Over There

By Edwin Davies

March 16, 2015

Did you just criticize Downton Abbey?

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It looks like no one is going to be writing jokes about Disney’s Cinderella turning into a pumpkin any time soon. [Dramatic pause as headline writers the world over delete their first drafts and start looking for fresh “Belle of the ball” puns.] The remake of a cartoon which was itself based on an old fairytale had a strong overseas debut this weekend, bringing in $62.4 million. Like recent Disney hit Big Hero 6 (which will also make an appearance in this column very soon), the studio opened Cinderella in a relatively small number of territories this weekend, leaving it plenty of room for expansion in the weeks ahead (though it’s worth noting that it opened to an eye-popping $25 million in China, which is great for a non-3D live-action movie.).

It remains to be seen whether Cinderella can approach the $517 million that Maleficent managed last year, especially since it doesn’t have the price-inflating benefit of 3D ticket pricing to fall back on. $62.4 million is still a good start, especially since Cinderella cost a relatively frugal $90 million. Even if it doesn’t earn as much as Maleficent, there’s a good chance that it could wind up being more profitable.

Disney is more dominant than usual this weekend as they have the number one and two films internationally. Big Hero 6 continues to do excellent business in China – it earned $15.5 million there this weekend and has $66.5 million after three weekends – and added a bit more from other territories for a weekend gross of $17 million. That brings its overseas total to $411.1 million and its global total to $632.7 million, putting it ahead of How to Train Your Dragon 2 ($618.9 million) as 2014’s biggest animated movie.

Kingsman: The Secret Service is third this week with $13.7 million, bringing its overseas total to $169.9 million. It now looks likely to overtake X-Men: First Class’s overseas total of $207.2 million to become director Matthew Vaughn’s biggest international hit, and probably his biggest global hit, too (First Class earned $353.6 million in 2011 while Kingsman has $276.3 million so far).That’s not a result I would have predicted back when the first trailers debuted.

Chappie is in fourth place this week as the Neill Blomkamp robot romp finds a little bit of traction overseas. The sci-fi comedy[citation needed] earned $13.6 million this weekend, bringing its total to date to $33.4 million. That’s not great, especially considering how well Blomkamp’s first two films did outside of the US, but it’s better than nothing, and it looks like Chappie could earn at least $100 million globally before all is said and done. That could be enough to push it from the “disaster” column to the “misfire” one; a small but significant difference.




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Focus expanded into a few more territories this weekend and was rewarded with $13.5 million, good for fifth place. The Will Smith vehicle has so far earned $57.7 million internationally and crossed the $100 million mark globally, proof positive that his international appeal is still pretty strong. Considering that Focus was produced for $50 million – a steal compared to his last two starring roles in After Earth ($130 million) and MIB3 ($225 million) – this should be a minor win for Smith. At the very least it looks likely to exceed Seven Pounds’ international total of $98.2 million.

Jupiter Ascending fails to live up to its name as the Wachowskis’ oddity plummets from first last week to sixth this week. The space opera earned $8.7 million, which brings its international total to $125.2 million. Its global total now stands at $171.1 million, almost matching its $175 million production budget, though that’s a Pyrrhic victory considering that the film would still need to earn somewhere in the region of $200 million more for the studio to see a profit. Still, it’s their highest grossing film not to have “The Matrix” in the title, so at least that’s something.

The bloom seems to be off the rose somewhat for Fifty Shades of Grey , though the film has made so much money already that it doesn’t really matter. The (allegedly) sexy (supposed) drama earned $8.3 million this weekend, bringing its international total to $385.1 million.

American Sniper is still holding on for dear life in eighth place this weekend as the Clint Eastwood war drama earned $8 million. That brings its total to $175.7 million internationally, and kind of makes it the reverse Fifty Shades of Grey when you take into account how much each film has earned at home and abroad. Fifty Shades of Grey does feature at least one more plastic, unconvincing mannequin pretending to be a real person than American Sniper does, though.

Run All Night, Liam Neeson’s latest dabble in action, is in ninth with $6.6 million. Even considering that the film only opened in a handful of territories, that’s still not great. It’s pretty much in line with the performance of last year’s A Walk Amongst the Tombstones, which tapped out with $26.9 million, though its direct connection to Neeson’s Non-Stop, which earned $130.6 million around this time last year, might boost its fortunes a little bit. Even then, it doesn’t look like international audiences will be able to bail this one out.

Finally this week we have From Vegas to Macau 2. The Chinese smash added $5 million, bringing its international total up to a cool $150 million. We should probably expect the cast and crew to take another roll of the dice for From Vegas to Macau 3 at some point next year.


     


 
 

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