World box office September 1-3
| Rank | Film (distributor) | 3-day (world) | Cume (world) | 3-day (int’l) | Cume (int’l) | Territories |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | The Equalizer 3 (Sony) | $60.6m | $60.6m | $26.1m | $26.1m | 50 |
| 2. | Oppenheimer (Universal) | $55.2m | $55.2m | $851.2m | $49/7m | 84 |
| 3. | Barbie (Paramount) | $23.8m | $1.3bn | $13.2m | $771.5m | 76 |
| 4. | No More Bets (various) | $16.7m | $504.9m | $16.7m | $504.9m | 6 |
| 5. | Gran Turismo: Based On A True Story (Sony) | $15.2m | $78.9 | $8.7m | $50.3m | 65 |
| 6. | Blue Beetle (Warner Bros) | $12.2m | $101.8m | $5m | $45.3m | 72 |
| 7. | Meg 2: The Trench (Warner Bros) | $11.4m | $375.5m | $8.5m | $296.6m | 78 |
| 8. | Sound Of Freedom (various) | $10.7m | $195.5m | $10m | $13.5m | 28 |
| 9. | Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem (Paramount) | $10.1m | $151.3m | $5.4m | $44.9m | 58 |
| 10. | Papa (various) | $7.5m | $75.4m | $7.5m | $75.4m | 1 |
Credit: Comscore. All figures are estimates.
‘The Equalizer 3’ achieves franchise best opening
Denzel Washington franchise The Equalizer – loosely based on the 1980s TV series of the same name – has never been a giant box office juggernaut. The first two Equalizer films, both with production budgets reported in the $60-70m range, grossed a solidly respectable $192.3m and $190.4m globally respectively in 2014 and 2018.
Based on those numbers, some may have questioned whether there would be a big cinema audience for a third Equalizer outing – after all, the franchise never seemed to have the impact of, say, the Taken films starring Liam Neeson.
But if doubts existed, they now appear misplaced. The Equalizer 3 has achieved a franchise-record estimated opening of $60.6m: $34.5m in North America (and $42.0m including the Labor Day Monday holiday) and $26.1m for 49 international markets. The film tops the latest weekend global box office chart, pushing Oppenheimer down to second place.
For international, The Equalizer 3 is 19% ahead of the opening for the previous instalment and 29% ahead of The Equalizer in like-for-like markets (unadjusted for inflation).
Europe delivered an estimated $15.6m (more than half the international total), led by UK/Ireland with a chart-topping $3.5m. Both UK and Ireland saw audiences swell on Saturday (September 2) thanks to cheap ticket prices for National Cinema Day.
The Equalizer 3 topped the box office in France (with an estimated $2.8m), Germany ($2.4m) and Spain ($1.7m).
In Asia-Pacific, the film debuted with $5.7m, led by Australia (a chart-topping $2.3m). The Middle East launched to an estimated $4.7m, led by Saudi Arabia ($1.6m).
Key markets yet to release include Mexico and Brazil (both October 5), Japan (October 6) and South Korea (October 20).
Antoine Fuqua once again directs, this time with a story that sees former government assassin Robert McCall (Washington) intervening to protect new friends in southern Italy from the predations of the local mafia.
China debut sees ‘Oppenheimer’ gross double the weekend box office of ‘Barbie’
UPDATED: For the first five weeks of release, Universal’s Oppenheimer trailed Warner Bros’ Barbie at the global box office – initially by a wide margin. As weeks have ticked by, Christopher Nolan’s film enjoyed slightly better holds, narrowing the gap in weekend takings, although still significantly trailing in cumulative totals.
The final weekend of August (the sixth session for both films) saw Oppenheimer beat Barbie for the first time, boosted by a new opening in Italy – but the numbers were close. Now Oppenheimer surges ahead in its seventh session, with confirmed weekend takings of $55.1m, more than double the latest haul for Barbie.
The big reason for the surge is the arrival of Oppenheimer in China, which delivered a confirmed $30.3m over the five-day opening period. It’s the third-biggest opening of a Hollywood film in China this year, behind Fast X and Transformers: Rise Of The Beasts.
IMAX accounted for $9.3m of the China total – a steep 31% of it. The IMAX total is $170m globally – representing 20% of the film’s $851.3m global haul.
In holdover markets, Italy led with $5.4m in its second weekend of play there. After two weekends, the Italy total is $19.4m – surpassing the lifetime of The Dark Knight Rises to become the biggest Nolan film of all time in the market.
Italy is the 59th market where Oppenheimer has achieved record cumulative box office for Nolan, joining the likes of Germany, France, India, Spain and Brazil.
UK/Ireland ($70.9m) remains the top international market for Oppenheimer, but the film still trails both Dunkirk and The Dark Knight Rises in the territory.
Globally, Oppenheimer ranks third in the Nolan canon, behind The Dark Knight Rises ($1.08bn) and The Dark Knight ($1.01bn).
‘Barbie’ beats ‘Super Mario Bros’ to become top film of 2023
Barbie may now be slipping down the global rankings in its seventh week of play – in third place for the weekend – but Warner Bros has every reason to be sanguine. Last Friday (September 1) saw Barbie overtake The Super Mario Bros Movie ($1.36bn) to become the highest-grossing film of 2023 at the global box office.
The latest weekend saw Barbie add an estimated $23.8m, taking the global total to $1.38bn. That puts the film in 15th place in the worldwide all-time ranking – and fourth place for the pandemic era, behind Avatar: The Way Of Water ($2.32bn), Spider-Man: No Way Home ($1.92bn) and Top Gun: Maverick ($1.50bn).
Barbie has achieved its impressive total despite delivering only a modest number for China ($34.9m). In 2023, China has proved a less-reliable market for many US titles. Exceptions include Meg 2: The Trench, where China accounts for $116.5m (31%) of the $375.0m global total.
Barbie is the top Warner Bros title of all time globally and also holds that record in 37 individual markets, including UK/Ireland, Brazil and Australia. It’s the biggest film of all time (from any studio) in both Ireland and Argentina.
UK/Ireland continues to lead the international pack for Barbie, and has now reached $119.5m – more than double a trio of territories jostling for second-place: Germany ($54.9m), Australia ($54.7m) and Mexico ($54.2m). France comes fifth with $46.8m.
China box office close to pre-pandemic 2019
Artisan Gateway has issued China box office data for the month of August and the year to date. The company calculates the August monthly total at $1.1bn (RMB7.8bn) – only 1% behind the August total for 2019 when measured in local currency.
For the year-to-date (January to August) the total is $5.9bn (RMB42.8bn) – which is 4.7% behind 2019 for the same period.
Chinese-language films account for an 84% box office share so far in 2023, with the balance coming from imported titles.
No More Bets led the China market in August, delivering $490m, according to Artisan Gateway. Including the first weekend of September, Comscore has No More Bets on $505.0m globally (see chart).
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