China’s ‘Dead To Rights’ leads ‘The Fantastic Four: First Steps’ at global box office; ‘The Naked Gun’ lands with $28.5m

Worldwide box office: August 1-3

Credit: Comscore. All figures are estimates.

‘Dead To Rights’ wins worldwide top spot

With Disney/Marvel’s The Fantastic Four: First Steps falling fast, especially in North America (see below), Chinese historical drama Dead To Rights emerged as the surprise winner of Comscore’s worldwide weekend box office chart.

Shen Ao’s film – set against the Nanjing Massacre of 1937-8 – opened on July 25, and last week we reported an opening weekend of $42.4m, and $56.1m including previews. Since then, the film has proved a word-of-mouth hit, with strong daily grosses powering the film to 1 billion yuan ($139m) in just eight days.

The film’s second weekend of play saw estimated takings of $82.4m (almost double the opening weekend), and a $208.8m total. Dead To Rights has topped the daily box office in all provincial-level regions across the Chinese mainland every day since release, according to local reports.

The Nanjing Massacre saw Chinese civilians, noncombatants and surrendered prisoners killed by the Imperial Japanese army during the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937-45).

Inspired by real events, the film tells the story of a group of Chinese civilians seek refuge in a photography studio, where they assist a Japanese military photographer in developing film. They keep the negatives containing damning evidence of atrocities, and smuggle them out to the outside world.

China’s biggest box office hit so far this year remains Ne Zha 2. Reports vary on the total achieved by the film – local data gatherer Artisan Gateway measures it at $2.1bn.

Other big Spring Festival releases this year were Detective Chinatown 1900, Boonie Bears: Future Reborn and Creation Of The Gods 2. Detective Chinatown 1900 reached around $500m at the Chinese box office.

Also in Comscore’s worldwide top 10 chart for the August 1-3 weekend are Chinese films Nobody (estimated $15.5m opening) and The Stage ($10.2m in its second weekend of play, and a $45.6m total).

Not quite making Comscore’s chart is South Korean local comedy thriller My Daughter Is A Zombie. Released last Wednesday (July 30), the Pil Kam-sung-directed film scored the highest first-day admissions for any film in the market so far this year – with 430,000 tickets sold. Reports put the film’s total to date at $12.6m.

‘The Naked Gun’ makes promising start

Paramount’s The Naked Gun has opened with an estimated $17.0m in North America and $11.5m in 46 international markets, yielding a worldwide debut of $28.5m.

While those are not blockbuster numbers, they should be good enough for Paramount, given a production budget reported at $42m. The film’s A- CinemaScore, 4-star PostTrak rating, surprising warmth from critics and lack of direct competition all indicate that the comedy could enjoy a sustained box office run this summer.

Among international markets, UK/Ireland and Germany both opened with an estimated $2.3m, ahead of Mexico ($674,000), Netherlands ($590,000 including previews) and Austria ($430,000 including previews). Germany has proved a relative underperformer with Marvel and DC Studios’ big superhero films this summer, but evidently has a high appreciation of this brand of broad comedy, as does neighbour Austria (where The Naked Gun opened at the top of the box office).

Several key markets are yet to open: France (August 13), Brazil (August 14), Australia (August 21) and Spain (August 22).

The Naked Gun is directed by Akiva Schaffer, and stars Liam Neeson, Pamela Anderson and Paul Walter Hauser. In the US, it’s rated PG-13 for crude/sexual material, violence/bloody images and brief partial nudity. In UK, the rating is 15 for strong sex references.

According to available data, 1988’s The Naked Gun grossed $78.8m in North America, 1991 sequel The Naked Gun 2½: The Smell Of Fear was ahead with $86.9m, and 1994’s The Naked Gun 33 1/3 : The Smell Of Fear dipped with $51.1m. (International totals are not available, and these numbers are not adjusted for inflation.)

Expansion boosts ‘The Bad Guys 2’

UPDATED: Following initial opening a week earlier in just three international markets (UK/Ireland, Argentina and Israel), Universal/DreamWorks’ The Bad Guys 2 landed in North America at the weekend and expanded to 55 international territories.

The animated sequel opened with a confirmed $22m in North America, and grossed $16.5m for international (with a gentle 22% drop in holdover markets). The international total is now $22.5m, and worldwide it’s at $44.5m.

Among opening international markets, France leads with a confirmed five-day $2.7m (topping the country’s box office), ahead of Mexico ($1.8m), Spain ($1.4m) and South Korea ($1.3m). In holdovers, UK/Ireland added a confirmed $1.7m, taking the 10-day total to $6.5m.

The animal caper is a sequel to 2022’s The Bad Guys, which is adapted from Aaron Blabey’s graphic novel series, and grossed $250.4m worldwide.

Also for Universal, Jurassic World Rebirth added another $25.7m worldwide, taking the total to a powerful $766.8m. The film is enjoying strong holds, with a 32% drop across international markets at the weekend and 34% in North America. In its fifth weekend of play, Jurassic World Rebirth remains top of the box office in Germany, Netherlands and Belgium.

‘The Fantastic Four: First Steps’ hits $369m total

After a stronger domestic opening than international for Disney/Marvel’s The Fantastic Four: First Steps, honours were virtually even for the second weekend: an estimated $40.0m in North America and $39.6m for international.

In cumulative, international ($170.3m) still trails domestic ($198.4m). Those numbers combine to yield a $368.7m worldwide total.

The superhero adventure fell a steep 66% in North America, and a gentler 50% for international (excluding China – Disney’s preferred measure). Stronger holds in major markets include Brazil (-35%), Germany (-39%) and Australia (-43%).

The film is strong in Europe and Latin America, and relatively weak in Asia-Pacific, with only Australia from the region bucking the trend. From Asia itself, China is the top market, ranking ninth among international territories overall, with $5.3m. Next comes South Korea with $4.3m.

For context, top international market is UK/Ireland with $20.5m, just ahead of Mexico on $20.4m.

Previously for Marvel this year, Captain America: Brave New World reached $415.1m worldwide, and Thunderbolts* managed $382.4m. The Fantastic Four: First Steps will exceed both those totals.

First Steps has now passed the lifetime totals of the three previous Fantastic Four films, which were made by 20^th Century Fox prior to Disney’s acquisition of the studio. There were two films from Tim Story in 2005 and 2007, and then a Josh Trank-directed reboot with a fresh cast in 2015. These films respectively achieved lifetime totals of $333.5m, $301.9m and $167.9m according to available data, which is not adjusted for inflation. (There was also an unreleased film made in 1994.)

The highest-grossing superhero film so far this year remains Warner Bros/DC Studios’ Superman, which added an estimated $25.1m at the weekend, bringing the worldwide total to $551.2m. Also for Warner Bros is Apple Original Films’ F1 (aka F1: The Movie), which saw just a 21% drop globally at the weekend, and estimated takings of $21.3m in its sixth weekend of play. The worldwide total of $545.6m is the biggest ever for a film starring Brad Pitt.

• How inclusive is the UK film and TV industry five years on from George Floyd’s murder?