Over There

International Box Office Discussion for October 17-19, 2014

By Edwin Davies

October 21, 2014

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Last week, a story started circulating online that Chinese moviegoers were despairing over poor quality subtitles for Guardians of the Galaxy, with the official translations being so bad that they supposedly destroyed the humor of the film. That led to further speculation that the Marvel film would sink like a stone in its second weekend as word-of-mouth spread. Clearly, that was not the case, as Star-Lord and his merry band of miscreants earned $22.3 million in China alone this weekend, falling an excellent 23% from their debut. In total, Guardians of the Galaxy earned $23.1 million from overseas audiences, and in the process passed a few milestones; it crossed the $400 million mark internationally, and its global total rose to $732.6, allowing it to surpass fellow comic book sagas Captain America: The Winter Soldier and X-Men: Days of Future Past to become the third most successful film of 2014 worldwide. It now looks set to overtake Maleficent and move up to number two in the next week.

Hot on Guardians’ heels is Dracula Untold. The vampire-as-superhero tale took in $22.5 million, bringing its total to date to $95.7 million, more than double the $40.7 million that it has earned domestically. That's certainly taking the sting away from its comparative failure stateside, but it's unlikely to be lowering the blood pressure of the executives who have committed to a whole series of these monster movie reboots.

In third place this week is Gone Girl, which continues to draw in audiences overseas just as well as it has back home. The David Fincher film earned $20.2 million, and its international total is now a very robust $94.7 million. The thriller cost $61 million to produce, and it now looks increasingly likely that it will finish with a worldwide total north of $300 million.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles returns to the top ten this week after a quiet couple of frames. It opened in a number of key European markets this weekend and it was rewarded with a take of $20 million. This film has seen a surprisingly slow rollout for a big budget blockbuster (especially when you consider that it opened in the U.S. several months ago), but the approach has really paid off in a big way. The Michael Bay-produced franchise revitalizer has so far earned $185.4 million internationally, and it has yet to open in either China or Japan.




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Annabelle slips down the chart to number five this weekend, earning $19.2 million and swelling its overseas tally to $92 million. Though not a hit on quite the same scale as its progenitor, last year's The Conjuring, the quickly and frugally produced spin-off continues to make its case for being one of the most insanely profitable films of the year, even if it is also one of the more cynical.

One of Annabelle's serious contenders for that title is nipping at its heels at number six, as The Maze Runner earned $17.1 million this weekend. One of the first YA adaptations in a while to realize that the key to starting a franchise is to make a half-decent film and to keep costs low - something that the people behind Beautiful Creatures, Ender's Game and The Mortal Instruments should have kept in mind - The Maze Runner has so far earned $161.5 million overseas, and this week crossed the $250 million mark globally, all on a budget of only $34 million. This continues to be one of the more unexpected and delightful successes of the year.

Chinese comedy sensation Breakup Buddies is in seventh place with $10 million this week. It's slowed down considerably since entering the charts a few weeks ago, but in that time it has earned a simply staggering $165 million, and it looks likely to go down as one of the most successful Chinese films ever.

In addition to debuting in the U.S., The Book of Life opened in a few territories this weekend to the tune of $8.6 million. The visually distinct animation is going to roll out to more territories over the coming weeks, so we should see it crop up a few more times in this column. It will be interesting to see how its unique look and culturally specific subject matter play to countries that don't celebrate The Day of the Dead.

The Equalizer is still hanging in there at number nine this week, as the Denzel Washington action vehicle took in $8 million. So far it has done better domestically ($89.1 million) than internationally ($69.6 million), a rarity these days, but it's still well on its way to being one of the actor's biggest overseas hits. Clearly revenge knows no boundaries.

Rounding out the top ten this week is The Judge, the overstuffed Robert Downey Jr. drama that has faltered a little at home and probably won't fare much better overseas. It earned $6.5 this weekend and has a running total so far of $8.7 million. This one didn't cost a huge amount to produce, so it will probably end out okay once all is said and done, but it reaffirms that much of Downey’s international appeal is wrapped up in his red and gold suit.


     


 
 

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