‘Mercy’ leads new releases at global box office with $22.8m debut; ‘Marty Supreme’ and ‘Hamnet’ expand with Oscar boosts

Credit: Comscore. All figures are estimates.

Mercy, Silent Hill: Return and Border 2 arrive

While familiar blockbusters held firm atop the global box office chart this weekend, three new releases also made their marks. 

Amazon MGM’s Mercy debuted in fourth place on the chart with an estimated worldwide gross of $22.8m. The AI-themed sci-fi thriller, with Chris Pratt and Rebecca Ferguson starring for director Timur Bekmambetov, took $11.6m of its haul from 80 international territories, where Sony and some independents are distributing. The biggest takes were China’s $2.6m, Mexico’s $965,000 and the UK’s $866,000. 

In North America, where a massive winter storm affected cinema attendance through two thirds of the country, Mercy still managed a solid $11.2m, enough to top the domestic chart. 

Horror outing Return To Silent Hill started in fifth place on the global chart with an estimated worldwide take of $19.3m, comprising $16m from independent distributors in 36 international markets and $3.3m from North America, where Iconic Events Releasing and AMC Theatres are distributing. 

Christophe Gans, who made the original 2006 Silent Hill, returns to direct the third installment, with Jeremy Irvine and Hannah Emily Anderson starring. 

The original ended up grossing $100.6m, 53% of it from international markets. Follow-up Silent Hill: Revelation made $55.4m, 68% of it from international, in 2012. 

Opening in sixth place on the chart with an estimated $18.1m was Border 2, which took $16.7m of that total from 13 international markets including the UK, Australia, Germany and Spain. 

The Hindi-language Indian action film about young fighters in the country’s 1971 war with Pakistan is a sequel to J P Dutta’s 1997 original and has Anurag Singh directing returning stars Sunny Deol and Ahan Shetty along with Varun Dhawan and Diljit Dosanjh. 

Holdovers stay strong

Disney’s longtime global leader Avatar: Fire And Ash, meanwhile, added an estimated $35.1m to its haul over its sixth chart-topping weekend, for a worldwide total to date of $1.38bn. 

The James Cameron epic passed the billion dollar mark internationally, falling off 38% to take $28.1m from 52 markets. The strongest holds included a 27% slide in Spain, a 30% drop in Japan and a 33% slip in Germany. The biggest single-market totals are currently $159.9m in China, $103.1m in France and $84.7m in Germany. 

The North American gross was down 52% to $7m, for a total so far of $378.5m. 

Zootopia 2, also from Disney, held on to second place on the chart with an estimated $25.7m for its ninth weekend, bringing its global tally to $1.74bn. 

Across international markets the film (known as Zootropolis 2 in some countries) was down 21% to take $20m from 52 territories, for a $1.34bn total to date. The family animation was actually up 5% in the UK, and down only 7% in Spain, 8% in Brazil and 10% in Japan. 

The weather-affected North American weekend take was down 38% to $5.7m, taking the sequel’s domestic total to $401.4m. 

Also showing staying power in its sixth weekend was Lionsgate’s The Housemaid, which dropped from second to third on the chart with an estimated weekend take of $25.5m, for a worldwide total so far of $294.9m. 

Internationally, the thriller added $21.3m from 73 territories, bringing its tally to $179.4m. It stayed at the top of local charts in the UK (where Lionsgate is distributing) as well as France, Spain, Brazil, Mexico and Germany (where independents are releasing). 

In North America the weekend estimate was $4.2m, for a $115.5m total to date. 

Oscar nominees expand international footprints

Two current releases spread to new markets this weekend looking for a boost from Thursday’s Oscar nominations announcement. 

A24’s Marty Supreme, up for nine Oscars including best picture, grossed an estimated $11.9m over the weekend, pushing its total past the century mark to $116.3m. 

The Timothee Chalamet vehicle opened through independent distributors in another six international markets and took $8.4m from a 26-territory footprint, nearly doubling last weekend’s estimated weekend figure. In North America the take was down on last weekend, at $3.5m. 

Universal’s Hamnet, nominated for eight Oscars, also including best picture, grew its global weekend gross to an estimated $10.7m, for a total to date of $42.1m. 

Chloe Zhao’s drama arrived in 27 new international markets and amassed $8.7m from 35 territories in all, for an international tally of $24.5m. Spain delivered a $1.2m opening weekend, bigger, said Universal, than the debuts of One Battle After Another, The Brutalist and other prestige titles. France produced a $900,000 debut and Germany $700,000. Openings are still to come in Mexico, Italy, Korea and Japan. 

In North America, where Universal’s Focus Features is the distributor, the film expanded from just over 700 to nearly 2,000 screens and took $2m, for a total so far of $17.6m.

The Bone Temple takes second weekend hit

In contrast to the strong holdovers and awards contenders, Sony’s 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple had a major drop-off after its debut last week.

The horror sequel grossed an estimated $9.6m worldwide this weekend, with its international take dropping 63% (from last weekend’s estimate) to $6m from 62 markets and its domestic take falling 72% (from last weekend’s three-day figure) to $3.6m. 

The performance meant a slide from fourth to ninth place on the global chart and leaves the film with a worldwide total to date of $46.1m, comprising $25.3m from international and $20.8m from domestic. 

Last year’s 28 Years Later, which shot back-to-back with The Bone Temple, ended its run with a global total of $151.3m, $80.9m from international and $70.4m from domestic.

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