International Box Office: Aquaman Floods China

December 12, 2018

Aquaman

Aquaman debuted in China dominating the market with $92.98 million over the weekend for a total opening of $94.28 million. This is roughly as much as the rest of the top five made combined. It is also certainly more than it will open with domestically.

Bohemian Rhapsody was in a very distant second place with $28.8 million in 69 markets for totals of $422.6 million internationally and $596.3 million worldwide. The film had no major market openings this past weekend, but it did earn $4.78 million on 965 screens in South Korea over the weekend for a total of $54.36 million after six weeks in that market.

The Grinch rose to third place with $28.8 million in 59 markets for totals of $101.9 million internationally and $325.2 million worldwide. This past weekend, the film debuted in first place in Mexico with $5.43 million in 865 theaters. It is not doing as well internationally as it did domestically, but it did so well domestically that its worldwide numbers are still a success.

Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald fell to fourth place with $22.4 million on 11,278 screens in 80 markets for totals of $425.1 million internationally and $570.5 4 million worldwide. The film will crack $600 million soon, but it is running on holdovers so it won’t get much beyond that.

Mortal Engines opened in fifth place, maybe, with $18.1 million in 43 markets. Its biggest and best market was Russia, where it earned first place with $4.11 million in 1,320 theaters. It also did well in Indonesia with $1.59 million in 388 theaters, again earning first place. On the other hand, it struggled in South Korea earning fifth place with $1.08 million on 622 screens over the weekend for a total opening of $1.61 million. It failed to crack $1 million in Australia, earning $978,000 in 253 theaters. This is a really bad omen for its chances here.

Ralph Break the Internet slipped to sixth place, depending on how you look at things. It earned $18.0 million in 30 markets over the weekend, which is close enough to Mortal Engines that idiosyncrasies in conversion rates and / or exact release dates could result in the two films switching places. The film now has totals of $117.3 million internationally and $258.3 million worldwide. This includes a first place, $4.6 million debut in Spain, which is already enough to make Spain the film’s fifth biggest market. Granted, it has plenty of more major markets to open in, including Japan on the 21st and Australia on the 26th.

It was a big week for Disney, as they announced they hit $7 billion at the global box office for the year. They are still a little behind the record of $7.6 billion, earned by Disney in 2016. They could get there, if Mary Poppins Returns gets off to a very fast start and Ralph Break the Internet continues to do well domestically and internationally.

Filed under: International Box Office, Dr. Seuss’ The Grinch, Aquaman, Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, Ralph Breaks The Internet, Mortal Engines, Bohemian Rhapsody