World box office February 3-5
| Rank | Film (distributor) | 3-day (world) | Cume (world) | 3-day (int’l) | Cume (int’l) | Territories |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | The Wandering Earth 2 (various) | $57.2m | $501.5m | $57.2m | $498m | 6 |
| 2. | Full River Red (various) | $50.2m | $586.6m | $50.2m | $586.6m | 2 |
| 3. | Avatar: The Way Of Water (Disney) | $38.7m | $2.17bn | $27.9m | $1.54bn | 61 |
| 4. | Puss In Boots: The Last Wish (Universal) | $25.1m | $368.6m | $17.1m | $217.3m | 81 |
| 5. | Knock At The Cabin (Universal) | $21.2m | $21.2m | $7m | $17m | 61 |
| 6. | Boonie Bears: The Guardian Code (various) | $21.1m | $185.3m | $21.1m | $185.3m | 1 |
| 7. | BTS: Yet To Come In Cinemas (various) | $21m | $27.8m | $15.9m | $19.9m | 49 |
| 8. | Pathaan (various) | $20.5m | $103.7m | $17.8m | $89.4m | 28 |
| 9. | Deep Sea (various) | $13.8m | $97.6m | $13.8m | $97.6m | 1 |
| 10. | 80 For Brady (Paramount) | $12.5m | $12.5m | N/A | N/A | 1 |
Credit: Comscore, click top right to expand. All figures are estimates.
‘Knock At The Cabin’ is top new title – with $21m debut
UPDATED: Universal has scored the highest new entry in the global box office chart with its release of M Night Shyamalan’s Knock At The Cabin. This adaptation of Paul G Tremblay novel The Cabin At The End Of The World has begun with $14.1m in North America (knocking Avatar: The Way Of Water off the top of the box office) and $6.9m for 60 international markets, combining for $21m worldwide.
For comparison, Shyamalan’s Old began in July 2021 with a slightly stronger $16.9m in North America, plus $6.5m in just 23 international markets. The film reached a total of $90.1m worldwide.
So far, Knock At The Cabin has done best in UK/Ireland among international markets, opening with an estimated $1.2m. Mexico is next, with an estimated $883,000, ahead of France ($723,000) and Spain ($616,000). Mexico will benefit from a national holiday today (February 6).
Among key markets yet to release, Germany welcomes the film this Thursday (February 9), with South Korea (March 8) and Japan (April 7) both to follow.
Chinese New Year releases stay top of box office
China enjoyed another strong weekend at the box office, following on from the official seven-day Lunar New Year holiday – scoring four of the top 10 in the latest global chart, including the top two places.
Frant Gwo’s sci-fi prequel The Wandering Earth 2 has retaken the top spot with $57.2m for the weekend period, switching places again with Zhang Yimou’s historical drama Full River Red ($50.2m). Totals for those two films to date are respectively $501.5m and $586.6m.
Also in the global top 10 for the weekend period: family animation Boonie Bears: Guardian Code (now at $185.3m cumulatively) and animation Deep Sea ($97.6m total).
The lunar holiday occurred earlier in the calendar in 2023 than was the case in 2022 – a major factor helping China to a 47% annual rise in box office for the year to date, according to Artisan Gateway figures.
‘Puss In Boots 2’ rises up global box office chart
UPDATED: A confirmed $6m debut in UK/Ireland helped Universal’s release of DreamWorks Animation’s Puss In Boots: The Last Wish achieve $25.6m box office at the weekend, rising from sixth to fourth place on the worldwide box office chart – behind Chinese Lunar New Year hits The Wandering Earth 2 and Full River Red, and Disney’s Avatar: The Way Of Water.
In holdover international markets, the Puss In Boots film fell 27%, and 25% in North America. Cumulative totals are now $217.9m for international and $151.2m in North America, combining for $369.1m worldwide.
The Last Wish is a sequel to 2011 animation Puss in Boots, which was a spinoff of the Shrek franchise.
Among US studio animations, The Last Wish ranks third for the pandemic era, behind Illumination Entertainment duo Minions: The Rise Of Gru ($939.6m) and Sing 2 ($408.4m) – both likewise distributed by Universal. With The Bad Guys ($250.2m) and The Croods: A New Age ($215.9m), Universal has five of the top six US studio animations of the pandemic era. (Disney has the other – with Lightyear on $226.4m.)
In cumulative totals, Mexico leads the way for The Last Wish, with $21.7m, ahead of France ($19.6m), Germany ($15.2m) and Australia ($13.6m). UK/Ireland was late to release the film, with Universal opting to wait out the Christmas holiday and instead exploit the territory’s February half-term school holiday. Japan gets the film on March 17.
The Last Wish is now 66% of the way to matching the $555.0m global gross of the original Puss In Boots.
New BTS concert film lands with five-day $28m
Trafalgar Releasing’s BTS: Yet To Come In Cinemas opened in 49 territories worldwide last Wednesday (February 1), and has delivered an estimated $21.0m for the weekend period, and $27.8m across the whole five days.
Those numbers are slightly down on the previous concert film from the South Korean boy band: in March 2022, BTS Permission To Dance On Stage – Seoul: Live Viewing delivered $32.6m worldwide, from 75 territories.
Yet To Come In Cinemas is the sixth film from the band. The first, Burn The Stage: The Movie, was released in 2018, grossing $20.3m worldwide. BTS Permission To Dance On Stage remains the highest grossing of the films to date.
‘Avatar 2’ closes in on third-biggest film of all time ‘Titanic’
Disney’s Avatar: The Way Of Water added an estimated $38.7m in its eighth weekend of release, and now stands at $2.17bn worldwide. The film is now just $20.3m behind Titanic ($2.19bn) in the all-time worldwide box office ranking, and should close the gap within days.
Titanic ranks third for worldwide box office, behind Avatar ($2.92bn) and Avengers: Endgame ($2.80bn).
‘Pathaan’ cracks $100m
Yash Raj Films’ Pathaan has raced to $100m globally after just two weekends of play, and now stands at $103.7m. So far, around $40m has been grossed outside India, including $14.3m in North America.
Pathaan marks the return of Shah Rukh Khan to the big screen in his first starring role since 2018’s Zero. The film is the fourth in the YRF Spy Universe series of action thrillers – following EK The Tiger (2012), Tiger Zinda Hai (2017) and War (2019).
In UK/Ireland, Pathaan is the first Indian film to crack £3m ($3.6m).
Global box office hits pandemic high in January
January 2023 has proved the biggest month for global box office during the pandemic era, and also the biggest since December 2019 – according to a report by film tech company Gower Street.
January 2023 hit $3.6bn, driven by strong titles in China for the lunar holiday, Avatar: The Way Of Water ($820m for the month), Puss In Boots: The Last Wish ($217m for the month), breakout hit M3gan ($149m in January), and multiple local hits.
China delivered 40.3% of the global box office total in January, with North America accounting for just 16.3%. International markets excluding China delivered 43.4% of the total.
Germany is a notable territory success, with the January 2023 total being 10% ahead of the pre-pandemic three-year monthly average. In Netherlands, the January 2023 total is 12% ahead of the pre-pandemic three-year monthly average. Russian family comedy Cheburashka (aka Chebi: My Fluffy Friend) has delivered the biggest local hit of all time at the Russia box office, with $84.4m since its December 22 release.
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