Korea Box Office: Strong ‘Witch’ Opening Spells Third Place Debut for ‘Lightyear’

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media ReporterDisney’s “Thor: Love and Thunder,” the fourth standalone Marvel story about Chris Hemsworth’s hulking God of Thunder, picked up $15.7 million on opening day at the international box office.The film is currently playing in 17 overseas markets, including Germany, Italy, Australia and Korea, and it will debut in North America and several other major territories on Friday.Overall ticket sales are pacing 39% ahead of “Thor: Ragnarok” (which ultimately collected $130 million during its opening weekend) and 24% behind “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” (which scored a massive $265 million in its international box office debut).By the time Sunday comes around, the newest “Thor” adventure is expected to rake in at least $145 million to $155 million in North America (with some estimates reaching as high as $170 million) and another $140 million to $150 million from overseas markets. For now, “Love and Thunder” is not playing in China, Russia or France.

Following its sold-out Off Broadway Encores! run this past spring, the revival of Into The Woods continued drawing audiences in the first performances of its Broadway transfer, filling 94% of seats at the St. James Theatre and grossing a big $1,380,760.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief“Top Gun Maverick” flew even higher on its second weekend at the Korean box office, holding on to the top spot and fractionally increasing its gross take. The sky-high performance was more than enough to overshadow the otherwise promising opening of Park Chan-wook’s “Decision to Leave.”“Top Gun Maverick” earned $9.72 million between Friday and Sunday, with a 59% market share, according to data from Kobis, the tracking service operated by the Korean Film Council (Kofic).

Just shy of the $115 million opening earned by the first “Minions” in 2015, “The Rise of Gru” now joins its predecessor among the top 10 highest openings ever for animated films. It currently sits ninth on that list, just ahead of the $108 million opening of “Shrek 2” in 2004.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter“Minions: The Rise of Gru” ruled the box office, collecting $108 million over the weekend. By the time that July 4th rolls around on Monday, the animated family film is expected to reach a sizable $127.9 million.Based on those estimates, “Minions: The Rise Of Gru” will smash the record for the highest film opening over Independence Day, overtaking Paramount’s 2011 blockbuster “Transformers: Dark of the Moon” ($115.9 million over four days).Ticket sales for the fifth installment in Universal and Illumination’s popular “Despicable Me” franchise are a comforting sign that family crowds haven’t entirely forgotten about movie theaters.

Any concerns in the film industry about long-term drops in family turnout after Disney/Pixar’s “Lightyear” underperformed can be dispelled. “Minions 2” is posting a higher opening weekend than any of the three main “Despicable Me” films, and its estimated 4-day opening of $129 million that includes July 4 numbers will top the $115 million 3-day opening of the first “Minions” in 2015. It will also rank among the top 10 highest openings ever for an animated film.

Naman Ramachandran Warner Bros.’ “Elvis,” directed by Baz Luhrmann and starring Austin Butler and Tom Hanks, debuted atop the U.K. and Ireland box office with £4.02 million ($4.9 million), according to numbers released by Comscore.After two weeks at the top, Universal’s “Jurassic World: Dominion” was in second place in its third weekend with £3.4 million for a total of £27.1 million.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media ReporterNeed proof the box office is really, truly rebounding from COVID?Look no further than domestic charts, where not one, not two, but four movies — a mix of new releases in Baz Luhrmann’s musical biopic “Elvis” and Blumhouse’s creepy thriller “The Black Phone,” as well as leftovers with “Top Gun: Maverick” and “Jurassic World Dominion” — are pulling in healthy ticket sales.It marks the third straight weekend that more than one major movie has managed to sell a meaningful number of tickets. After a tough stretch for movie theaters, which were closed for months during the pandemic and then greatly struggled to rebound, it’s a welcome change in pace because, at long last, it signals that audiences of all ages are returning to the big screen.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief“Top Gun Maverick” flew to the top of the box office charts in South Korea over the weekend, with a supersonic $9.6 million opening loop. It replaced “The Witch: Part 2 The Other One,” which had been top dog for only a week.Tom Cruise, a regular visitor to Korea, jetted into Seoul with producer Jerry Bruckheimer and co-stars Miles Teller, Glen Powell and Greg Tarzan Davis to goose the movie’s takeoff in the country. Cruise professed himself grateful for the fan’s warm reception and talked up the importance of in-person visits to the cinema.Sub-distributed in Korea by Lotte Entertainment, the film opened on Wednesday and played on more than 1,900 screens.

It took 30 years to convince Tom Cruise to make a sequel to 1986’s “Top Gun,” hit by Tony Scott, but the decision has definitely paid off. Today, “Top Gun Maverick” crossed the $ 1 billion mark worldwide, becoming Cruise’s highest-grossing film ever worldwide.

J. Kim Murphy It’s a 20th century showdown at the domestic box office this weekend, with the baby boomer epic “Elvis” contending against Gen X revamp “Top Gun: Maverick” for the top spot on domestic charts.Director Baz Luhrmann’s biopic about the King of Rock and Roll is projected to draw $30 million from 3,906 theaters in its opening.

MJ and A Strange Loop saw Tony Award glory translate into box office surges in the week after the June 12 ceremony, with MJ leaping by $216,921 over the previous week’s take to a huge $1,660,978. A Strange Loop grossed $845,313 for the week ending June 19, a jump of $168,998 over the previous week.

Naman Ramachandran Universal’s “Jurassic World: Dominion” stayed atop the U.K. and Ireland box office for the second weekend in a row with £5.7 million ($7 million) for a total of £21.7 million, according to numbers released by Comscore.In its fourth weekend, Paramount’s Tom Cruise vehicle “Top Gun: Maverick” collected a lofty £4.2 million in second place to soar to £57.3 million.Disney’s Toy Story franchise film “Lightyear” debuted in third place with £3.7 million, while Lionsgate’s critically acclaimed “Good Luck To You, Leo Grande” debuted in fourth position with £238,640.Rounding off the top five was Disney’s “Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness” in its seventh weekend for a total of £41.8 million.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media ReporterIt’s hard to escape the deflating sense that Disney’s “Lightyear” has remained stubbornly Earth-bound in its box office debut. At least, that’s the prevailing sentiment that’s greeted the latest Pixar film’s so-so $51 million opening weekend in North America.For industry analysts, those lackluster ticket sales were confounding because Pixar had been box office royalty and “Lightyear,” a spinoff of the cosmically successful “Toy Story” franchise, landed decent — though not euphoric — reviews.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media ReporterDisney’s “Lightyear,” an origin story about the Star Command’s most famous space ranger, is looking to take the box office to infinity and beyond. But first, it’ll have to thwart some rogue dinosaurs and a few fighter jets.The “Toy Story” spinoff is expected to launch to $70 million to $80 million from 4,200 North American theaters, which should be enough to claim the No.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief“Broker,” the art house drama film that appeared in competition in Cannes last month had a bright start in Korean cinemas, picking up over $6 million in its opening foray. Its score, however, was not enough to unseat mainstream crime actioner “The Roundup” from the weekend’s top spot.“Broker” earned $4.13 million over the Friday to Sunday weekend, according to data from Kobis, the tracking service operated by the Korean Film Council (Kofic). That put it second behind “The Roundup” with a weekend score of $6.69 million.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter“Jurassic World Dominion” stomped to the top of box office charts, scoring a massive $143 million in its domestic box office debut.Despite blistering reviews, the sixth film in Universal’s dinosaur saga is looming large over a sizzling weekend at the domestic box office. It’s only the third time in the pandemic era that ticket sales have collectively eclipsed the $200 million mark, according to Comscore.

That result is third behind only “Spider-Man: No Way Home” and “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” on the list of the top COVID-era domestic openings and is also just a few million short of the $148 million opening of “Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom” in 2018. Combined with $177 million grossed from 72 overseas markets, “Jurassic World: Dominion” has grossed $320 million worldwide this weekend and $389 million to date, putting it well on track to join the other “Jurassic World” films on the list of $1 billion global grossers.