SUNDAY UPDATE, writethru: Shazam! is the word at the international box office this weekend, with the Warner Bros/New Line/DC title striking past the $100M mark in its debut. On 40,000 screens in 79 offshore markets, the David F Sandberg-directed family superhero pic grossed $102M. The global opening is $158.6M when combined with domestic‘s strong start.

The Zachary Levi-starrer ranked as the No. 1 Hollywood pic in 60 out of its 79 debuts. It was the top film in the European region where it’s tracking on par with Ant-Man (it missed No. 1s in Italy and Spain where Dumbo held). Shazam! was also tops in Asia (outside China) coming in 12% above Guardians Of The Galaxy, and was No. 1 in Latin America at 11% above Ant-Man.

Overall, the overseas opening was on par with where Deadline sources saw Shazam! landing ahead of the weekend. I hear WB is quite happy with the results for a film that, while superhero in nature, does not feature a major marquee character. The bow is lower than some of the more aggressive thinking which can partly be attributed to the difficulty of humor connecting across cultures and to the China swing. The Middle Kingdom was the lead hub, but the FSS came in lower than projections with an estimated $30.9M. It finished the frame at No. 2, behind local actioner P Storm ($52M four-day cume), becoming the first superhero movie to miss No. 1 in a while — though per WB it topped Guardians Of The Galaxy by 15% at current rates.

As noted yesterday, word of mouth, along with P Storm’s strength, is thought to have dinged the Middle Kingdom with social and critics scores slipping as the youth-skewing American humor didn’t connect as well as hoped — the unfamiliarity of the character meant folks didn’t really know what to expect. The film experienced shrinkage across the session in China where it will recoup 25% of the box office. There isn’t much on deck from Hollywood in the coming weeks before Avengers: Endgame consumes the market on April 24. (Hellboy, which bows next weekend overseas, is getting a China release, although the date is not yet confirmed.)

Behind China, family/superhero-friendly Mexico led all play with $6.2M and topping the comps (+33% on GOTG and +40% on AM). The UK ($5.3M), Russia ($5.2M) and Brazil ($5.1M) round out the Top 5 markets.

In IMAX, Shazam! logged the best global WB opening for April and picked up $7.4M internationally.

Paramount Also new this frame was Paramount’s Stephen King adaptation Pet Sematary. With $17.3M from 46 markets, it came in (like-for-like) 41% above Don’t Breathe, 37% above Mama, 14% over Lights Out and 5% ahead of Us. Russia was the lead play at No. 2 with $3.1M for Par’s biggest opening weekend on a horror title. The Jason Clarke-starrer was largely No. 2 or 3 in its bows.

Speaking of scary fare, Universal’s Us crossed $200M worldwide in the frame.

Elsewhere, Disney’s Dumbo also hit the global two-century mark. The overseas cume is $137.5M after a sophomore session of $39.6M in 55 material markets. The drop was 45% from last weekend’s opening.

In other Disney news, Captain Marvel is now the No. 9 global superhero film ever. It passed $1B during the week and has now grossed $1,037.6M worldwide. Internationally, Carol Danvers is the No. 7 superhero of all time at $663.5M.

Finally, Fox’s Bohemian Rhapsody is singing its way to the $900M global threshold this week, now standing at $899.5M through Sunday.

Breakdowns on the films above and more have been updated below.

NEW

SHAZAM!

Warner Bros. With a $102M overseas debut, WB/New Line/DC’s superhero landed within pre-weekend projections, but zoomed in lower than some of the more aggressive (non-WB) estimates which were seeing as high as $120M. That’s partly down to how China performed. After a strong Friday, the pic fell on Saturday and Sunday, impacted by what we hear from the ground was its youth-skewing nature. Anticipation had been that it would land closer to $45M. A lack of familiarity with the character likely confused the outcome, despite the good will that DC has built up after recent smash Aquaman. (The Tomb Sweeping holiday this weekend was a boon for WB’s Ready Player One last year, though the earlier film tied into gaming culture, had great social chatter and reviews and the muscle of Alibaba behind it.)

Elsewhere, good will, plus the desire for something new, helped the movie make $71.1M outside China with play as the top Hollywood film in 60 out of 79 overseas markets. Last week’s soft performance of Dumbo left some space, though in European majors Italy and Spain, the pachyderm held court this session. Japan is still to come on April 19.

In IMAX, Shazam! powered a global start of $13.5M. Of that, $4M was from 599 China screens and $3.4M came from the rest of international.

The best comps for Shazam! are Ant-Man and Guardians Of The Galaxy in terms of introducing new characters and the humor elements. WB is also using Captain America: The First Avenger, which finaled at $194M offshore and doesn’t feel like a great fit. Rival sources are indicating that the estimated $100M production budget Shazam! should do about $250M-$275M by the end of its international run. Domestic had a great start.

Here are some highlights from the key leading markets:

China ($30.9M/15,700 screens): Landed No. 2 behind local pic P Storm and surpassed GOTG by 15%. Mexico ($6.2M/3,195): With nearly a 50% share of the Top 5, the opening is above GOTG by 33% and Ant-Man by 40%. UK ($5.3M/602): No. 1 and on par with AM. Russia ($5.2M/3,072): A 51% share of the Top 5 brought Shazam! in 27% above AM and 50% over Wonder Woman.

Brazil ($5.1M/1,509): A 53% share of the Top 5 landed Shazam! 53% over AM and 60% above GOTG. Indonesia ($4.1M/971): No. 1 at 28% over AM and 75% over GOTG in the increasingly strong market. Korea ($3.9M/1,148): A softish frame in the market saw Shazam! lead all play, but not top the aforementioned comps. Australia ($3.4M/507): Also a No. 1 start with 45% across the Top 5.



Taiwan grossed $2.7M from 248 and bested AM and Guardians by a large margin; Thailand picked up $2.2M from 520 and nabbed 80% of the market, tracking 5% over AM; and Malaysia at $2M from 632 came in on par with GOTG.

Landing in No. 2 positions were France ($2.8M/566), Italy ($2M/487) and Spain ($1.7M/441). Germany ($1.4M/1,033) gave Shazam! the best placement for a Hollywood film — the market is led by French smash Qu’est-ce Qu’On A Encore Fait Au Bon Dieu?!

PET SEMATARY

Paramount Paramount’s Stephen King adaptation dug up $17.3M in its first 46 markets, right in line with expectations. On a like-for-like basis, the start is 41% above Don’t Breathe, 37% over Mama, 14% ahead of Lights Out and 5% above Us. The latter is still in offshore play so holds will be key here while there are still such markets to come as France, Korea and Brazil.

Russia was the top play at No. 2 with $3.1M from 1,400 cinemas and logging the best Par horror opening ever (Ukraine set a similar record with $313K at 179). The UK unearthed $2M at 550 locations in 3rd place while horror-loving Mexico gave the Jason Clarke-starrer $2M from 827, also in 3rd. Indonesia started at No. 4 with $517K from 300 sites and Argentina was a No. 2 launch with $470K from 200.

Among other highlights, there were a number of markets where the counterprogrammer opened at No. 3 including Spain ($937K/300), Malaysia ($320K/125), Colombia ($333K/182), Sweden ($307K/135) and Peru ($304K/96).

Finland was a standout No. 1 with $203K from 92.

HOLDOVERS/EXPANSIONS

DUMBO

Disney After flying in with a low start last weekend, Disney’s Dumbo had a -45% hold overseas. The Tim Burton-helmed update grossed $39.6M in 55 material markets to lift the international cume to $137.5M and global across $200M with $213.8M to date.

The little flying pachyderm held the No. 1 spot in several markets, notably in Europe, with school holidays starting ahead of Easter. Among the No. 1s are France, Italy, Spain and Belgium. Regionally, he dipped 36% and had the best drops in such hubs as France (-19%), Spain (-22%), Italy (-26%), Germany (-28%), Netherlands (-32%), Poland (-44%) and the UK (-49%).

In family-friendly Latin America, the overall drop was 45%. Shazam! edged in here while some of the better holds were in Chile (-26%), Brazil (-38%) and Mexico (-48%).

In Asia Pacific, where the property is unfamiliar, Dumbo is still tops for a Western title in Japan (a big Burton hub), and saw slight dips in Taiwan (-21%) and Hong Kong (-24%). China fell by 52% and still leads all play, but is not flying high.

To wit, the Top 5 markets are China ($18.6M), the UK ($15.3M), Mexico ($14.7M) Italy ($8.2M) and Spain ($8M).

CAPTAIN MARVEL

Disney After passing $1B worldwide earlier this week, Carol Danvers added $14.1M in 55 material offshore markets this session. That brings her to $663.5M for the 7th slot on the all-time superhero charts overseas. Globally, she’s at $1,037.6M to become the No. 9 biggest superhero movie ever.

Europe fell by 39% regionally in the 4th frame. Notably, the drops are led by such markets as France (-26%), Spain (-27%), Netherlands (-29%), Germany (-38%) and the UK (-43%). The region has now grossed an estimated $185M, surpassing Captain America: Civil War this weekend.

In Asia Pacific, strong holds include Japan (-33%), Taiwan (-35%) and Australia (-47%). The gross across all markets there is $366M, including $154M from China.

In Latin America, Brazil was down 35% while the full regional dip was 45% for an estimated $112M to date. Captain Marvel is currently the 5th highest-grossing MCU title ever in the region (based on admissions) and the top standalone MCU pic, now leaping past Black Panther.



The Top 5 cumes are: China ($153.6M), UK ($45.3M), Korea ($44.3M), Brazil ($36.2M) and Mexico ($32.6M).

US

Universal Universal’s horror pic from Jordan Peele scared up another $10.3M in 62 overseas markets this session. That brings the intenrational total to $64.2M and worldwide across $200M with $216.6M so far.

Italy was a new play this session with $680K at 295 locations for the No. 4 spot. That’s a decent start that’s tracking ahead of The First Purge and Get Out. Korea was the top holdover market, though saw a 64% drop after a record opening. The cume there is a strong $10.3M. The UK dipped 45% to cume $10.5M after three weekends while France fell just 33% for a $4.6M cume to date. Elsehere, Germany has grossed $3.8M and Spain $3.25M.

Still on deck are Mexico in May and Japan in August.

MISC UPDATED CUMES/NOTABLE

Paramount Animation/Nickelodeon Movies Five Feet Apart (LG): $4.1M intl weekend (39 markets); $21M intl cume (Italy leads with $4.5M/down 20% in 3rd frame)

Wonder Park (PAR): $3.3M intl weekend (25 markets); $18M intl cume

Bohemhian Rhapsody: $1.3M intl weekend (15 markets); $683.4M intl cume

How To Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World (UNI): $1.3M intl weekend (52 markets); $351.4M intl cume

Fighting With My Family (UNI): $500K intl weekend ( 8 UNI markets); $14.3M intl cume (combined)

Mary Queen Of Scots (UNI); $400K intl weekend (16 markets); $29.1M intl cume

Boy Erased (UNI): $400K intl weekend (9 markets); $3.9M intl cume

The Sisters Brothers (UNI): $300K intl weekend (3 markets); $400K intl cume

PREVIOUS, SATURDAY: Warner Bros/New Line/DC’s Shazam! added another $29.2M in a total 79 markets on Friday, lifting the international box office cume to $44M across three days. That running tally does not include the China Saturday which is looking to be about $9.8M. The unofficial early estimate would reflect a 36% Friday-Saturday drop.

Shazam! is doing just fine elsewhere with No. 1 rankings in 61 markets (and is strong domestically). He’s looking to get up around the $100M zone in the offshore debut, but as we noted yesterday, a softer-than-hoped China performance puts that in a close swing.

Word of mouth is understood to be impacting the Middle Kingdom, as well as the strength of local actioner P Storm which is in the top spot (though it too saw an F-S drop, of about 11%). The Shazam! Douban score has slipped to 6.7 and we’re hearing that the youth-skewing American humor may not be translating quite as well as hoped. With an estimated $25.1M (RMB 168.5M) through Saturday, the full weekend in China should top out around $35M. (It’s worth noting that there’s sometimes a silver lining when a movie isn’t overly reliant on China given the return on box office in the Middle Kingdom is lower than elsewhere.)

In the rest of play, Friday openers included family/superhero-friendly Mexico with $1.6M on 2,829 screens and nearly 50% of the Top 5 films. The launch day results are ahead of Guardians Of The Galaxy (+22%), Ant-Man (+21%) and Captain America: The First Avenger (+13%).

The UK bowed with $1.5M on 620 screens, taking the No. 1 spot for 35% of the Top 5 titles. The score is 4% ahead of Cap 1 and roughly on par with Ant-Man. Including previews, the running cume is now $1.7M.



India released to an estimated $511K on 1,138 screens, ranking as the top U.S. film in the market, and more than doubling AM and GOTG. Spain debuted to $382K on 441 at No. 2 and 27% above AM.

Across two days of release, Russia has cumed $1.9M and is holding the No. 1 slot; Brazil is also still at No. 1 with $848K to date; Australia has grossed $1.3M at No. 1; and the UAE is a No. 1 play with $1.2M so far.

With three days under its belt, Indonesia leads the SE Asia markets with $2.6M. Also after three days, Taiwan has taken $1.8M, Korea is at $1.6M and Thailand (where Shazam! had an 82% share of the Top 5 on Friday) has grossed $1M. France is at $1.1M, continuing to rank No. 1.

We’ll have a full international update on Sunday.

PREVIOUS, FRIDAY: New Line/Warner Bros/DC’s Shazam! is the word in its first offshore openings with $15.7M at the international box office through yesterday. The superhero story from director David F Sandberg took No. 1 bows in 48 of 53 markets on Wednesday and Thursday, including all of Asia Pacific and Latin America. Hopping on board today are China, Spain, the UK, Mexico and 22 smaller hubs.

The first WB estimates out of China, which are not included in the two-day total above, have the pic at $16.4M today (with previews). Shazam! is jockeying for the No. 1 spot against local title P Storm, an actioner that stars Louis Koo. Today kicked off the Qingming Festival, also known as Tomb Sweeping Day, and the Friday reps WB’s 3rd best launch day ever, behind Aquaman and Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice. Expect a roughly $45M-$50M three-day in the Middle Kingdom where there’s a 7 on reviews aggregator Douban and an 8 on ticketing platform Maoyan.

REX/Shutterstock Overall, pre-weekend offshore projections were pegged by our sources to be in the $100M-$120M zone. Based on the debuts so far, and as long as China doesn’t see a major drop, Shazam! should handily cross the century mark through Sunday.

A lack of familiarity with the character abroad is not expected to have a major impact as folks are seeking something new, Dumbo has left some breathing room in the family space and there’s a fair bit of DC goodwill in the markets after the outsize success of Aquaman. That film, however, is not a comp here with the original Ant-Man and Guardians Of The Galaxy a better fit.

Digging back into some of the numbers over the past two days, the biggest opener was Indonesia which celebrated the Isra Minaj holiday on Wednesday, boosting the start to $1.1M from 971 screens and a 73% share of the Top 5 films. This is WB’s 3rd biggest opening day ever in the increasingly buoyant market. There, Shazam! is running ahead of Ant-Man (+10%) and Guardians Of The Galaxy (2x+). The two-day cume is $2.2M.



Russia debuted to $946K on 3,072 screens with a 57% share and on par with Ant-Man but 22% ahead of Wonder Woman.

Also at No. 1, Korea got in early on Wednesday to land No. 1 and pick up $668K from 1,134 screens. WB calculates that as 53% over the first Captain America pic and on par with Thor. Through two-days, the cume is $1.1M and early Friday estimates lift that to $1.64M.

Australia also came in ahead of Cap 1, by a small margin, on Thursday with $636K from 507. The UAE grossed $630K from 110 which was 46% above Wonder Woman, 69% over Ant-Man and more than twice GOTG.

Brazil grossed $564K on 1,509 screens with over 60% of the Top 5 films; that’s on par with Ant-Man and 10% above GOTG for an $848K total including previews. France also scored No. 1 with $411K at 566 dates; through two days the cume is $777K. Rounding things out, Shazam! dominated Taiwan with $371K for a 65% share of the Top 5. The results are 60% ahead of AM and 55% over GOTG. The running come is $1.3M.