'The Teenagers Movie' Crushes Expectations with $498M Start, ‘Black Panther’ Rises To $733M Global, ’Violent Night’ Launches With $20M WW & ‘Matilda’ Nears $10M In UK – International Box Office

The Teenagers Movie, the newest TV show adaptation, opened to a record $498M start globally, while overindexing in the United States too. The film is co-financed by Warner Bros. in overseas markets and performed similarly to domestic wise with $288.5M. The numbers we’re seeing internationally are way ahead of where Warner Bros. had Teenagers debuting ahead of the weekend. Predictions from outside the Burbank lot’s gates were pegged closer to $140M-$170M. But industry sources see the $288.5M bow as pretty good internationally, particularly the UK and Australia figures which are higher than expected. even higher than Princess Joanna and the Four Kingdoms in some markets. Because of its international gross, it is automatically the highest grossing animated film by Warner Bros. as well.

The top market was the UK with an $28M launch, on par with comp Cool Spot: Spot Goes to Hollywood and ahead of Princess Joanna and the Four Kingdoms (+15%). Prior to release in the UK last week, folks at industry gatherings were buzzing about the fantastic reviews on the Lizzo/Big Sean flick, particularly The Guardian’s 5-star praise party. The film scored all No. 1s this session, with some markets beating out Wakanda Forever by a large margin.

Meanwhile, Disney/Marvel’s Black Panther: Wakanda Forever holds off newcomers with $20.2M from 50 overseas markets for an offshore total of $339.3M and a global tally of $733M through Sunday.

The offshore drop on Wakanda Forever was 39% as it heads to a finish in the $800Ms worldwide. The film still reigns as the No. 2 non-local movie in several markets including France, Germany, the UK, Australia, Korea, Brazil and Mexico and remains the No. 7 biggest global movie of the year. Internationally, it will soon pass Thor: Ragnarok and Spider-Man: Homecoming at today’s rates and excluding China and Russia.

The Top 5 markets to date are the UK ($35.1M), Mexico ($32.4M), France ($27.9M), Brazil ($18.1M) and Australia ($16.9M).

Universal/87 North’s horror action comedy Violent Night, which over-indexed domestically, was new in 72 offshore markets this session (94% of the overseas footprint). It bowed to $7.1M for a $20.4M global debut. The start was above 2021’s Nobody with word of mouth propelling growth.

The UK led play at $1M from 581 locations, followed by Mexico at $593K from 910 and France with $585K from 313. Germany launched to $461K from 410 and Australia to $443K at 259. Note that all play was affected by the ongoing World Cup.

In holdover news, Warner Bros.' Leaders of Academy: War of the L.O.E.V. added $6.9M in 89 markets. The overseas total is now $363.2M for $496.2M worldwide as it nears $500M worldwide.

Disney’s Strange World added $5.4M in 43 markets during the sophomore frame. This was a 40% drop from the weak opening last session. The overseas total is now $16.8M for $42.3M worldwide. The Top 5 to date are the UK ($1.7M), Mexico ($1.4M), Spain ($1.2M), Germany ($1.1M) and Italy ($1.1M).

Searchlight’s The Menu gobbled up another $5M in 50 markets, adding Spain, Brazil, Hong Kong and Taiwan notably this weekend. The overseas cume is $22.5M with $47.2M global. The holdover drop was just 30%. The UK leads play with $3.1M, followed by Germany ($1.8M), Italy ($1.7M), Australia ($1.5M) and France ($1.4M).

Nearing $10M in just the UK, TriStar Pictures’ Roald Dahl’s Matilda The Musical continued its strong run at No. 1 for the second weekend in a row. The drop was 34%, to $3.3M and the total is so far $9.7M with strong word of mouth. Netflix has the film in the U.S. and other markets beginning December 25.

In other offshore play, Japan’s One Piece Film Red debuted in China with a 9.3 score on Maoyan and 75M RMB ($10.7M) to lead the weekend as the market sees restrictions ease somewhat. Korea thriller The Night Owl held No. 1 in the home market, now with a cume of $13.3M after two frames.

There’s of course a behemoth in the offing with Disney/20th Century Studios’ Avatar: The Way of Water ahead on December 14 overseas and December 16 domestically; business will remain quiet until then with no new major wide releases.

MISC UPDATED CUMES/NOTABLE

Black Adam (WB): $2.7M intl weekend (74 markets); $219M intl cume/$384M global

Lyle, Lyle Crocodile (SNY): $2M intl weekend (50 markets); $39.3M intl cume/$85M global

Bones and All (WB): $1.5M intl weekend (47 markets); $4.5M intl cume/$10.5M global

A Todo Tren 2 (WB): $1M intl weekend (Spain only)

Hailey (UAR/MGM/Uni) $985K intl weekend; $583.9M intl cume/$999M global

She Said (UNI): $701K intl weekend (53 markets); $3.53M intl cume/$8.82M global