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‘Transformers: Rise Of The Beasts’ Pounces On $171M Global Bow; ‘Across The Spider-Verse’ Nears $400M WW – International Box Office

Nancy Tartaglione
·7 min read

SUNDAY UPDATE: In 68 overseas markets, Paramount/Skydance/Hasbro’s Transformers: Rise of the Beasts has pounced on a $110M opening weekend. Combined with domestic, that gives the Autobots and Maximals a global debut of $170.5M, coming in ahead of projections. The Steven Caple Jr-directed franchise reboot was No. 1 worldwide and at the international box office for the frame.

Offshore, and excluding China, the debut is 36% ahead of previous title, Bumblebee, which opened during the Christmas corridor in 2018.

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China was the best play for Rise of the Beasts with $40M, below the hoped-for $50M launch but still the second best start for a Hollywood film this year and with a strong audience score of 9.1 (tied with Bumblebee).

Mexico was up next with $7.3M at 902 locations, followed by Indonesia with $5.3M from 431 and the biggest ever start for a Transformers movie. Peru kicked off with a terrific $5M from 107 locations and the best opening for the franchise, for Paramount and best of 2023 (it’s not often Peru pops up in the Top 5 on a studio title – see marketing highlights below). Korea took $4.4M from 524 cinemas. Each of the above markets was a No. 1 bow save Korea where there is strong local competition.

This is the biggest opening weekend for the Transformers franchise in a total eight markets: Indonesia, Argentina, Peru, Vietnam, Lebanon, Turkey, Egypt and Bolivia.

Rounding out the Top 10 are France ($3.8M), UK ($3.8M), Malaysia ($3.4M), Thailand ($3.3M) and India ($2.8M). Still to come are Australia/NZ and Japan.

The IMAX debut was $16M globally including $9.6M from overseas. This is the 4th best international opening for a Paramount title in the format.

Meanwhile, last week’s champ, Columbia Pictures and Sony Pictures Animation’s Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is nearing $400M worldwide after 12 days of play. The global total is $390M through Sunday, overtaking Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse’s lifetime total of $377M. International markets snagged $47M this session, down 44% in the sophomore frame. The overseas cume to date is $164.5M. The film is tracking at 2.5x that of Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse at the same point and excluding China.

China is the biggest market on Across the Spider-Verse so far with $34.1M, followed by the UK ($20.3M), Mexico ($19.9M), Australia ($10.9M) and Brazil ($8M).

Though it’s faced choppy waters in some offshore play, The Little Mermaid’s debut in Japan this weekend was good for a No. 1 slot and the second-best opening for a Disney title in the market since the start of the pandemic at $5M. This outstrips the launches of The Jungle Book, Cinderella and Maleficent: Mistress of Evil there.

Overall overseas, the third frame saw a 43% drop with $30M from 52 markets. This brings the international cume to $185.4M and global to $414.2M. The Top 5 markets are the UK ($24.8M), Mexico ($18M), Brazil ($13.1M), Italy ($11M) and Australia ($10.1M).

Universal’s Fast X saw a 52% drop in the fourth frame internationally, putting another $20.6M in the tank from 84 markets. The movie crossed $500M overseas for a running $514.7M cume and has $652.8M worldwide. Offshore, it’s the No. 2 studio movie of the year to date, behind The Super Mario Bros Movie.

Notable during the week, Fast X surpassed the lifetimes of Spider-Man: Homecoming, No Time to Die, Skyfall and Tenet in Japan. The Top 5 markets are: China ($132.2M), Mexico ($35.7M), Brazil ($24.5M), Japan ($22.5M) and France ($17.9M).

From Disney/Marvel, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 has become the biggest grosser in the franchise globally with $806M (excluding Russia and at current rates). It’s the No. 2 film worldwide of 2023.

The 6th weekend was worth $6.7M in 52 markets for an offshore cume of $470.5M. The drop was 49%. China leads all play here with $86M, followed by the UK ($44.6M), Mexico ($35.8M), Korea ($33.1M) and France ($30M).

As for Ilumination/Nintendo/Universal’s Super Mario, it overtook the total lifetime of Star Wars: The Force Awakens in Japan and is performing above Frozen 2 at the same point there. In France, it’s now the No. 1 animated movie ever. The overseas cume is $744.7M (after a $5.8M weekend in 81 markets) with $1.315B global.

In local play, Korea’s The Roundup: No Way Out continues its spectacular run as it nears $60M and 8M admissions. The current cume is $59.6M as it retained the No. 1 spot for the second week in a row.

Turning back to Rise of the Beasts, in relaunching the franchise, Paramount’s marketing team held offshore premiere events including in Singapore, Mexico City and London. Life-size statues of Optimus Prime, Mirage and Optimus Primal (standing 20 feet, 15 feet and 13 feet tall, respectively, and weighing over three tons each) were deployed at SXSW and rolled out on a world tour with stops in Singapore, Sao Paulo, Mexico City, Las Vegas, Chicago, New York, Madrid, Berlin, Beijing and Sydney. The tour continues over the summer with the statues traveling to the iconic Tokyo Tower.

Creative Content pieces gave audiences a behind-the-scenes look to get them primed for the newest instalment, including one called Filming in Peru (whose dividends are seen in the stellar debut there).

There was also a global partnership with Porsche as well as partnerships with more than 50 brands in overseas markets. The latter rolled out over $90M in media through co-branded programs. Partners included KFC, Beelivery in the UK, Oliver Brown in Australia, Karamalz in Germany, Oreo in Latin America, ZTE in Mexico and Lenovo in China.

MISC UPDATED CUMES/NOTABLES
The Boogeyman (DIS): $4.2M intl weekend (50 markets); $14.9M intl cume/$39.6M global
M3GAN (UNI): $997K intl weekend (Japan only); $82.5M intl cume/$177.6M global
*Asteroid City (UNI): $222K intl weekend (6 markets); $222K intl cume
*Denotes new

PREVIOUS, SATURDAY: Paramount/Skydance/Hasbro’s Transformers: Rise of the Beasts is on the prowl overseas with $43.3M through Friday in 68 markets. This portends a $100M+ international box office debut, in line with projections. The domestic three-day is looking at $60M.

China, a key market for the franchise, released the Autobots and Maximals at No. 1 on Friday with $11.8M, 70% market share and a 9.2 score from audiences on Maoyan (on par with 2014’s Age of Extinction). It has since, as is often the case with fluctuating reactions, dropped a skosh to a 9.1 today which is far better than 2017’s The Last Knight (7.5) and tied with 2018 charmer Bumblebee (we’ve seen recently that high public notes have helped playability). Critical scores are well above The Last Knight, and slightly lower than Age of Extinction and Bumblebee at 6.4.

The Steven Caple Jr-directed franchise reboot with Saturday in China (Saturday not reflected in the total above) is an estimated $27M. This portends a three-day start in the low $40Ms.

Elsewhere, Mexico grossed $2.8M from its No. 1 opening Friday at 902 sites including previews. The release is the widest in the Transformers franchise.

Peru has been a standout with $855K on Friday at 107 locations — the biggest ever for the franchise, best ever Friday for Paramount and the year’s top Friday. At No. 1 in the market, it has cumed $2.6M including previews.

Indonesia, a Top 5 market on Bumblebee, grossed $830K on Friday at 431 locations and ranked No. 1. The three-day cume through Friday is $2.4M.

The UK opened at No.2 on Friday, and also in the series’ widest release, has a running cume of $1.5M.

We’ll have more on Sunday…

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