Over There

By Edwin Davies

March 2, 2015

I don't want to over-exaggerate or anything, but this is probably the greatest movie in the history

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While Fifty Shades of Gray might have been something of a one-night stand in America, international audiences seem more than happy to have the BDSM drama hang around for a little while longer. At the very least they're letting it buy them breakfast. This weekend, Christian and Anastasia were good for $36 million from overseas audiences, giving the film a huge international gross of $338.4 million after three weekends. In combination with the domestic total, that leaves it within spitting distance of half a billion dollars.

Playing second fiddle to Fifty Shades of Gray yet again is Kingsman: The Secret Service, which continues to do just fine living in the shadow of such a behemoth. The Matthew Vaughn comic book vehicle earned $25.8 million, bring its total to date to $124.6 million and a global total north of $200 million. Pretty good for a film that is for all intents and purposes original (sure, it's based on a comic book, but one that maybe one in 10,000 people could have named prior to the film coming out) and which cost a fairly hefty $80 million to produce.

In third is From Vegas to Macau II, a Chinese comedy that is a follow-up to a film that came out around this time last year. It took in $22 million in its second frame, bringing its total to $108 million.

Speaking of China: Big Hero 6 debuted there this weekend and was rewarded with $14.8 million, which is the biggest debut ever for a Disney film in that country. In total, the Marvel adaptation earned $21.6 million from China and other territories, and has a new total of $351.3 million.

American Sniper rounds out the top five with $19.5 million. The Clint Eastwood war picture continues to perform well overseas, no doubt in part due to the controversy surrounding the film, as it has earned a huge $139.1 million so far, making it far and away Eastwood's biggest film internationally. Globally, the film has so far earned $470.2 million and it should have no problem crossing the half billion mark sometime in the next week.




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Sixth this week is the evocatively named Wolf Totem, an adaptation of a Chinese novel set in Mongolia and, to add further geographic chaos to the mix, directed by Jean-Jacques Annaud, who is not only French, but also directed Seven Years in Tibet, a film which has been banned in China for nearly two decades. The film added $17 million this weekend, bringing its total to $72 million.

SpongeBob is seventh this weekend and the world's perkiest rectangle is showing little sign of stopping. Sponge Out of Water earned $14.2 million and has so far earned a very solid $96.3 million.

Dragon Blade is number eight this week and continues the theme of Chinese films with kickass animal-related titles. The 3D Jackie Chan vehicle earned $12.5 million this weekend and has accrued $92 million since opening several weeks ago.

Ninth this week belongs to the number one film in America, Focus. The Will Smith-Margo Robbie con artist caper took $12.2 million from a relatively small number of territories, a result that augurs well for Smith's second comeback in as many years. Despite his flagging drawing power Stateside, Smith remains a powerful international draw - his involvement is pretty much the only reason why After Earth managed to earn nearly a quarter of a billion dollars worldwide - which should help this modestly budgeted film aimed at adults do pretty well in the long run.

Finally we have the Second Best Marigold Hotel, the wittily named sequel to the sleeper hit from 2012. The comedy debuted in three territories ahead of its US bow next week, and was rewarded with $9.4 million, and it is so far way ahead of its predecessor in the those countries. The first film earned $90.4 million internationally three years ago, which seems like a pretty reasonable worst case scenario for the follow-up.


     


 
 

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