World box office August 18-20
| Rank | Film (distributor) | 3-day (world) | Cume (world) | 3-day (int’l) | Cume (int’l) | Territories |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | No More Bets (various) | $58m | $371m | $58m | $371m | 1 |
| 2. | Barbie (Warner Bros) | $48.2m | $1.2bn | $26.7m | $711m | 76 |
| 3. | Blue Beetle (Warner Bros) | $43.4m | $43.4m | $18m | $18m | 64 |
| 4. | Oppenheimer (Universal) | $42.6m | $717.8m | $32m | $432.6m | 81 |
| 5. | Meg 2: The Trench (Warner Bros) | $28.6m | $316.6m | $21.9m | $250.1m | 77 |
| 6. | Papa (various) | $20.7m | $20.8m | $20.7m | $20.8m | 1 |
| 7. | Creation Of The Gods: Part I (various) | $15.1m | $310.2m | $15.1m | $310.2m | 1 |
| 8. | TMNT: Mayhem (Paramount) | $13.2m | $118.4m | $4.8m | $30.3m | 48 |
| 9. | Strays (Universal) | $10.2m | $10.2m | $1.9m | $1.9m | 22 |
| 10. | M: I - Dead Reckoning Part 1 (Paramount) | $8.9m | $541m | $6.2m | $376.4m | 68 |
Credit: Comscore. All figures are estimates.
‘Blue Beetle’ in $43m debut
UPDATED: Late August – recognised as the dog days of summer for film distribution – offered a less-competitive slot for Warner Bros to release its latest DC Studios title Blue Beetle… but the box office outcome has proved mixed.
Blue Beetle debuted at the top spot in North America with a so-so confirmed $25m haul (knocking aside Barbie), and a confirmed $18.6m from 63 international markets means that the global launch for the comic-book adaptation is an unspectacular $43.6m – only enough for third place in the weekend worldwide chart, behind Chinese film No More Bets (see below) and Barbie.
Although Blue Beetle has the advantage of existing IP, protagonist Jaime Reyes (played by Xolo Mariduena) is a new character for the screen – it’s the first ever outing on film and TV for the Mexican-American superhero. The film is positioned for broad audiences, with particular appeal to Latino demographics.
Among international markets, Mexico led with a confirmed $2.7m, ahead of Brazil ($2.2m), France ($1.5m) and UK/Ireland ($1.5m).
Indonesia, not typically among the strongest markets for a US studio film, punched above its weight, delivering the fifth best result internationally ($1.2m).
Blue Beetle proved the top title at the weekend in the Latin America region, and was also top in a number of major Asian markets (Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, Taiwan, Philippines, Singapore, Vietnam). In Europe, results were more mixed – and numbers will have been impacted in Spain and England by the Women’s World Cup football final on Sunday.
Domestically, storm Hilary impacted southern California, where Blue Beetle over-indexes due to the region’s strong Latino population.
Imax delivered an estimated $4.0m globally (9%), including $2.1m for international (12%).
There are 12 markets yet to release Blue Beetle, including Middle East (August 23-24) and Australia (September 14).
‘Strays’ growls with weak $10m debut
While Blue Beetle may have performed below the hopes of its studio backer, Universal’s comedy Strays looks an even bigger box office disappointment. The R-rated canine comedy landed in fifth place at the North America box office with an estimated $8.3m. For international, release in the first 21 markets delivered a soft estimated $2.0m – thus giving a $10.3m global launch overall, and ninth place in the weekend worldwide chart.
Will Ferrell and Jamie Foxx lead the voice cast for the doggie adventure – which sees an abandoned pooch team up with fellow strays to track down his former owner and enact revenge.
Among the initial wave of international markets, UK/Ireland leads Strays with an estimated $775,000, ahead of Australia ($542,000). Many major markets are yet to release.
Universal continues to enjoy brighter news with Oppenheimer, which now has a $717.8m global total, and is the biggest ever Christopher Nolan film in 51 markets (including Germany and Brazil). Oppenheimer is the biggest non-Batman Nolan film in 63 markets. South Korea was a new opening for the film at the weekend, delivering a $12.6m launch.
‘Barbie’ hits $1.28bn on fifth weekend of play
UPDATED: Warner Bros’ Barbie added an estimated $48.2m in its fifth weekend of release: $21.5m in North America (down 36% from the previous weekend) and $26.7m for international (down 42%). The cumulative totals are respectively $566.5m and $713.5m, combining to deliver a $1.28bn global total.
Barbie remains behind The Super Mario Bros Movie ($1.36bn) in the global league table for 2023, and needs to add a further $57m to overtake it. However, Barbie is the top title for 2023 in 32 individual countries, including major markets UK/Ireland, Brazil and Australia. It is also the biggest film of 2023 in the Europe region.
UK/Ireland ($109.6m) has taken more than double the next best international territory with Barbie (Mexico – $53.3m). Next in the league table comes producer/star Margot Robbie’s home country Australia ($51.0m), followed by Germany ($47.4m) and Brazil ($43.0m).
China – in seventh place among international markets with Barbie – has delivered a relatively modest $34.6m. That compares with fellow Warner Bros film Meg 2: The Trench, where China is by far the top international market ($106.3m), dwarfing the second-biggest territory on the title (Mexico – $18.3m). China has so far contributed more than a third of the global total for Meg 2 ($318.4m). The film – which co-stars Jason Statham and Chinese star Wu Jing (aka Jacky Wu) – is distributed locally there by China Media Capital.
‘No More Bets’ stays top of global chart
A strong hold in China for No More Bets (dropping 34%) means that the crime story holds on at the top of the weekend worldwide box office chart, with takings of $58.1m. Total after three weekends of play is $371.8m.
Zhang Yixing and Gina Chen Jin star in the story of a programmer and a model who are lured overseas with the promise of high-paying work only to be forced into a fraudulent online gambling operation. Shen Ao (My Dear Liar, 2019) directs.
No More Bets is one of three Chinese films in the latest weekend top 10 chart. The others are new entrant Papa and holdover title Creation Of The Gods: Part 1. In Su Liang’s comedy drama Papa, a mother and father use all their ingenuity to help their young son achieve early success in China’s education system.
Chinese box office has reached $5.68bn for 2023 according to Artisan Gateway data – a 74% rise on 2022 at the same stage, and only 5% down on pre-pandemic 2019.
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