International Round Up: Harry Potter Puts a Spell on China, Crosses $1 Billion Worldwide
August 20, 2020
The slow march to recovery at the box office continued in international markets at the weekend as theaters opened up and moviegoers continued to return. Progress is being slowed by the lack of new films, particularly from US studios, but catalog titles are filling the void. China took advantage of an opportunity to release a movie from the Harry Potter archive for the first time in the territory, and Australian film fans got a chance to enjoy some original Star Wars. Some local films are also doing well, partly thanks to the lack of competition.
Here’s a round-up of what’s playing around the world, and how markets are recovering.
There was a “new” release in China this week: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. The film opened in the market for the first time with a new remaster, and scored a decisive victory with $13.67 million over the weekend. Reportedly, this was also enough to get it over $1 billion worldwide. Second place went to Bad Boys for Life at $3.22 million. Two other films topped $1 million over the weekend, Interstellar at $1.70 million and 1917 at $1.33 million. However, the big story out of China was The Eight Hundred, which earned over $2 million from previews over the weekend and started its theatrical run on Monday. By Wednesday, it had already overtaken The Sorcerer’s Stone’s running tally. It will have an absolute monster opening week. It most likely won’t match Hobbs & Shaw’s $99 million debut last year, but it should really help the box office on its return to normal.
Deliver Us From Evil remained in first place in South Korea with $6.80 million in 1,615 theaters for a total of $26.70 million after 2 days of release. It was down just 36% from its opening weekend, which is very strong for this market. Okay! Madam opened in second place with $4.61 million in 1,288 theaters over the weekend for a total opening of $6.00 million. The top ten pulled in $15 million, which is almost exactly half of what the top ten earned this weekend last year when Hobbs & Shaw made just over $15 million during its five-day opening.
We had good news in many major markets, starting with the United Kingdom, which saw its top ten nearly double to $913,000, led by the tenth-anniversary re-release of Inception, which earned $273,000 in 313 theaters. Germany saw an 86% increase with I Still Believe opening in first place with $431,000 in 400 theaters, including previews. Italy is only about 17% open, but its top ten was up 71% from last weekend, led by Volevo nascondermi. Likewise, Mexico has barely begun to reopen, but it saw its top ten rise 69%.
Some other major markets were not able to grow as much, but did see some increase. Russia was up 34%, thanks mostly to a local hit, Krasotka!. Meanwhile, Australia grew by 22% helepd by a second-place result for Star Wars: A New Hope. France rose by 20% with 629,000 tickets sold over the weekend with Les Blagues de toto rising to first place over last week’s champ, Greenland.
On the other hand, both Spain and New Zealand were down this week. Spain was hurt by the lack of new releases, but Padre no hay más que uno 2 did hold on very well, down 21% to $1.0 million over the weekend for a total of $8.4 million after three. On the other hand, New Zealand has suffered a small spike in COVID-19 cases, and their government is being proactive shutting down theaters to keep it from getting worse.
Filed under: International Box Office, Star Wars Ep. IV: A New Hope, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, Inception, Bad Boys For Life, Greenland, 1917, I Still Believe, Padre no hay más que uno 2: La llegada de la suegra, Daman Akeseo Guhasoseo, Krasotka!, Okei! Madam, Star Wars, Harry Potter