Refresh for latest…: It was a busy weekend at global turnstiles, with a particularly noisy start for Paramount’s A Quiet Place Part II. The John Krasinski-helmed sequel came out shouting with a $22M overseas debut in just 12 markets for a worldwide opening of $70.4M including the three-day $48.4M North American haul. AQP2 did better than expected in China with a $15M FSS, and that’s despite a super short lead time as its date there was only made official on Tuesday. Notably, if we back out the China start this weekend, AQP2 debuted 66% ahead of the original 2018 film (including previews). While the international box office had already begun to show strong signs of recovery, and as summer kicked off in some markets amid the early release of Universal’s F9 last session, it’s also refreshing to have domestic pump up those global numbers.
Originally, our sources were being conservative with AQP2 estimates of $10M-$15M for the full offshore weekend given lingering uncertainties in some markets — and in today’s world, it’s wise to remain prudent. Even Australia, which had been doing great business of late, shuttered cinemas in Victoria just shy of the weekend; the area reps 30% of the country’s box office. Still, AQP2 opened at No. 1 grossing an excellent $4M including previews at 304 locations and 29% ahead of the original.
In China, Paramount was fully armed, energizing a major word of mouth push with fans and influencers, and organizing screenings in eight cities which culminated in a Beijing Premiere on Thursday. (More to come as we update below.)
Also new was Disney’s Cruella with $16.1M in 29 material markets, or about 60% of the offshore footprint. That’s good for a global opening of $37.4M. The film also premiered on Disney+ for an additional fee in markets where the service is available. The overseas weekend take is under the $20M projections we were hearing ahead of the debut — likely impacted by recent closures in Australia and Japan — although critical and social sentiment is encouraging. Mexico led play with a No. 1 $2.6M, followed by Korea at $2.5M in second place behind the hold of F9, and the UK bowed to $2.2M in third – there is a public holiday tomorrow as well as a school break ahead. Other No. 1s apart from Mexico include Spain, Italy and Brazil. Notably not included in this opening suite were Russia, China and France.
Last weekend’s champ, F9, retained the No. 1 spot in all markets where it has opened, adding $31M and crossing $200M internationally — and that’s something to celebrate. Behind Godzilla Vs Kong, F9 has become only the second film to the milestone this year. The estimated cume through Sunday is $229M with just those eight markets in play. The Vin Diesel-starrer took an 85% tumble in China in the sophomore frame, but held No. 1 and held off newcomers, and has cumed $185.3M locally, running ahead of Hobbs & Shaw at the comparable point in release. Korea continues to show strength with F9 at $15.2M, on par with Furious 7.
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