International Box Office: Frozen II Finally Faces Some Competition

December 12, 2019

Frozen II

Frozen II again won the race on top of the international box office chart, but it at least faced some competition this week. The film added $90.2 million in 48 markets for totals of $582.1 million internationally and $919.7 million worldwide. The film had no major market openings, but it did earn $800,000 in South Africa, making it the second fastest opening for an animated film in that market, behind only Minions. In other news, the film cracked $100 million in China over the weekend and now sits at $107.06 million in that market, including $9.84 million this past weekend. It took less than three weeks to top the lifetime total of the first Frozen in that market.

Jumanji: The Next Level started its international run a week early scoring second place with $52.86 million on 31,207 screens in 18 markets. Almost half of this came from China, where it earned first place with $25.17 million on 25,660 screens. The film also earned first place in Indonesia ($6.42 million); Malaysia ($4.58 million); Taiwan ($2.45 million); and Singapore ($1.68 million). In fact, the film is doing so well in Asia that it could get another sequel just on these numbers alone. On the one hand, the film had to settle for second place in France just under $6.00 million in 676 theaters. On the other hand, this is nearly double the opening of the previous Jumanji’s debut there, so this is also a good omen going into this weekend’s domestic debut.

Wild Goose Lake debuted in second place in its native China with $19.87 million during its full opening. It earned third place internationally with only minor box office numbers from Australia and New Zealand.

Knives Out fell to fourth place with $19.45 million on 22,820 screens in 68 markets for totals of $61.39 million internationally and $124.94 million worldwide This is already enough to ensure a healthy profit during its home market run. The film had a trio of major market openings earning second place in Mexico with $826,000 on 878 screens over the weekend for a total opening of $1.15 million including last week’s previews. The film had to settle for third place in South Korea with $1.19 million on 686 screens over the weekend for a total opening of $1.65 million. It also placed third in Italy with $1.33 million on 404 screens. Films like this generally don’t translate well into other languages / cultures, so the film’s already beaten expectations internationally. Additionally, its legs suggest it will top $100 million internationally, which might be enough for it to be a profitable before it hits the home market.

Last Christmas rounded out the top five, again, with $11.4 million in 63 markets for totals of $52.0 million internationally and $85.5 million worldwide. The film’s biggest opening came in Russia, where it earned second place with $1.46 million on 1,062 screens over the weekend for a four-day debut of $1.53 million. It landed in third place in Mexico with $823,000 in 863 theaters, while it had to settle for fifth place in South Korea earning $819,000 on 618 screens over the weekend for a total opening of $1.01 million. Domestically, the film will be in only a few hundred theaters by Christmas day, but its international run is saving its chances of breaking even any time soon. In fact, if it can get close to $100 million internationally, it could break even relatively early in the film’s home market run.

Filed under: International Box Office, Frozen II, Jumanji: The Next Level, Last Christmas, Knives Out, Nan Fang Che Zhan De Ju Hui