‘Deadpool’ Very Much Alive In $12M Overseas Open; $80M Intl Weekend Ahead?
Before its domestic shows start tonight, Deadpool began rolling out internationally with previews on Tuesday night and full days in the UK, France, Australia and elsewhere on Wednesday. There are 39 more markets bowing today. So far, Ryan Reynolds’ raunchy superhero is doing bang-up business for Fox with starts that are besting the studio’s own comp, X: Men Days Of Future Past, and in many cases, setting records. The total through Wednesday in seven markets was $12M. Industry estimates were calling the international weekend debut at about $50M-$60M earlier this week, but with numbers much higher than anticipated in Asia and Europe — and with all major territories save Korea, Italy, Spain and Japan releasing this frame — $80M is starting to look possible. Here’s the breakdown on the markets so far:
In the UK, Deadpool livened up the box office with $3.4M on opening day Wednesday (including Tuesday previews). It is No. 1 in the market and is the biggest Fox opening day ever for a 15-rated movie. At 42% higher than Days Of Future Past, it’s the 5th highest opening day for a Marvel film and the 2nd biggest grossing IMAX Wednesday opening ever, behind Spectre.
Australia grossed $2.1M on Thursday which was its first day out and the biggest February opening of all time in the market, besting last year’s Fifty Shades Of Grey by 5%. A clear No. 1 with 75% market share, Deadpool bowed eight times bigger than Zoolander 2.
France embraced the foul-mouthed Wade Wilson with $1.8M on Wednesday (also including Tuesday night previews) and gave Deadpool the No. 1 spot with a start that was 6% bigger than DOFP.
Reynolds having traveled to and made Taiwan the central hub for South East Asia had a profound effect on the market and boosted play in neighboring areas. Deadpool had a $1.4M opening day, Wednesday, in Taiwan which was after it took $1.7M in sneaks on Monday and Tuesday. At No. 1 in the market and 62% bigger than DOFP, the Tim Miller-helmed pic scored the biggest Fox opening day ever there and the biggest IMAX opening of all time.
With a $650K opening Tuesday in Hong Kong, the pic was No. 1 and, impressively, made history as the industry’s biggest Chinese New Year single day ever. This is also Fox and IMAX’s top debut ever. Wednesday dipped 3% from opening day, to $630K, despite the New Year holiday ending on Tuesday and folks heading back to work. Since China is not getting this movie (Reynolds appeared on the Graham Norton Show in London recently and said the Middle Kingdom had rated the film “Go f*** yourself”), it’s possible folks from the mainland who are still on vacation through Friday are checking out Deadpool in HK. That could be one of the reasons for the non-holiday boost on Wedensday.
Elsewhere, the Philippines saw a $357K opening Wednesday which is the best first day ever for an R-rated picture. In Belgium, a $270K kick-off on Wednesday is the top superhero opening ever. The comps here include 22% bigger than The Dark Knight Rises, 41% bigger than Avengers 2 and 86% over DOFP. Singapore picked up $205K on Thursday for the industry’s best opening day ever at an M18 rating.
More markets rollout today and tomorrow for a total of 70 out of an ultimate 80. We’ll update numbesr throughout the weekend.
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