‘A Big Bold Beautiful Journey’ lands with weak debut; ‘Him’ soft overseas in early markets; China’s ‘Evil Unbound’ tops global box office

Worldwide box office: September 5-7 

Credit: Comscore. All figures are estimates.

‘A Big Bold Beautiful Journey’ falls flat globally

Sony’s A Big Bold Beautiful Journey is the strongest new US studio release in international markets (ie, outside North America) – but that’s about the only positive that can be said about its opening numbers.

Kogonada’s starry romantic fantasy has opened with an estimated $3.5m in North America plus $4.5m across 42 international markets, yielding an $8.0m debut overall and ninth place in the weekend’s global box office chart.

Colin Farrell reteams with his After Yang director, starring opposite Maggie Robbie as two strangers who meet at a mutual friend’s wedding, and then go through a portal to revisit key moments from their respective pasts.

Sony, which is flying high globally with Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba Infinity Castle (see below), did not provide international territory breakdowns for A Big Bold Beautiful Journey. Production budget is reported at $45m.

‘Him’ makes decent start in North America

Universal’s sports horror film Him has landed as the highest new entry at the North American box office with estimated takings of $13.5m. However, the early international markets are not so encouraging, with just an estimated $362,000 from the first wave of 25 territories. To be fair, Him has yet to reach any of the world’s top-grossing international markets.

Produced by Jordan Peele and directed by Justin Tipping, Him saw its top international launch in Netherlands, with an estimated $106,000, opening in seventh place in the territory’s weekend chart. Romania and Ukraine are tied with an estimated $37,000 each, landing in fifth place in both markets.

Him’s true international test will come in two weeks with its arrival in Australia, Mexico, Brazil, UK/Ireland and Italy. France, Spain, South Korea and Germany all follow in November.

Him stars Tyrik Withers as a young American football quarterback receiving mentorship from a veteran star (Marlon Wayans) in a desert compound. Given the American football storyline, international will not be anticipated to match domestic North America, and that will have been priced in by Universal.

Also for Universal, Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale added an estimated $8.3m across 35 international markets (declining 44% in holdover territories) plus $6.3m in North America (down 65%). Global total is now $59.5m.

There were four new openings: Germany with an estimated $892,000, plus Denmark ($381,000), Norway ($285,000) and Austria ($86,000).

Universal/DreamWorks Animation’s The Bad Guys 2 impressively remains in the global top 10 chart in its ninth week of release, grossing an estimated $7.5m worldwide at the weekend, and with a total now at $207.8m. In 2022, The Bad Guys grossed $250.4m lifetime according to available data.

Universal’s Gabby’s Dollhouse: The Movie has begun its international rollout in first market New Zealand, taking advantage of nationwide school holidays. The film – which is adapted from the Netflix animated series – has begun there with an estimated $53,000 from two days. Mexico, Italy and Australia are the next key markets, opening the film this Thursday (September 27).

‘Evil Unbound’ tops global box office

Box office for the new releases from US studios was dwarfed by the outcome for new Chinese title Evil Unbound, aka 731. The historical drama grossed an estimated $121.2m for the weekend period and $169.8m since release last Thursday (September 18), according to Comscore.

Evil Unbound follows the story of atrocities committed by the Imperial Japanese Army’s Unit 731 during the Second World War. The release commemorates the 94^th anniversary of the September 18 Incident, which marked the start of Japan’s invasion of China in 1931.

Evil Unbound follows hot on the heels of Chinese smash Dead To Rights, which similarly recounts the mistreatment of Chinese by the Japanese invaders. Dead To Rights, set during the Nanjing Massacre (1937-8), has so far grossed $416m in China according to local data gatherer Artisan Gateway. The film follows a group of civilians who take refuge in a photo studio, and then expose atrocities committed by the invading army.

Evil Unbound is one of three new films from Asian nations to land in the worldwide weekend box office chart (see above). The others are Japanese anime Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc and Indian comedy drama Jolly LLB 3.

Directed by Tatsuya Yoshihara, Toho’s Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc is a direct sequel to the first season of the Chainsaw Man TV series (2022), and adapted from Tatsuki Fujimoto’s manga series. The film opened with an estimated $10.2m in Japan.

Directed by Subhash Kapoor, Jolly LLB 3 – which has opened with an estimated ¢9.8m from 20 markets – is the third in the Hindi-language courtroom series, following the original Jolly LLB in 2013 and sequel Jolly LLB2 in 2017. The latter grossed $24.2m worldwide over its lifetime according to available data.

‘Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle’ is biggest anime film of all time

Sony/Crunchyroll opened Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba Infinity Castle in fresh key markets at the weekend, debuting with an estimated $8.6m in France and $8.2m in Germany.

The anime film has grossed $290m in Japan and select other Asian markets, and $269m from Sony/Crunchyroll markets including $104.7m in North America. Global total is $559m, making Infinity Castle the highest-grossing anime film of all time.

Among Sony/Cruncyroll international markets, Mexico leads with $15.1m so far, ahead of Hong Kong ($12.4m). Next come the newly opened France and Germany, followed by India ($8.1m so far), UK/Ireland ($7.5m), Indonesia ($7.3m) and Brazil ($7.2m).

Imax has proved a vital format for the film, with $70m globally to date – 13% of the total.

Also for Sony, Celine Song’s Materialists has added another $1m to take the worldwide total to $103.4m. Given a reported production budget of $20m, this looks a profitable endeavour for stakeholders including North American distributor A24.

‘The Conjuring: Last Rites’ hits franchise record

The Conjuring: Last Rites added an estimated $41.3m globally at the weekend, taking the worldwide total to $400.0m. That makes the film the biggest in the Conjuring Universe, beating previous champ The Nun (2018, $366.1m).

Cumulatively, top international markets for The Conjuring: Last Rites are Mexico ($26.4m), UK/Ireland ($20.3m) and Brazil ($15.3m).

• ‘Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle’ crosses $100m at North American box office