‘Fifty Shades Freed’ Collars $98M Overseas; ‘Jumanji’ Now Sony’s #3 WW Release Ever – International Box Office

February 11, 2018

Refresh for latest…: Coming in slightly lower than the Saturday projection of $100M through Sunday, Universal’s Fifty Shades Freed roped an estimated $98.1M in its international box office bow this weekend. The performance is ahead of pre-weekend estimates which had the threequel straddling $80M-$90M. Coupled with domestic, the debut global frame is $136.9M.

Out of 57 offshore launch markets, the James Foley-directed climax was No. 1 in 54. That’s compared to 51 out 57 on the last go-round. In like-for-like markets and at today’s exchange rates, Freed is 7% down from the start of Fifty Shades Darker last year. All tied up, the three-movie franchise crossed $1B worldwide on Friday for $1.085B through Sunday. As we’ve noted, that’s a sexy milestone to own given the low production cost of the trio of pics and the lack of some key markets in the mix.

Critics give the Fifty crew a hard time, but audiences who salivated over the books and earlier films still get hot and bothered when a new movie rolls around. And folks in many cases just wanted to see how this all comes together. Says a rival exec surprised by the overseas numbers, “I guess if you’ve made the journey on the first two, you want to see how it ends.” Working in Freed‘s favor is that it propels and closes a narrative circle.

Strong showings in growing markets helped overcome some of the dips on Freed which was notably down in the UK and Australia versus Darker. Next weekend is expected to see a healthy overall drop with Black Panther bounding out across the globe. But there will be a bit of a pop around Valentine’s Day with some advance sales pegged to the lovers’ holiday. There are more markets to come online this month including Vietnam, the Caribbean, the Middle East and Korea.

In other milestones this weekend, Jumanji: Welcome To The Jungle has become Sony’s 3rd biggest worldwide release ever with $881.8M to pass both Spectre and Spider-Man: Homecoming. Japan has still to release.

And, after crossing $700M worldwide last session, Disney/Pixar’s Coco pitched across the $500M mark internationally with Japan also still to meet Miguel & fam. The Oscar nominee is now the No. 14 animated film of all time overseas, passing Inside Out and The Secret Life Of Pets.

In more limited new releases this weekend, Clint Eastwood’s The 15:17 To Paris rolled off with a lackluster $5.3M in 23 markets.

Breakdowns on the films above and more are being updated below.

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FIFTY SHADES FREED

The climax of Universal’s adaptations of the EL James bestsellers came in ahead of estimates which were straddling $80M-$90M before the weekend. A cherry on top gave the James Foley-directed trilogy-ender a $98.1M bow in 57 offshore markets. The Fifty Shades movies have consistently done about 70% of their total business overseas and this weekend was no different. The worldwide cume through Sunday is $136.9M and the trilogy has now grossed $1.085B.

Although business will be cropped when Black Panther storms the globe this coming week, there’s Valentine’s love ahead and the expectation of a final 2+ multiple. Fifty Shades Of Grey initiated proceedings in 2015 with a $404.8M final at the international box office, followed by Fifty Shades Darker‘s $266.5M. Freed is currently running about 7% below the latter.

BDSM play was down in some of the majors, while growing markets like Argentina and Venezuela picked up slack to score well above the previous films. In Argentina, the $2M start at 190 locations elevates FSF 22% above Fifty Shades Of Grey and 7% hotter than Fifty Shades Darker. In Venezuela, Freed is on track to have logged the biggest opening weekend in history at $1.17M at 72. Ukraine ($905K/178) is also notable as Universal’s top opening ever.

Mostly, Mr and Mrs Grey got down to business in Germany for $10.7M at 731 dates to lead all hubs overseas. That’s in line with Darker which had its best play in this market last year after the franchise kicked off in a Berlin Film Festival world premiere back in 2015. The UK collared $8.8M from 603 for the 3rd best start of an 18-rated movie, behind Fifty Shades Of Grey and Fifty Shades Darker. France rounds out the Top 3 at $8.7M (700 dates), nose-to-nose with local hit Les Tuches 3 and amid wildly wintry weather.

The Greys dominated Italy with $7.2M and 51% of the market at 517 locations; the No. 3 opening for an R-rated movie behind the first two films. Russia bested Fifty Shades Darker by 7% with $6.95M at 1,430 dates and Brazil wooed $6.6M at 650 sites. Spain had a hot and heavy $5.2M at 360, about 4x bigger than the No. 2 title. Australia closes out the Top 10 with $4.8M at 285 locations, having scored the 4th best February opening day behind the previous two installments and Deadpool.

In IMAX, Jamie Dornan and Dakota Johnson’s racy couple harnessed $1.3M on 185 screens in 35 markets.

Traditionally, the top markets for the Fifty Shades series have been a mix of the UK, Germany, France, Italy and Brazil. One thing the franchise doesn’t have going for it is the momentum in some emerging Asian markets like Malaysia and Indonesia, which have been throwing off significant numbers of late but where these films don’t play because of the content.

THE 15:17 TO PARIS

Contrary to Clint Eastwood’s recent pics as director, Sully and American Sniper, The 15:17 To Paris did not bring the filmmaker some of the best international bows of his career (at least not outside the UAE). The Warner Bros/Village Roadshow title opened to $5.3M on 2,221 screens in 23 markets. The latest of Eastwood’s films to deal with the story of real-life heroes, the tale of (and starring) the men who thwarted a terrorist attack on a Thalys train bound for Paris from Brussels in 2015, was a bold experiment made for a price, but has been met with poor reviews and audience response.

Italy, which was a huge breakout market for 2014’s American Sniper, did OK business at $1.5M for No. 3, topping United 93 and The Hurt Locker. WB is using the two latter films as its preferred comps given the themes and director-driven nature. In France, where Eastwood is equally as revered as he is in the land of Sergio Leone, and where The 15:17 To Paris has particular resonance, the start was $1.4M at No. 4 on 411 screens. We have been having unseasonably abysmal weather and this certainly impacted moviegoing this weekend, particularly in Paris and the suburbs. The score was 22% above United 93 and twice The Hurt Locker.

The UK clocked $400K on 323 screens; Australia debuted to $259K on 153; and Spain rolled in with $330K on 89. The UAE was a bright spot with $257K on 45 screens for the 3rd biggest Eastwood opening ever. That follows a pattern for the filmmaker after Sully and Sniper.
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