M for $397.7M global. Japan is swinging with a great dip of just 22% for a $29.7M cume to date. The UK is now at $53.2M and Australia has cumed $25.3M.


GAME NIGHT

Warner Bros/New Line’s comedy added $3.7M on 2,842 screens in 51 markets to bring the cume to $30.5M. The UK is leading play with $5M, followed by Australia at $4.8M, Germany at $2.6M off a slight drop, Russia with $2.5M and Holland at $2M. Staggered overseas releases continue in April with Mexico, France and Spain.


A WRINKLE IN TIME

Disney’s adaptation of the beloved children’s book is struggling overseas where the source material is not well-known and as domestic isn’t doing much to help boost word of mouth. The offshore weekend was $3.2M in 11 material markets including a $600K start in France ($1M with previews). The offshore total is now $10.6M led by Russia ($5.2M) and Spain ($1.8M). The UK bows next weekend.


THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING MISSOURI

Posting another $3.1M in the 11th offshore weekend, Fox Searchlight’s Oscar winner continues to close in on $100M at the international box office. The total to date is $95.5M. At play in 51 markets, Three Billboards opened in Korea to $326K on just 109 screens. China has now made $8.7M while holds were strong in Germany (-36%/$6.3M cume), Australia (-37%/$8.8M) and Spain (-34%/$7.1M). The UK leads with $19.6M after 10 frames.


MISC UPDATED CUMES/NOTABLES


Fifty Shades Freed (UNI): $2.4M intl weekend (53 markets); $265.4M intl cume
I’m Losing Weight (UNI): $2M intl weekend (Russia only); $8.9M Russia cume
Lady Bird (UNI): $1.8M intl weekend (40 markets); $19.2M intl cume
The Post (UNI only): $1.4M intl weekend (21 markets); $30.6M intl cume
Den Of Thieves (STX): $1.3M intl weekend (57 markets); $28.6M intl cume
Phantom Thread (UNI): $1M intl weekend (46 markets); $22.6M intl cume
Maze Runner: The Death Cure (FOX): $753K intl weekend (29 markets); $226.3M intl cume
Gringo (STX): $535K intl weekend (17 markets); $1.6M intl cume