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TUESDAY UPDATE, WRITETHRU with actuals : Universal’s Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again made its debut at the international box office smorgasbord this weekend, belting out $42.9M in 41 markets. The summer sequel, directed by Ol Parker, topped the 2008 movie’s start in 34 of those and danced to No. 1 in 24 openings. Combined with domestic , the sun-kissed origins story kicked off a global launch of $77.9M . Overall, Mamma Mia 2 came in at No. 2 overseas this weekend, with Universal/Legendary’s Dwayne Johnson-starrer Skyscraper the name of the game in China . That film had booked a rare slot inside the July Middle Kingdom blackout, and nabbed $48.4M (via Legendary East) to come in below Johnson’s recent Rampage , but above Jumanji: Welcome To The Jungle . Combined with $29.4M in 67 other overseas markets, the full international weekend was $77.8M . Skyscraper launch last session , and the offshore total is $135.7M for $182.9M worldwide after … [Read more...] about Pop & Rock: ‘Mamma Mia 2’ Puts $43M In Offshore Jukebox, ‘Skyscraper’ Tops China With $48M – International Box Office

MONDAY UPDATE, writethru with actuals : Paramount Pictures/Skydance’s Mission: Impossible – Fallout lit the fuse this weekend with an action-packed $155.83M worldwide opening to rep the best start ever for the Tom Cruise franchise. Of that, $94.6M — up $2.6M from the Sunday estimate — comes from the international box office where it’s also the top launch for the spy series ($61.23M is from domestic , another franchise record). Out in just 36 markets for 40% of the offshore footprint, Fallout is currently 23% ahead of Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation ‘s 2015 overseas start on a like-for-like basis. As we noted in our global preview, anything above the $131.5M opening for 2011’s Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol reps a worldwide record start for Ethan Hunt & Co. With so much of the world to come on Fallout , including France, Japan and China (the latter dated August 31), it’s early to put a multiple on it, but $700M+ global is probable and … [Read more...] about ‘Mission: Impossible – Fallout’ Jumps Higher With Record $156M Global Bow – International Box Office

EXCLUSIVE : Universal Pictures and Blumhouse Productions ’ The First Purge has cleaned up over $100M globally, becoming the third film in the micro-budget franchise to reach the milestone. Through yesterday, The First Purge has also become the highest-grossing title in the franchise at the international box office . It’s already the top of the four films in several offshore markets. The current overseas total is $41.6M with $104.85M worldwide. The franchise cume stands at $423M global and counting. The thrifty fourthquel started rollout in early July, working as counterprogramming to the World Cup overseas. Exhibitors got an extended look at CineEurope in Barcelona in June and major European hubs are now among its Top 5. They are: the UK ($6.2M), France ($5.5M), Mexico ($5.4M), Spain ($4.5M) and Germany ($4.4M) going into the next frame. The origins story of how America’s deadliest holiday came to be is directed by Gerard McMurray, working from a screenplay … [Read more...] about ‘The First Purge’ Slays $100M+ Worldwide, Becomes Franchise Best Overseas

TUESDAY AM UPDATE, writethru with actuals : Disney/Marvel’s Ant-Man And The Wasp took flight in 41 offshore markets over the weekend session, supersizing to $85.9M for its international box office bow. The Paul Rudd/Evangeline Lilly sequel buzzed in about 45% ahead of the first film and landed above Sunday estimates as well as industry expectations , despite the lack of some key markets in this early mix. Spreading its wings across Latin America, mostly smaller hubs in Europe and some Asian markets outside of China, AM&TW got off to a strong Korea start, leading play at $20.9M (including previews), 78% ahead of the original. Asia-Pacific as a region came in 51% above Ant-Man , with the insects No. 1 in all releases save New Zealand. China’s not part of this suite and will come after the summer blackout. The Middle Kingdom currently has its hands full with black comedy Dying To Survive thriving . Local figures have it at $152M for the three-day … [Read more...] about ‘Ant-Man And The Wasp’ Zaps $86M In Debut; China’s ‘Dying To Survive’ Prescribes $200M – International Box Office

UPDATE, WRITETHRU : After starting early offshore rollout Down Under two weeks ago, Sony Pictures Animation’s Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation checked into another 42 markets this frame, and topped the studio charts with $46.4M in 44 total hubs. The overseas tally is now $54.8M for a global total of $100.12M . The Genndy Tartakovsky-helmed threequel set a new record as Sony’s biggest animated opening for the same group of 42 new markets and was No. 1 in 33. Similar to Stateside, the Drac Pack came in ahead of Universal/Legendary’s Skyscraper which made its overseas bow this frame in 57 markets. Latin America was particularly soft on the Dwayne Johnson-starrer while HT3 excelled there in a competitive landscape with school holiday play. The weekend on Skyscraper was $40.4M overall, including No. 1 starts in 17 markets and the best performances in Asia and the Middle East, but still mostly coming in below comps in a disappointing start. … [Read more...] about ‘Hotel Transylvania 3’ Registers $100M+ WW; ‘Skyscraper’ Jumps In Low With $40M Offshore – International Box Office

6th Update, Sunday AM: With chart In a box office defeat that no one anticipated, Denzel Washington’s first sequel ever, Equalizer 2 , stole most of the No. 1 money away from Universal ’s Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again , $35.8M to $34.4M . Even more for Sony to relish is that Equalizer 2 beat its first chapter’s $34.1M opening plus it’s the second back-to-back No. 1 opening for Sony this summer after last weekend’s Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation . Mamma Mia 2 also improved upon its first installment’s $27.7M start by 24%. For director Antoinie Fuqua, Equalizer 2 reps the highest opening of his career besting The Magnificent Seven ($34.7M). For Washington, the sequel is his third best domestic start after American Gangster ($43.5M) and Safe House ($40.1M). While Mamma Mia 2 came in toward the high end of its tracking, Equalizer 2 wildly outperformed its mid $20Ms expectations. “This definitely points to the star power of Denzel … [Read more...] about Shocker: ‘Mamma Mia 2’ Meets B.O. Waterloo As ‘Equalizer 2’ Is The No. 1 Winner That Takes It All With $35M+

Each year when Deadline runs its film profitability countdown , readers understandably ask about wildly profitable films, usually genre pictures, that don’t merit inclusion on the basis of highest domestic gross. But that doesn’t mean these films don’t tell compelling stories in their own right. So this time, we included snapshots of five overachieving pictures. The final four films in our tournament will roll out Monday, along with every one of the revenue charts. THE SECOND BEST EXOTIC MARIGOLD HOTEL Fox Searchlight THE FILM spectacularly successful sleeper hit for Fox Searchlight, hitting an adult audience in its sweet spot and grossing $136M worldwide on a $10M budget. The sequel didn’t hit that number, but it held the production budget to the same level, while adding Richard Gere. The global box office was $85M, and the participations to talent were on the low side. The picture turned out a net profit of $10.85M to Fox, for a Cash on Cash Return of 1.14. … [Read more...] about The Outliers Of 2015: Small Movies With Biggest Profits

6th Writethru, Sunday: Disney is seeing Ant-Man and the Wasp landing near the lower end of its tracking with an estimated $76M which is $500K shy of where rivals see it after a $23.6M Saturday that’s 31% down from Friday, a sharper decline than many were expecting which was around -15%. This now marks a 33% improvement upon the first Ant-Man ‘s $57.2M opening, which turned around a 3.1x for a $180M final domestic. The multiple on Ant-Man and the Wasp is forecasted to be lower at 2.75x, but that will still get the super insects over $200M stateside. Even though the sequel is coming in lower than what many were anticipating yesterday, it’s still a win for Disney in that they expanded the superheroes’ commercial prospects, granted not to lofty results. Imax repped close to 8% of Ant-Man and the Wasp ‘s stateside till with $6M at 403 screens. Seven of the top 10 runs were Imax locations. Disney’s weekend is further amplified by Pixar’s Incredibles 2 which at … [Read more...] about ‘Ant-Man And The Wasp’ Shrinks A Tick To $76M Opening, But Still 33% Bigger Than Original – Sunday Final

Much as he dominated Paramount ’s CinemaCon presentation in April, Mission: Impossible – Fallout star Tom Cruise loomed large over the studio’s CineEurope show today. When Mary Daily, Paramount President of International Theatrical Marketing, went to toss off to President of International Theatrical Distribution Mark Viane early on, there appeared to be a missed cue. After a few uncomfortable seconds, Lalo Schifrin’s music started and Cruise appeared on screen, saying he had Viane with him to grill him “on our release dates.” In the video, Cruise then addressed the audience: “We’ve done everything we possibly can to make this the best Mission yet. We’ve worked harder than ever before to make sure this film represents the ultimate in-movie entertainment and gets people excited to go to your theaters and have the most authentic experience possible.” Talk about authentic: Cruise again goes big with death-defying stunts including the HALO jump, whose … [Read more...] about Paramount Shows Off More ‘Mission: Impossible’, ‘Bumblebee’ – CineEurope

Warning spoilers ahead. While Tom Cruise phoned it in from London last year for his Mummy CinemaCon session for Universal, it stands to reason that the blockbuster actor would be at Paramount ’s session today considering he is being lauded at tonight’s Pioneer Dinner. Appearing on stage with Mission: Impossible – Fallout director Christoper McQuarrie, they devoted arguably the last half hour of Paramount’s CinemaCon session to the sixth title in the franchise. What looks to be the film’s signature stunt (a couple of CinemaCon’s ago, Cruise led us through clinging on a plane for Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation ), Cruise wanted to do a skydiving stunt where he jumped out of a plane at 25K-30K feet going 220 MPH and in doing so, grabbing Henry Cavill’s character in mid-air. During the sequence, they are both struck out by lightning, with Cruise’s Ethan recovering only to make his way to Cavill, and resuscitate his character’s oxygen tube. It took Cruise 106 … [Read more...] about ‘Mission: Impossible – Fallout’: Tom Cruise Jumped Out Of Plane 106 Times For Skydive Stunt – CinemaCon