Go, Peep: ‘Toy Story 4’ Takes $120M Offshore Bow; ‘Aladdin’ Rides Past $800M WW – International Box Office
SUNDAY UPDATE, writethru: With a $120M start at the international box office, Toy Story 4 came in above pre-weekend industry projections, boosted by terrific performances in Latin America. In like-for-like markets, the overall offshore opening tops Incredibles 2, which bowed last year to $115M (adjusted). A soft $13.4M debut in China was to be expected given competition, although social scores and word of mouth are strong in the Middle Kingdom and holds through the weekend were good. With domestic, the global opening for Woody, Forky, Bo Peep and the gang is $238M, a worldwide debut record for animation.
Family-friendly Latin America was truly the standout on the Josh Cooley-helmed installment as the film over-indexed and set new toon benchmarks throughout the region. Mexico leads all play at $23.4M and scored the 3rd highest opening weekend of all time, behind only the last two Avengers movies. In Argentina, the toys beat their Endgame stablemates in terms of admissions to log an industry record opening. The gross there was $6.9M. Brazil’s $9.6M is a new launch record for an animated title in the market.
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Elsewhere, the UK bowed to $15M for the best three-day animated debut ever. Asian markets outside of China include a No. 1 Korea start of $8.5M for the 2nd best Pixar debut of all time. Indonesia launched to $2M for the top Disney/Pixar start ever, and in Thailand, TS4’s Saturday gross set a single-day record for Dis/Pixar.
Disney last week brought Tom Hanks to Barcelona to energize European exhibitors at the CineEurope convention, where the star talked about the history of the franchise and gave high praise to the latest installment. Today, Cathleen Taff, Disney’s President of Theatrical Distribution, Franchise Management and Business & Audience Insights, tells Deadline, “After almost a decade since we’ve seen these characters on the big screen, clearly the audience was looking for them to come back.”
In IMAX, TS4 grossed $3.9M overseas to set the format’s best-ever bow for an animated movie.
And there’s still a host of markets that aren’t yet along for the ride. France, Italy, Japan and Germany are rolling out over the next several weeks. Much like Aladdin, word of mouth should propel the family adventure through the summer period.
Speaking of Aladdin, the Will Smith-starrer’s magic carpet is still flying strong, with another $32.9M in its 5th frame (topping Men In Black: International’s $30.2M sophomore session). This weekend sped Aladdin past $500M offshore and $800M globally; $900M worldwide is a possibility on this picture which has surprised with its traction.
In other milestone news, Paramount’s Rocketman has topped £20M in the UK to become the biggest non-Disney title of the year there, and the No. 1 British film of 2019. Lionsgate’s John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum is nearing $300M global while Illumination/Universal’s The Secret Life Of Pets 2 is close to collaring the $200M threshold worldwide.
Avengers: Endgame, which is getting a re-release this coming week, has a running global cume of $2,749.6M.
Also on deck this week is Sony/Marvel’s Spider-Man: Far From Home which is getting an early release in China on Friday and will also swing into Japan. The rest of international begins rollout the following week in step with domestic.
Breakdowns on the films above and more have been updated below.
NEW
TOY STORY 4
Toy Story 4 came in above overseas projections with a $120M start to top the like-for-like bow of Incredibles 2 last year. While domestic was lower than where the industry initially saw it, the fourquel still set a global debut record for an animated movie with $238M. France, Italy and the Netherlands are due to open next weekend, followed by Japan in July and Germany in August. The Toy Story movies have traditionally trended biggest in the UK and Japan. Word of mouth is robust and holidays are in swing, though midweeks and further openings will help hone in on an international/global final. And, Disney’s not done yet this summer with The Lion King teed up for a tremendous roar.
Out of 37 material offshore markets overall, TS4 this weekend found a huge fanbase in Latin America where new records were set throughout. The strength of the region was notably seen in Argentina which launched with $6.9M and scored the best-ever opening in terms of admissions — topping Avengers: Endgame’s previous benchmark. Mexico set the 3rd best opening weekend of all time with $23.4M to lead all play — it’s not often we see a market other than China or the UK lead offshore during an opening session.
Along with the above and Brazil, record animated debuts were seen in such hubs as Colombia, Ecuador, Chile, Central America, Bolivia, Peru and Paraguay.
In Europe, TS4 was No. 1 everywhere it bowed including the UK with a three-day animation record and 69% of the market at $15M. In Russia, the debut was double that of TS3. The UAE gave Gabby Gabby Disney /Pixar’s 2nd best opening weekend of all time, behind only Incredibles 2.
Turning to Asia, Korea’s debut came in as the 2nd best for Pixar ever with $8.5M, behind Incredibles 2. In Indonesia, $2M gave TS4 bragging rights to the top Disney Animation/Pixar opening weekend of all time. Thailand’s Saturday gross set a single-day record for any Disney Animation/Pixar release. In the eleven markets that opened regionally, TS4 was ahead of TS3 in nine.
In China, the movie faced strong competition from the long-delayed release of Hayao Miyazaki’s Oscar-winning Spirited Away. This is part of a trend to bring older Studio Ghibli films to market following a similar move last year with Miyazaki’s Tonari No Totoro which went on to gross $26M locally. Spirited Away this weekend did about $28M. Although Pixar movies have found tougher traction in China (outside of Coco), TS4 saw strong holds — up over 100% on Saturday and flat on Sunday — and has strong social scores with a 9.2 on Maoyan and Tao Piao Piao, and a 9 on Douban.
The Top 5 markets this weekend are as follows: Mexico ($23.4M), UK ($15M), China ($13.4M), Brazil ($9.6M) and Korea ($8.5M).
HOLDOVERS/EXPANSIONS
ALADDIN
Disney’s remake of the 1994 animated hit keeps granting wishes at the overseas box office. In its 5th weekend, the Will Smith-starrer fell 34% to add $32.9M in 55 material markets. That brings the offshore cume to $522.6M and the global total soaring to $810.1M.
Europe overall dropped by 50%, notably with a No. 1 hold in Germany (+11%). Switzerland, where Aladdin regained the top spot, increased by 8%. Asia Pacific as a region dropped by 21% including a slight 2% dip in Korea (where it was No. 1 on Friday during the opening of TS4), and just -11% in Japan. Latin America, where the toys were tops, dropped by 47%. Brazil was down just 10%.
The Top 5 markets to date are China ($53.4M), Japan ($50.7M), Korea ($49.5M), UK ($41.2M) and Mexico ($31.3M).
MEN IN BLACK: INTERNATIONAL
In its sophomore session, Sony’s fourquel added $30.2M from 23,000+ screens in 65 markets. After a $74M opening last frame, the overseas total is now $129.4M for $182.1M worldwide. As noted last week, finance sources tell us a final worldwide box office of about $300M would trigger ancillaries for a break-even result.
Indonesia had a good start with $2.9M at No. 1 and more than double Men In Black 3, which was released before the market started to emerge like it has in the recent past. There were also No. 1s across the Middle East for a total $2.1M, on par with MIB3.
Holdover markets are led by China with a $41.4M cume to date, Russia at $7.9M, Mexico with $7.2M, Australia’s $4.7M and France with $4M.
Italy releases July 25.
DARK PHOENIX
Disney/Fox’s bird made another $11.1M in 55 markets for a total of $172.8M overseas and $233M global after three weekends. Japan bowed to $1.8M — this is the final market on the ashen X-Men entry. Lead cumes through Sunday are $58M in China, $9.6M in Mexico, $9M in France, $8.5M in the UK and $6.7M in Russia.
THE SECRET LIFE OF PETS 2
Illumination/Universal’s sequel added such markets as Australia and Hong Kong this session, putting $10.8M in the food bowl from a total 42 markets. The offshore cume is now $77.1M for $194.7M worldwide. Australia bowed at No. 2 with $4.1M from 281 locations and ahead of the start of school holidays. Hong Kong was a $926K No. 1 debut at 52 sites to track in line with Sing. Norway also had a No. 1 start with $802K from 145 locations and in line with Despicable Me 2. New Zealand barked up $555K at No. 1 and 73% over last summer’s Hotel Transylvania 3. In continuing markets, Russia still leads the way with $22.1M followed by the UK at 22M.
The movie is underperforming compared to the original, but will be profitable and has several key markets to come including China on July 5 where it may have dodged a bullet as it looks like local title The Eight Hundred is not sticking to that date. Also still on deck are Germany, Brazil, Japan, Korea, France, Spain and Mexico.
ROCKETMAN
Paramount’s Elton John biopic has become the No. 1 British film of the year in the UK with $26.8M through Sunday. It’s also the highest-grossing non-Disney movie of 2019 and the No. 1 title that’s not part of a franchise or a remake. Since the Dexter Fletcher-helmed musical fantasy rocked the Cannes Film Festival in May, it has grossed $76.1M internationally and $153.4M worldwide. There were five new small openings in Asia this frame to total 59 markets in release for a $5.5M weekend.
Behind the UK, Australia has cumed $11.4M followed by France with $4.8M, Germany with $4.7M and Brazil at $3.4M. Japan, which leans into musicals, is the final market to release on August 23.
UPDATED CUMES/NOTABLE
John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum (LGF): $3.4M intl weekend (82 markets); $133.1M intl cume
Ma (UNI): $1M intl weekend (35 markets); $13.1M intl cume
Avengers: Endgame (DIS): $1.3M intl weekend (36 markets); $1.915B intl cume
The Dead Don’t Die (UNI): $500K intl weekend (7 markets); $3.9M intl cume
PREVIOUS, SATURDAY UPDATE: Through Friday, Disney/Pixar’s Toy Story 4 put $38.3M in the piggy bank, for a likely $110M+ opening frame at the international box office. That would land it slightly above pre-weekend industry projections, with great starts in Latin America and despite soft — if not unexpected — results out of China (more on China below).
The fourquel is out in 49 markets repping 64% of the overseas footprint. Mexico is leading all play at $6.4M through yesterday with Brazil next at $5M and the UK at $3.9M. To get a sense of how well Latin America is leaning in, Brazil welcomed a new record on Thursday with Toy Story 4 roping $2.7M for the best opening day ever on an animated movie. In Argentina, TS4 drew the industry’s all-time biggest opening day in admissions, and was No. 2 in terms of box office, behind only Avengers: Endgame. Mexico on Friday grabbed the biggest opening day ever for animation and the No. 4 industry start of all time.
In Europe, Spain scored the biggest animation opening day of 2019 yesterday and the UK saw the best non-holiday Friday ever for animation. (Also of note in the UK, Paramount’s Rocketman has surpassed £20M, becoming the only non-Disney title to do so this year as well as the highest-grossing British film of 2019.)
As for Asia, Korea put TS4 in the top spot on Thursday with the best opening day ever for Disney/Pixar. On Friday, Disney’s Aladdin moved back up the chart to No. 1 with TS4 at No. 2, but they have again switched places today. The running estimated cume in Korea is $5.5M through Saturday (today’s figures are not included in the international cume above). Indonesia on Friday delivered the biggest opening day ever for Disney/Pixar and the 2nd best ever for animation behind Despicable Me 3.
The China cume through Saturday (not reflected in the international total above) is estimated at around $8.4M. Woody and Forky are in 2nd place in the Middle Kingdom, as we expected would be the case since they have competition from Hayao Miyazaki’s Oscar-winning 2001 film Spirited Away which is just getting its first theatrical release there. However, TS4 jumped by over 100% on Saturday over Friday with matinees kicking in and as Spirited Away skews to an older demo. The social scores in China are high with a 9.2 on Maoyan and Tao Piao Piao and a 9 on Douban. Pixar movies in China, outside Coco, have been slower to gain traction versus Disney’s other brands.
This Toy Story is still unfolding overseas with Italy, France, Japan and Germany on deck in the coming weeks. Franchise-wise, it trends big in both Japan and the UK with the last one clearing well above $100M at final in each of those. More recent overseas comparisons include Incredibles 2, likewise a fresh entry many years following the previous title, with a key difference being that TS4 is a 4th film rather than a second installment. Incredibles 2 in like-for-like markets and at today’s rates opened last summer to $115M. Finding Dory in summer 2016 opened to $90M abroad in like-for-like markets and at today’s exchanges.
The Top 10 markets through Friday are Mexico ($6.4M), Brazil ($5M), UK, ($3.9M), Argentina ($3.1M), China ($2.7M), Korea ($2.4M), Australia ($1.8M), Colombia ($1.3M) and Peru ($1.2M).
We’ll have a full update on Sunday.
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