Worldwide box office May 3-5
| Rank | Film (distributor) | 3-day (world) | Cume (world) | 3-day (int’l) | Cume (int’l) | Territories |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | The Fall Guy (Universal) | $53.8m | $65.4m | $25.3m | $36.9m | 79 |
| 2. | The Last Frenzy (various) | $29.6m | $53.6m | $29.6m | $53.6m | 1 |
| 3. | Formed Police Unit (various) | $23.8m | $55.6m | $23.8m | $55.6m | 1 |
| 4. | Twilight Of The Warriors: Walled In (various) | $22.2m | $47.3m | $47.3m | $47.3m | 2 |
| 5. | The Garfield Movie (Sony) | $22m | $22m | $22m | $22m | 18 |
| 6. | Challengers (Warner Bros) | $15.1m | $52.2m | $7.5m | $22.8m | 65 |
| 7. | Star Wars: Episode 1 - The Phantom Menace (Disney) | $14.4m | $14.4m | $6.4m | $6.4m | 31 |
| 8. | Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire (Warner Bros) | $14.3m | $546.8m | $9.8m | $359.8m | 79 |
| 9. | The Roundup: Punishment (various) | $14.1m | $44m | $13.8m | $43.7m | 9 |
| 10. | Spy x Family Code: White (various) | $13.8m | $105.7m | $13.6m | $97.9m | 50 |
Credit: Comscore. All figures are estimates.
‘The Fall Guy’ delivers below bold estimates
The first weekend of May saw the start of summer movie season, heralded by the arrival of Universal’s The Fall Guy in North America, and its expansion from 38 early international markets to a wide 78 territories.
David Leitch’s romantic action comedy grossed an estimated $28.5m in North America, easily topping the domestic box office, plus an estimated $25.4m for international – giving The Fall Guy $53.9m for the weekend. Total including the first week in early markets is $65.4m.
Analysts were quick to dub those numbers disappointing, and the North American launch is below recent estimates. Considering the film is inspired by a 1980s TV series with limited audience recognition, The Fall Guy essentially functions in the market as an original-IP title – and $54m globally for the first weekend of wide release is respectable in that context.
On the other hand, when Universal moved the film into the prime early-summer release slot vacated by Disney/Marvel’s Deadpool & Wolverine (which moved back to July due to its strike-interrupted shoot), pressure on The Fall Guy to perform like a franchise blockbuster ramped up.
For international, UK/Ireland led with an estimated $4.4m – topping the box office, and ahead of debuts for relevant comparison titles including The Lost City (which has a similar mix of genres) and the Leitch-directed Bullet Train.
Next come Mexico (an estimated $2.5m) and France ($2.3m) – landing in second place in both territories, with the French box office dominated by local hit A Little Something Extra (see below). Germany began with an estimated $1.9m, ahead of Middle East ($1.8m), Italy ($1.4m) and South Korea ($1.1m).
Among holdover markets, The Fall Guy grossed $1.6m in Australia, down 35%. Key markets yet to release include China (opening on May 17) and Japan (August 16).
‘The Garfield Movie’ makes promising start
Columbia Pictures/Alcon Entertainment’s The Garfield Movie has made an encouraging start in its first 18 markets for Sony Pictures International, with an estimated debut of $22.0m. Sony estimates that the early markets represents 35% of the international footprint.
In Latin America, The Garfield Movie began with a strong estimated six-day $8.4m in Mexico, and $2.2m in Brazil.
In Europe, Spain saw a $3.2m five-day estimate, the biggest opening for an animated film since The Super Mario Bros. Movie in April 2023. Italy saw a five-day estimated $1.6m.
The Garfield Movie is getting a staggered global rollout, giving consideration to local holidays and local competitor titles. The film lands in Germany this Thursday (May 9), next week in South Korea (May 15), and then the following week in Saudi Arabia (May 23) and UK/Ireland (May 24, but with previews the previous weekend). Australia, France and Japan all follow.
So far, The Garfield Movie has performed on par with The Secret Life Of Pets 2 in the same markets at the same stage of release. Universal’s film grossed $431m in 2019, according to Box Office Mojo.
Also for Sony, Screen Gems’ Tarot opened with an estimated $6.5m in North America plus $3.7m in 26 early international markets, combining to deliver $10.2m – not enough to land a place in Comscore’s worldwide top 10 chart.
Chinese films crash global top five
A trio of new films in China – all released on May 1 for the May Day holiday weekend – have landed in the top five at the worldwide box office. The Wu Rina-directed comedy The Last Frenzy led with an estimated $29.7m for the weekend, and $53.7m including Wednesday and Thursday (May 1-2), according to Comscore. Local data gatherer Artisan Gateway puts the numbers a bit higher. Jia Bing stars as a man who discovers he has 10 days to live, and decides to use his property proceeds on unforgettable experiences with friends.
Next comes Lee Tat-Chiu’s patriotic action film Formed Police Unit, about a Chinese peacekeeping police squad on an overseas mission. Comscore has it at $23.8m for the weekend, and $55.6m across the five days – and Artisan Gateway measures it slightly higher.
Also making the global top five is Twilight Of The Warriors: Walled In, Soi Cheang’s Hong Kong action thriller – which receives its international premiere later this month in Midnight Screenings at the Cannes Film Festival. The 1980-set story sees a Chinese-Vietnamese refugee accidentally enter the Kowloon Walled City, where he battles friends and foes. Comscore reports $22.2m for the weekend and $47.4m for the five days.
In total, Asian films make up half the worldwide top 10 chart – also including Korean hit The Roundup: Punishment, the fourth film in the action franchise starring Don Lee. Comscore reports $14.2m for that film at the weekend across nine markets globally, and data service Kobis reports $13.8m for South Korea. Worldwide total after two weekends is $44.1m.
Japanese anime Spy X Family Code: White props up the global top 10 with $13.9m for the weekend, taking the total to $105.7m.
‘Phantom Menace’ rerelease delivers $14m
The weekend saw Disney exploit 2024 being the 25th anniversary of Star Wars: Episode One – The Phantom Menace, while also taking advantage of May the Fourth (aka Star Wars Day) landing on Saturday. The anniversary rerelease delivered an estimated $8.1m in North America, good enough for second place, plus $6.4m in 30 international markets. The international number includes box office from Star Wars marathons running in Australia ($700,000) and in France/Benelux ($400,000).
UK/Ireland led the international territories with an estimated $1.4m, ahead of Germany on $1.0m.
North America’s $8.1m includes $300,000 from Star Wars marathons, and compares with last year’s 40thanniversary rerelease of Star Wars: Return Of The Jedi, which opened with $5.1m.
Local comedy leads French box office
Pan Distribution’s A Little Something Extra (aka Un P’tit Truc En Plus) is well on course to dominate the French weekend box office, based on first-day figures released last week by local data gatherer CBO. From actor-director Artus, the comedy delivered 280,000 admissions on its first day (May 1), which compares with 103,000 admits for Universal’s The Fall Guy the same day.
Universal reported $2.3m across the five-day opening period (May 1-5) for The Fall Guy, suggesting A Little Something Extra should achieve $5m-plus for the same debut session.
The comedy sees a father and son seeking refuge from the police at a summer camp for young adults with disabilities – posing as a resident and his educator. Artus – making his directing debut – stars alongside Clovis Cornillac and Alice Belaidi.
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