‘Smile’ Giddy With $37M Global Bow, China Returns At $60M Local ‘Home Coming’; Keep A Bag Packed For ‘Ticket To Paradise’ – International Box Office
02.10.2022 - 22:25
/ deadline.com
It was a varied offering at the international box office this weekend with newcomers from Hollywood and offshore markets, as well as notable holds, as we inch closer to full-on action later in October.
Landing the top offshore debut for the studios was Paramount’s Smile with $14.5M from 58 markets, and $36.5M globally. The horror audience grinned in all areas with good word of mouth for the Parker Finn-directed movie that was also tops domestically.
Reinforcing that audiences want to go back to the cinema for something fresh, on a like-for-like basis, the offshore start on Smile is 18% above Truth or Dare, 55% ahead of Hereditary and on par with The Black Phone. Smile, whose first footage intrigued exhibition at CineEurope earlier this year, was led by the UK with $2M from 520 locations at No. 2. France was also a No. 2 debut with $1.4M from 303 sites. In horror-leaning Mexico, the movie scored a No. 1 start of $1.1M from 855 locations. Rounding out the Top 5 were Germany ($1M from 316) and Australia ($800K from 206).
Still to come are Korea, South Africa and Vietnam next week.
Last frame’s champ, the rerelease of James Cameron’s Avatar, took the Na’vi to Spain where they had a No. 1 $1M opening while holdovers were down 45%. The sophomore session for the remastered version, which acts as a table-setter for sequel The Way of Water in December, was $12.3M in 51 markets. The reissue has now added $58.1M globally, of which $39.5M is from offshore. As a sign of things to come, 3D accounted for 81% of ticket sales in Asia, 76% in Europe and 70% in Latin America.
France held the No. 1 spot in the second weekend, and leads all play at $5.8M. It’s followed by Germany ($2.9M), UK ($2.6M), Italy ($2.6M) and Korea ($2.3M).
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