Refresh for latest…: Paramount/Skydance/Fox’s Terminator: Dark Fate found little salvation in its wider offshore rollout this weekend. Handled overseas by Disney, it came in below pre-weekend projections, grossing $72.9M in 48 material markets (including a soft $28M from China where Tencent Pictures is handling). Along with the early releases and holds from last session, the international box office cume is now $94.6M. Globally, TDF has $123.6M.
While Dark Fate was No. 1 in 23 openings, offshore audiences appear to agree with domestic and just didn’t feel compelled to see yet another Terminator movie that was more of the same — even if it was designed as a follow-up to Terminator 2: Judgement Day and brought Arnold Schwarzenegger, Linda Hamilton and James Cameron back together.
Already, last week’s early starts in 10 markets were not pretty at $12.6M (partly that’s also because Joker has such a stranglehold on Europe — see below — and did not leave much breathing room). Asia Pacific was expected to be the most muscular play this session, and Korea did score a No. 1 debut with $9.8M. But hopes for Latin America (where family and horror are the predilection) were dashed with Mexico the only market in the Top 10 (at $2.6M).
Also, by Friday night, it became clear that China wasn’t taking the Dark Fate bait either. One mitigating factor in that market is local movie Better Days which is enjoying a particularly strong run. But Dark Fate‘s fate is pretty well sealed there. It has an 8.7 on Maoyan, only slightly below Terminator: Genisys, but won’t get anywhere near that film’s $113M final. Overall, international is not expected to have legs with a potential total under $200M.
Having better luck at making a return, Disney’s Maleficent: Mistress Of Evil dipped 38% to pluck another $40.5M and get thisclose to $300M at the international box office. The global cume is now $383.2M.
And just below the sorceress, Joker is far from playing out his hand. Warner Bros/Village Roadshow/Bron Studios’ dancing clown has strutted to an incredible $934M at the global box office after the 5th frame, making Joker the first R-rated movie ever to pass the nine-century milestone. Todd Phillips’ supervillain origins story is very seriously eyeing the $1B global mark – and without China in the mix. A feat previously achieved by… The Dark Knight.
After truly startling holds in the past few weeks, Joker dropped by a scant 24% at the international box office this weekend, grossing $37M from 10,600 screens in 79 markets. The offshore cume is now $634.4M.
Tallying up the milestones to date, Joker is the No. 1 WB movie ever in 19 markets and the highest grossing DC movie ever in 36 markets. In Europe, where Joaquin Phoenix’s Arthur Fleck won’t loosen up, the movie has been No. 1 for five straight weeks, dropping just 17% this session. And in Latin America, he’s topped Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice to lead the biggest WB and DC title of all time regionally.
Meanwhile, Warner Bros also started a soft early rollout on Stephen King’s Doctor Sleep in nine European markets, picking up $5.6M on 2,521 screens.
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