Refresh for latest…: Coming in slightly above the estimates we reported on Saturday, Universal/Illumination’s Minions: The Rise Of Gru has boogied to an $87.2M weekend at the international box office. That lifts the offshore cume to $93.7M for $202.2M worldwide to date.
The Rise Of Gru, the latest entry in the globe’s biggest animated franchise, had previously bowed in Australia last weekend and this frame added another 60 markets. In the fresh hubs, the debut was $81.5M.
In like-for-likes at today’s exchange rates, the new openers are 23% below Minions and 13% below Despicable Me 3. Including Australia, results in Week 2 are tracking 13% below Minions and just 3% below DM3. France, Japan, Korea and Italy are still to unleash the little fellows.
Gru and the crew set some new milestones internationally with four markets scoring the biggest animation opening weekend of all time (Argentina, Saudi Arabia, Israel, Venezuela); and 52 markets setting the best animated launch of the pandemic (see more detail in the breakdowns as they are updated below for all films).
Universal pulled out all the stops on a global marketing campaign that included pop-up stores, music festival appearances and shopping mall takeovers as well as a clever TikTok “Minions In Suits” challenge that went viral over the frame.
The Top 5 openers this weekend were the UK ($12.9M), Mexico ($12.4M), Germany ($4.8M), Spain ($3.6M) and Indonesia ($3.4M).
Says Universal Pictures International President of Distribution, Veronika Kwan Vandenberg, “We couldn’t be happier for Chris Meledandri, the filmmakers, cast and crew and our partners at Illumination. This result is testament to the enduring love for this franchise, the exceptional film they have delivered and the enormous collaboration between Illumination, our Universal teams around the world and our partners in exhibition.”
Overall, the marketplace is robust and it’s refreshing to see so many big-ticket pictures across different genres comfortably co-existing.
To wit: Paramount/Skydance’s hypersonic Top Gun: Maverick passed the $1.1B global threshold, grossing a further $37M in 65 markets — another outstanding 16% drop from last weekend internationally. The overseas total through Sunday is $544.5M.
And, Universal’s Jurassic World Dominion stomped past the $800M mark globally — only the 4th Hollywood title to get there since the start of the pandemic. With $824.5M, it is the No. 3 film of 2022 worldwide. The offshore cume is $492.7M after adding $26.8M in 72 markets this frame.
Warner Bros’ Elvis slipped by just 28% in its sophomore frame for a $15.7M weekend in 57 international markets. The offshore cume to date is $46.2M with global at $113.5M through Sunday.
Breakdowns on the films above and more are being updated below.
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