Source: HFPA
Frozen 2 stayed hot over the Thanksgiving weekend taking first place in the global charts with $249 million worldwide. It dropped just 35% in North America, staying in the top spot with $82.5 million and reached a domestic cumulative gross of $287.5 million. Overseas, Disney’s latest super-sequel earned $163 million taking its foreign earnings total to $451 million. Rising nationalist tensions over protests and police brutality in Hong Kong and the now almost year-long trade war weren’t enough to keep the Chinese from showing up for Hollywood’s latest global phenomenon. Receipts in the Middle Kingdom have now reached $90.5 million, passing Frozen’s lifetime run in the territory by more than $40 million in just two weeks. South Korea reached a dazzling $61.2 million. Its second frame there was the seventh biggest overall in the country this year at $18.8 million, and even beat Avengers: Endgame’s sophomore showing. Third overall market Japan, which was a goldmine for the original, reached $38.3 million. The UK is just behind that at $35 million. Frozen 2 opens today in Brazil.
While the race for first place this weekend was never in question, Lionsgate’s Knives Out beat all expectations with a $41.7 million take over its five-day opening starting Wednesday, November 27. Daniel Craig, Jamie Lee Curtis, Michael Shannon, and Christopher Plummer star, among others, in this murder mystery that inexplicitly takes much of its inspiration from the board game Clue. The story, helmed by bemoaned Star Wars director Rian Johnson, centers around a family gathering at a wealthy crime novelist’s house that sees the old patriarch turn up dead, launching a wild frenzy of intrigue and accusations. It made $28.3 million overseas and reached a global tally of $70 million. Chinese plays were worth $13.5 million this weekend and the UK started with $3.8 million. Major markets South Korea, Italy, and Mexico start this week.
The next biggest global opener this frame was Chinese entry Two Tigers. Director Li Fei brought to life this dark comedy about a businessman who hires his hapless kidnapper to eliminate his rivals. It made $18.9 million in its home market debut.
Back in the US, Universal’s newcomer Queen & Slim started in fifth place with $15 million over the five-day period. Daniel Kaluuya and Jodie Turner-Smith star as a sort of black Bonnie and Clyde who go on the run after Kaluuya’s character kills a police officer in self-defense in a traffic stop that looked to be turning into a double execution. Foreign plays will be limited and the UK and France, two territories where African American centered films generally gain any traction, open on January 31 and February 12.
Next week, 18th-century adventure picture The Aeronauts, starring Felicity Jones and Eddie Redmayne, opens in the US. It is a film based on a not incredibly popular toy called Playmobil: The Movie. It features the voice of Daniel Radcliffe.
Redazione