Over There

By Edwin Davies

March 9, 2015

She is all full of stars.

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We have a slight surprise this week as Jupiter Ascending, a film that most people have probably forgotten about unless, like me, they took in an early afternoon screening of it today and can't think about anything else right now, rises to the top after a few weeks of being pretty much a non-factor. Anyone who has been reading these columns for a while will not be surprised to learn that the main reason for that is China: the Wachowskis' fairytale in which Mila Kunis falls in love with a half-wolf space cop and Sean Bean plays a bee opened to $23.2 million there this weekend. That's better than its US opening ($18.3 million) and should ensure that it ultimately earns more in China than it does domestically (current total: a painful $45 million). It earned a little more from other territories for a total of $25.3 million, and currently has $107 million total from international audiences.

Second this week is Big Hero 6, another film that is doing very well in China right now. In fact, it earned slightly more in its second weekend than it did in its first, and should have no problem overtaking Frozen to become the most successful Disney film in Chinese box office history (Frozen earned $48.2 million while Big Hero 6 has over $30 million already). All told, Big Hero 6 earned $19.6 million this weekend from China and a handful of other territories, and has a new total of $383.5 million.

It's a tie for third between Focus and Fifty Shades of Grey. Both added $17.7 million, though their overall stories diverge sharply from that similarity. The Will Smith vehicle has so far earned $37 million internationally, which is a pretty solid start for a modestly budgeted drama that should guarantee the film will see a decent profit further down the road. Fifty Shades, meanwhile, has earned $371.3 million internationally so far, so not only will the executives at Universal see a profit, they'll see one so vast that they'll be able to line their own sex dungeons with the cash they have left over.




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In fifth this week is Kingsman: The Secret Service. The Roger Moore-era Bond pastiche with added gore and anal sex gags has so far amassed $150.8 million internationally and should cross the quarter billion mark globally by Tuesday at the latest. I think this one can be pretty firmly described as a hit.

American Sniper is sixth this weekend and continues to play pretty well, all things considered. The living Rorschach test took $14.6 million, giving it an overseas tally of $163 million, and pushing its global take just over the $500 million line. At this point it just looks like American Sniper is showing off.

Chappie, the little movie that couldn't, is seventh with $13.7 million, which is almost exactly what it earned domestically ($13.3 million). It's early days for the robot comedy, which I would shorten to rob-com but that might make people think I'm talking about Rob Schneider comedies and no one needs that sort of trigger right now, and Neill Blomkamp's films tend to play well overseas. Elysium, despite being a mild disappointment domestically, earned $193.1 million internationally. However, this result suggests that pretty much everyone is wary of Chappie. Still, it should help the studio save face and convince the owners of the Alien franchise that they aren't making a huge mistake by handing the reins to Blomkamp.

In at eight this week is From Vegas to Macau 2, which added $10 million. The Chinese comedy is still doing remarkably well, and has earned a huge $133 million so far.

Ninth place belongs to The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge out of Water, which continues to do steady business at home and abroad. Fans of all things Bikini Bottom ponied up $9.6 million, which gives the world's greatest underwater fry cook $110.4 million to invest in convincing Scarlett Johansson to return to do a voice in the inevitable third film.

Finally this week is Wolf Totem. The awesomely named Chinese drama added $9.5 million, and is sitting pretty with a total of $95 million.


     


 
 

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