Refresh for more…No payola going on here, just pure ticket sales around the world. Michael remained atop the box office charts like it was a 1982 Billboard music chart, reclaiming No. 1 in his fourth frame with $83.8M ($26.1M U.S./$57.7M Int’l in 83 territories) for a running global cume of $703.8M ($282.7M U.S./$421M overseas). The respective domestic and international weekend dips of -31% via Lionsgate and -14% via Universal is everything a competing studio can be jealous of. And get this, Japan, which is a bound to be a big grossing territory (Jackson’s finale concert doc This Is It made $57M there), doesn’t open until June 12.
Global Imax screens grossed $5.2M with North America ringing up $2M, as Lionsgate gained them back. Running cume is $60.4M WW for the pic in large format, $30.1M coming from domestic and $30.3M from international.
Both stateside and global, it’s the second No. 1 weekend for Michael.
What was new for the Antoine Fuqua directed movie this weekend? Korea which opened to $4.9M, No. 1 in the market, which is great because U.S. stuff post Covid struggles there. The pic was released on the newly created Culture Day (May 13). Michael posted the highest grossing musical biopic opening of all time as well as the biggest MPA opening of the year in the market, deafening Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody. Playing on 1,733 screens, it’s the widest release ever there for a musical biopic. Audience reactions are excellent with a 95% CGV Egg score.
Michael remains No. 1 in France ($7.8M, $41.1M), UK & Ireland ($5.7M, $54.6M cume; outgrossed The Devil Wears Prada 2 +52% on Saturday, pic is now Universal’s biggest film of the year to-date), Germany ($5.5M, $27.4M), Netherlands ($2.2M, $10.7M cume), and Spain($2M, $22M cume) as well as Saudi Arabia and UAE. Middle East region added $2.7M for a running $22.6M cume; the entire area 10x more than Bohemian Rhapsody. The King of Pop was No. 2 in Australia ($3.3M behind Devil Wears Prada 2, $23.6M cume) and Brazil ($3M behind Devil 2, $25.4M cume). Italy’s fourth frame for the musical biopic rang up $2.9M with a $25.2M cume with Mexico adding $2.7M for a $26.5M cume.
After three weekends, The Devil Wears Prada 2 has catwalked past the half billion mark with an estimated $546.2M ($175.9M Domestic and $370.3M International). It’s the No. 4 MPA global release so far YTD behind Super Mario Galaxy Movie, Michael and Project Hail Mary. Global third frame was $69M WW ($18M U.S., $50.6M from abroad, -35%).
The Anne Hathaway, Meryl Streep, Emily Blunt and Stanley Tucci sequel remains the top non-local title Italy (now pic’s second highest grossing territory, but still robust fueled by female moviegoers with $34.5M), Australia ($23.4M), Japan ($21.8M), Brazil ($27M) and Mexico ($24.6M) as well as Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechia, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Ukraine, Hong Kong, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Argentina and other smaller Latin American territories. Pic is the No. 2 non-local title in UK (pic’s top grossing territory with $36.9M), France ($21.2M), Germany ($25M), Spain, ($10.5M), China ($14.3M) and Korea as well as Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, Southern Africa, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, New Zealand, Thailand, Vietnam, Colombia, Chile, Peru, Ecuador and Bolivia.
New Line’s Mortal Kombat II is the second highest grossing movie in the franchise at this point time with $101.2M ($62.2M domestic and $39M int’l). This is when compared with the reported $122M global gross of the 1995 pic. Global weekend was $23.4M ($13.4M domestic, $10M abroad from 80 markets). Updated cumes in the top five markets are UK ($3.9M), Mexico ($2.9M), Australia ($2.8M), Brazil ($2.5M) and China ($2.4M).
They’re bah, they’re bah and they know it: Amazon MGM Studios’ Sheep Detectives did $23.3M in weekend 2 ($9.3M domestic, $14M abroad from 88 markets) for a global cume of $58.7M ($29M North America, $29.7M int’l).
Openings included Germany with $3.5M on 698 screens and No. 3 rank, China with $1.6M in No. 4 on 9,000 screens, Austria with $524K No. 3 on 76 screens, Thailand with $217K on 224 and a No. 1 opening and Hong Kong with $145K on 110 screens, No. 4
Holdovers are as follows for Sheep Detectives:
- United Kingdom grossed $1.8M on the 2nd weekend from 948 screens, down just -19% from last weekend. The cume is $7.1M.
- Australia grossed $1.0M on the 2nd weekend from 317 screens, down just -7% from last weekend. The cume is $2.6M.
- Japan grossed $470K on the 2nd weekend from 528 screens, down -39%. The cume is $1.6M.
- Netherlands grossed $380K on the 2nd weekend from 129 screens, up 184% from last weekend. The cume is $856K.
- Mexico grossed $360K on the 2nd weekend from 753 screens, down -26%. The cume is $1.3M.
- Spain grossed $345K on the 2nd weekend from 300 screens, down -35%. The cume is $1.0M.
- Italy grossed $330K on the 2nd weekend from 287 screens, down just -19% from last weekend. The cume is $886K.
- Belgium grossed $195K on the 2nd weekend from 76 screens, up 98% from last weekend. The cume is $363K.
- United Arab Emirates grossed $165K on the 2nd weekend from 50 screens, down just -19% from last weekend. The cume is $439K.
- New Zealand grossed $150K on the 2nd weekend from 110 screens, down -27%. The cume is $425K.
- Saudi Arabia grossed $118K on the 2nd weekend from 51 screens, down -26%. The cume is $335K.
- Poland grossed $112K on the 2nd weekend from 196 screens, down just -8% from last weekend. The cume is $419K.
Amazon MGM Studios’ Project Hail Mary delivered $6.9M WW ninth weekend ($3.9M domestic, $3M abroad) for a running cume of $667.9M WW ($334.9M domestic, $333M intl). Though it beat Oppenheimer in North America, the astronaut movie will need nuclear rocketfuel to beat the final worldwide on the Christopher Nolan movie ($975.8M). Still, very impressive and lifesaver to the spring box office. Updated territory cumes include UK ($45.4M), China ($40.8M), Australia ($27M), Germany ($21.6M), South Korea ($21.6M), France ($10.9M), Spain ($10.6M), and Netherlands ($6.3M).
We’ll have more updates for you as they roll in.
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