‘Brahmastra Part One: Shiva’ rules global box office ahead of Chinese comedy drama ‘Give Me Five’

World box office September 9-11

 Credit: Comscore, click top right to expand. All figures are estimates.

‘Brahmastra Part One: Shiva’, ‘Barbarian’ on form for Disney

UPDATED: Brahmastra Part One: Shiva from Star Studios and Dharma Productions led global box office at the weekend thanks to a confirmed $22.9m haul according to Comscore that saw the film earn $18.4m from two international markets powered by the tenth highest Indian debut of all time on $17.8m.

In the UK, where there is a significant south Asian community, Ayan Mukerji’s Hindi-language fantasy adventure arrived in third place on $600,000. In North America Brahmastra Part One: Shiva landed in second place on $4.4m for the fourth highest Bollywood debut in box office history.

The film is the first in a trilogy rooted in Indian mythology that marks the start of India’s first original universe, The Astraverse. The story takes place in present-day India as a lovelorn young man, Shiva, learns his destiny as the Divine Hero of the universe.

New Regency’s Barbarian dominated the North American box office on $10m and ranked fourth on the global chart, earning $10.5m overall. The $400,000 international haul came from seven smaller Latin American markets and according to Disney sources exceeded the openings Of Ready Or Not, Antlers and The Night House across the region. Zach Cregger’s horror centres on a rental home that is not what it seems.

Searchlight Pictures’ mystery comedy See How They Run starring Saoirse Ronan and Sam Rockwell claimed top spot in the UK on $1.3m and combined with $100,000 takes in each of Saudi Arabia and UAE for a $1.7m international running total.

Asian duo claim second, third spots

Zhang Luan’s comedy drama Give Me Five, about a man who tries to help his father recall memories by returning to his old house to search for clues, opened in China via Wanda on $20.9m and ranks second in the global chart. In third place is Lee Seok-hoon’s South Korean action comedy Confidential Assignment 2: International which earned $16.6m from four markets and follows two men who go after a brutal crime mob.

’Bullet Train’ drops to fifth place

Last weekend’s global champion Bullet Train crossed $200m at the global box office. Sony’s action thriller starring Brad Pitt on the titular high-speed Japanese train (full of assassins) ranks fifth and brought in a further $8.9m globally as the running total sped up to $211.8m. International markets accounted for $5.7m following a 34% drop for $119.3m from more than 5,100 screens in 64 markets, while North America stands at $92.5m following a $3.3m session.

Sony’s Spider-Man: No Way Home crossed $1.1bn internationally, becoming the ninth film to do so without a China release. Worldwide has reached $1.914bn, the sixth highest release of all time.

Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero stands at $66.6m worldwide, with $39.8m hailing from Crunchyroll-distributed markets and $26.8m via Sony’s apparatus. Weekend business generated $2.8m including $1.9m from 44 markets and $900,000 from North America. Coming up are South Korea on September 14, Italy on September 29, and France on October 5.

’Top Gun: Maverick’ flying high

Tom Cruise’s aerial heroics in Top Gun: Maverick rank sixth for Paramount and grossed $7.8m over the weekend for $1.453bn. A $4.6m international session raised the international gross to $747.8m following a 23% drop. Japan has delivered $92m after 16 weekends where the film still ranks second, while the UK has generated $101.5m and Germany $36.8m, both after the same amount of time. A further $3.2m in North America resulted in $705.7m.

’Minions: The Rise Of Gru’ crosses $900m

UPDATED: Universal/Illumination Entertainment’s Minions: The Rise Of Gru in seventh place became the 12th animation to cross $900m and the first since Frozen 2 in December 2019 at the weekend. It is also the fourth film in the Despicable Me/Minions franchise to achieve this.

Weekend business produced $8.2m worldwide for $904.8m. A further $6.5m from 84 international markets boosted the tally to $542.4m, while North American box office has reached $362.4m on the back of a $1.7m weekend haul.

Minions: The Rise Of Gru has reached $32.4m in China after four weekends and remains the second highest imported animation of the year behind Universal’s The Bad Guys. The Mid-Autumn festival is this weekend and cinemagoing has been impacted by the end of school holidays and increasing Covid lockdowns across the country. Approximately 71% of cinemas were open as of last week, the lowest percentage since the end of May.

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