Refresh for latest…: Lionsgate’s The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes very (very) narrowly missed the $100M mark globally in its opening weekend, but it’s as near as dammit with an estimated $98.5M through Sunday worldwide. The Francis Lawrence-directed prequel came in slightly higher than pre-frame projections overseas with $54.5M from 87 international box office markets. The drag on getting to the century milestone was domestic at $44M versus hopes for $50M+.
The top overseas market openings include the UK with a No. 1 of $6.7M, Germany also at No. 1 with $4.8M, China at a No. 3 of $4.5M, France with $4.1M at No. 1 and Mexico also at No. 1 with $3.7M. In general, we understand that Latin America saw some overperformance.
In China, there is no Maoyan audience score yet, though Douban critics have it at 7.1, on par with the first film and not the lowest of the franchise. Maoyan is currently predicting a final of $7.1M which would, however, rep the lowest of the Hunger Games titles released there. We weren’t expecting great things out of China – the previous years were a different time for Hollywood there and local tastes have turned greatly inward in more recent times.
In IMAX, the global bow was $7.3M, including $3.2M from 74 overseas markets ($700K of which came from China to rep 15% of the nationwide total).
As Anthony has noted, Songbirds & Snakes sits at a $100M-plus production cost, 65% of which is funded by foreign sales, with another $20M in German tax credits.
Turning to the holdovers, after its misfire debut last weekend, Disney/Marvel’s The Marvels dropped by 67% overseas, the steepest dip for a sophomore frame of a Disney MCU pic ever. It added $19.5M in 52 material markets. The international cume is approaching $100M, currently at $96.3M through Sunday. Globally, it’s at $161.3M.
There were a handful of No. 1 and No. 2 holds (either overall or for non-local fare). The significant No. 2s were in France, Germany, Spain, the UK, Australia, Korea, Brazil and Mexico.
The Top 5 markets to date are China ($14.7M), the UK ($7.2M), Indonesia ($5.2M), Korea ($4.8M) and France ($4.8M).
With $271.8M globally through today, Universal/Blumhouse’s Five Nights at Freddy’s has topped The Nun 2 to become the highest grossing horror film of 2023.
Freddy and the gang added $9.9M from 78 overseas markets this session, a 52% drop from the last. The offshore cume is now $139.2M, performing in line with The Nun 2 and The Conjuring 2 and above Annabelle Comes Home and Insidious: The Red Door at the same point in the same markets.
It’s surpassed the lifetime of Glass to become the second biggest Blumhouse title ever internationally (it’s already Blumhouse’s No. 2 film worldwide, behind Split).
Korea was the new entry in the frame, debuting to $2.5M for the best Hollywood horror opening of the year. It was game at No. 1 with the biggest Blumhouse bow of the pandemic era. The launch is above Annabelle Comes Home, Insidious Red Door and The Nun 2.
Top Five markets to date are Mexico ($20.7M), the UK ($12.5M), Brazil ($10M), Australia ($8.4M) and Spain ($7.2M)
Universal/DreamWorks Animation’s Trolls Band Together topped the $100M global mark this weekend, boosted by the strong domestic start and after early staggered offshore rollout began in early October.
In total, it’s playing in 66 overseas markets, adding $6.7M this frame to lift the international running total to $76.4M and worldwide to $108.1M.
Major markets still to release are Australia later this month and Korea in December.
The Top 5 markets to date are the UK ($18M), France ($10M), Germany ($6.1M), Mexico ($5.6M) and Brazil ($5.1M).
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