‘Sonic 2’ Speeds To $141M Global; ‘Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets Of Dumbledore’ Uncovers $57M In Early Offshore Bow; ‘RRR’ Roars To WW Milestone – International Box Office

TUESDAY UPDATE, writethru, with actuals: There were lots of moving parts at the international box office again this weekend as another major studio title kickstarted with early overseas rollout prior to its domestic debut. To wit: Warner Bros’ Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets Of Dumbledore made its first apparition in 22 offshore markets this frame, grossing $56.9M to lead overseas turnstiles before it heads to North America in the coming week. Meanwhile, Paramount’s Sonic The Hedgehog 2, which already had a strong launch in key offshore hubs last frame, is on a tear. The Jeff Fowler-directed sequel added $37M internationally this weekend, and with the North America debut, landed as the global No. 1 movie this session. Factoring in last weekend, Sonic’s international cume is $70M for a $141M running global total.

Also notable, and before we dig into details on the above and more, S.S. Rajamouli’s phenom RRR crossed the 1,000 crore ($132M) mark worldwide over the weekend to become the No. 3 Indian film of all time globally.

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In other news, Sony’s Morbius saw a 62% drop from its international debut last frame. The origin story about an obscure character that plays like a vampire movie should be fine; Sony kept the budget low at an estimated $75M before P&A. The offshore weekend was $15M to lift international to $69.3M. Globally, the Jared Leto-starrer is at $126.4M.

Turning back to new entry Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets Of Dumbledore, the threequel had magical starts in Germany ($9.2M/best for WB since Joker) and Japan ($8.6M). No. 1 bows were also seen in the UK ($7.7M), Australia ($3.9M) and Spain ($3M) among top plays. It’s tracking 9% above Dune and slightly behind The Batman in like-for-likes.

Coming into the weekend, we knew that this installment would not hit the heights of its predecessors given the drag from China where about half of cinemas are closed and where the previous two entries saw a third of their opening grosses. Ultimately this weekend, FBTSOD did $9.8M in the PRC; it had decent social scores, but currently little of that sort matters. Cinemas need to come back online and the government needs to decide what it wants.

The movie has lots of rollout to come; and is further evidence that families are ready to come out. Note that weekdays while we’re in a super school vacation period overseas will be impactful.

As for Sonic, Paramount smartly jockeyed a week early so as to not get caught under FB’s spell and has helped prove the family market (and more) is there. This little blue critter made No. 1s in such key plays as Mexico ($6.3M), Brazil and ($3.4M) and Italy ($1.7M), notably. And there’s still lots of play in holdovers. The UK has grossed $14M, France $9M, Australia $5.4M, Germany $3.8M and Spain $3.7M.

Still in early offshore release before hitting North America on April 22, Universal/DreamWorks Animation’s The Bad Guys made good with another $7.5M from 43 total markets. In holds, that was a 40% drop and the international cume is now $40.3M. France was new this session with $1.5M from 596 locations. Elsewhere, Australia (-14%), Germany (-28%) and the UK (-30%) had strong holds. The Top Five currently features the UK ($6.2M), Spain ($5M), Mexico ($4.5M), Germany ($3.5M) and Australia ($3.3M). Still to come are China, Korea and Japan.

Universal

Also from Universal (and Illumination), Sing 2 has crossed the $400M mark globally. This makes it the first Hollywood animated movie to pass the milestone since Frozen 2. It is also the only animated film in the Top 10 studio pictures globally during the pandemic era and the ninth Illumination title to the mark, with the Sing franchise now reaching more than $1B ($1.036B) worldwide.

MISC UPDATED CUMES/NOTABLE

Warner Bros.

The Batman (WB): $7.6M intl weekend (75 markets); $377.2M intl cume/$736.1M global
Serial (Bad) Weddings 3 (UGC): $5.8M intl weekend (France only)
Uncharted (SNY): $3.1M intl weekend (55 markets); $240.5M intl cume/$383.5M global
Ambulance (UNI): $2.8M intl weekend (68 markets); $22.5M intl cume/$31.2M global
The Lost City (PAR): $2.1M intl weekend (25 markets); $9.7M intl cume/$78.6M global
Sing 2 (UNI): $1.9M intl weekend (68 markets); $239.1M intl cume/$401.5M global

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