FINAL UPDATE, Monday, 1:10 PM, PST: Annabelle edged out Gone Girl this weekend internationally, pulling in $28.1M compared to $26.89M that the Ben Affleck thriller scooped up. Annabelle is now tracking 6% ahead of The Conjuring at the same point in its run. The Conjuring went onto to gross $180.6M overseas for a worldwide total of $318M when it bowed last year. For market by market breakouts, see below. Also added are finals for The Judge, Rurouni Kenshin: The Legend Ends, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Hercules and Relatos Salvajes.



FINAL UPDATE, Monday, 12:18 PT: Final numbers are in for many films, but we’re still awaiting Warner Bros. to weigh in before we know who won the weekend wrestling match between its horror film Annabelle and Fox’s Gone Girl (which has held the No. 1 one for two weekends in a row stateside). Fox has reported a little under $27M right now for the Ben Affleck, Rosamund Pike thriller. In the meantime, final numbers are in for Dracula Untold, the animated The Boxtrolls, The Maze Runner, Luc Besson’s Lucy, the James Brown biopic Get On Up, Richard Linklater’s Boyhood, and Guardians of the Galaxy — which, incidentally, did better in China than expected, with a final haul of $29.8M over the weekend. Also updated is Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, Let’s Be Cops, and Bang Bang. Sony has yet to report so stay tuned for The Equalizer and others.



3RD UPDATE, Sunday 2:28 PM PT: Last weekend was a big improvement over the previous frame at the international box office with Breakup Buddies, Gone Girl, Bang Bang, Dracula Untold and Annabelle all making overseas waves. This weekend saw strong performances from those same titles, plus a resurgent Guardians Of The Galaxy and its better than expected haul in China (from $26.6M to $29.8M). Therefore, it took in a better than expected 31.3M this weekend to score the No. 2 offshore slot. Its total cume is now $363.9M internationally.

Dracula Untold was No. 1 with an updated $34.4M in 42 markets on 5,525 screens. The No. 3 berth will be decided in the actuals tomorrow when we know if Gone Girl’s cunning was enough to beat Annabelle’s scare tactics – or vice versa – with each currently tied at $27M.

This frame was down about a third compared to the last session. But with no huge China release around this time in 2013, the 2014 frame saw a jump. Factoring in the Top 20 among offshore titles were repeat performances of Breakup Buddies which added $13M for a huge $141M gross to date. Also holding were Korea’s Whistle Blower drama with $2.75M for a cume of $9.2M and Chinese pic Dearest which added $2.7M for a $44.5M cume. New to Korea was My Love, My Bride, a romantic comedy remake that scored $5M in its debut. And, the boys of One Direction were back in cinemas with Where We Are. Including opening in the UK on Saturday, it played 26 markets for an estimated take of $5M. Recorded in June at Milan’s San Siro stadium, the concert film was due to screen only this weekend before being released on DVD on December 1.

Next weekend there are several expansions and some new blood at the overseas box office. The latest adaptation of a Nicholas Sparks novel, The Best Of Me, will bow in about a dozen markets including the UK. James Marsden and Michelle Monaghan star in the indie release. In France, Samba, the follow-up to directors Olivier Nakache and Eric Toledano’s The Intouchables will open Wednesday. This is roughly the same time of the year that the previous film opened in 2011 before going on to be a box office behemoth at home and abroad with more than $425M worldwide. Gaumont has the movie in France where it made over $160M in 2011/2012. It reteams the directors with star Omar Sy, who is paired with Charlotte Gainsbourg in the story of two people trying to get their lives on track.

Jorge R Gutierrez’s The Book Of Life has been softly rolling out this month, but adds 25 markets next frame including key territories of Mexico and Brazil. The animated adventure is produced by Guillermo del Toro with Fox releasing. After opening in about 7 markets this frame, Robert Downey Jr and Robert Duvall-starrer The Judge expands into 30 new homes including the UK, Germany, Russia and Brazil. There’s a bit of crowding in some key markets like the UK (an increasingly problematic occurrence), France (a common occurrence), Russia and Germany next frame. Among titles criss-crossing some of those territories along with the aforementioned The Best Of Me, Samba and The Judge, are Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (UK, France, Germany, others), A Walk Among The Tombstones (France, Russia, others) and The Maze Runner (France, Germany, others). Also expanding is Dracula Untold which heads to Eastern Europe and parts of Latin America and Asia. Annabelle adds Scandinavia next frame. The next studio film to arrive in China is Paramount’s Hercules on Oct 21.

2ND UPDATE, 12:52 PM PT: With Warner Bros, Fox and Sony now chiming in on their weekends, Universal’s estimate (see below) that it had the the No. 1 movie on the international scene with Dracula Untold‘s $34.4M has held. In second place is Disney’s Guardians Of The Galaxy off the back of a strong China bow and a total $29.8M. Meanwhile, the hair-pulling between Fox’s Gone Girl and Warner Bros’ Annabelle is over with Gone Girl losing the fight, coming in at $26.89M for the weekend to Annabelle’s final $28.1M.

Fox does, however, have a new set of bragging rights with the studio announcing that Fox International has crossed the $3B milestone for the first time in its history. Helping the cause was Gone Girl which found its added $26.8M from 6,391 screens in 52 markets for an international cume after two frames of $63.16M. David Fincher’s screen transfer of Gillian Flynn’s bestseller opened in 14 new markets with notable debuts in France of $3.65M on 463 screens, and Spain where it was No. 2 behind Sony’s local hit Torrente 5. There it earned $1.65M on 517 plays. Each of the 14 new markets were above Girl With The Dragon Tattoo.

Word of mouth kept the psychological drama holding strong in the UK ($5M, -15%), Australia ($3.77M, -13%), Germany ($1.9M, -20%), Mexico ($805K, -14%), Hong Kong ($525K, -1%), Sweden ($470K, -20%), and the Netherlands ($482K, +5%). Next frame sees 7 new markets release. Korea, Japan, and Italy are scheduled from mid-October through December.

In its 3rd frame, horror pic Annabelle scared up $28.1M with over 4.7M admissions from 5,020 screens in 44 markets. The international cume to date is a final $62M. Worldwide, its gross is $122.4M. Among the spinoff’s highlights this frame were France where it opened to what is forecast as a No. 1 bow of $3.4M on 219 screens. The UK was worth $3.1M. (WB says that’s good for No. 2 based on the 3-day, but there’s some discrepancy with Fox which has Maze Runner in that slot with a final $3.3M. Despite TMR sneaks, Fox believes it’s on pace to beat Annabelle at No. 2 in the 3-day race.) In Brazil, the film dominated the market at No. 1 and $3M on 366 screens. Also bowing were Spain ($1.45M/228 screens) and Germany ($1.14M/188 screens). In India, Annabelle is No. 2 ($1.3M/218 screens) behind Bollywood blockbuster Bang Bang. In other notable highlights, Annabelle is now the 2nd highest grossing horror film of all time in Chile – falling in line behind The Conjuring. Korea remains the top market with a $5.5M cume, followed by Russia ($4.8M), Malaysia ($4.3M) Colombia ($3.45M) and Australia ($3.45M). Mexico releases Oct 23.

The Maze Runner finally made its way to the UK with $3.4M on 650 screens. In Italy, the thriller landed $1.32M at 299 dates. In all, Maze Runner added $14M to the puzzle from 4,821 screens in 67 markets. The picture is holding well in Korea ($1.7M at 368 dates) where it has become the 10th highest grossing Fox title ever in the market. In Taiwan, it’s now the 10th biggest movie of 2014, surpassing Maleficent. The cume to date is $139.9M, with releases from Germany, France, Japan and China (on Oct. 28) still to come.

Sony’s The Equalizer grossed an estimated $11.5M from 86 markets this frame. The overseas total after three sessions is now $57.1M. Sony’s portion of that is $50.4M, and Village Roadshow territories have thus far accounted for $6.7M. In Germany, the film is running a close No. 1 over local hit Mannerhort which was the top movie last week. Denzel Washington and Antoine Fuqua grossed $2.5M there from 507 screens, besting the opening of Safe House by 52%. Italy launched with $1.2M from 285 screens, 72% bigger than Unstoppable and on par with 2 Guns and Safe House. Other openings include No. 1 in Kuwait with $380K from 12 screens; German-speaking Switzerland with $350K from 46 screens; and Austria with $250K on 60 screens. France grossed a further $1.3M for a $3.9M cume; the UK added $1M for a $9M cume; Mexico was off 38% to $350K and a $3.2M total; and the Netherlands fell 25%, adding $315K for a cume of $1.8M.

Hrithik Roshan actioner Bang Bang, from Fox International Productions and FoxStar India, raced to another $4.6M from 2,643 screens in 7 markets. It’s still No. 1 at home and had the 2nd biggest 2nd frame of 2014 with $3.53M. The international cume now stands at $35.8M.

In its debut frame overseas, Robert Downey Jr/Robert Duvall drama The Judge hit Australia and 6 smaller territories. The gross was $1.6M with approximately 201K admissions on 599 screens. Warner Bros says the picture took $903K in Oz from 283 screens. Next weekend, it travels to Germany, the UK, Russia, and Brazil.

Sex Tape benefitted from holdovers in Germany ($525K/ $11.7M cume); Venezuela ($299K/ $2.4M cume) and France ($150K/$4.5M cume) to bring its overseas total to date to $84.6M.

Let’s Be Cops booked another $1.5M from 606 screens in 24 markets. The international cume is for Fox is now $31.1M after a strong Israel opening of $390K on 21 screens.

Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes swung to another $783K from 725 screens in 12 markets, taking the international cume to $493.5M.

In local studio titles, the Sony-released Torrente 5 held the No. 1 position in Spain with an added $2.5M. The cume there is now $9.1M. In Korea, Fox International Productions’ Slow Video added $1.8M in frame 2 from 424 screens, dropping to No. 4 in the market with a total of $7.67M. Warner Bros’ Japan’s Rurouni Kenshin: The Legend Ends continued to an additional $1.3M in its 5th frame for a Japanese cume of $35.2M. The studio’s Argentina presentation, Relatos Salvajes (Wild Tales), was No. 1 again at home – that makes 8 straight weeks. The cume there is $15.8M. Adding in results from Chile, Colombia, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela, the film’s overall total is $17.4M. Warner pick-up Pek Yakinda, a Turkish comedy from director Cem Yilmaz, opened last week and has now cumed $6.9M. Sony’s German title Who Am I pocketed $1M in its 3rd frame for a total of $5.6M.

UPDATE, 9:15 AM PT: International weekend estimates continue to trickle in from the studios with Universal and Paramount now accounted for. The former says that based on its current estimates, Dracula Untold is the international winner for the frame. Currently at No. 2 domestically this session, the backstory of Vlad Tepes added a final $34.4M at 5,525 dates in 42 offshore territories. Notably, it had a record-setting Russia debut. Other highlights so far include the China bow of Guardians Of The Galaxy and the start of Alexander And The Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day (see the original post below for more.). We’re still waiting on numbers for last weekend’s studio winner, Gone Girl, and others, which will be updated as they arrive

After kicking off last weekend, Dracula Untold went out in a further 17 markets with No. 1s in nine — notably Russia where it made $9.7M at 1,068 dates. Right in the market’s wheel house, the picture scored the biggest 2D opening of 2014 and the fifth biggest opening of all time. Elsewhere, DU added $1.9M at 82 dates in Taiwan; $936K at 76 dates in Peru (record October bow); and $4.3M at 355 dates in Korea. In Mexico, the Luke Evans-starrer held at No. 1 for the 2nd week in a row with $3.1M at 651 dates. The international total is now $63.2M. On 155 IMAX screens, the movie scared up $2.5M. The overseas total in the format is now $4.5M. Among standout territories are the Netherlands at $195K on 5 screens; Taiwan with $225K on 7 screens. Russia at $700K on 35 screens.

The Boxtrolls, also from Universal, packed up another $3.6M at 3,294 dates in 24 territories for an international total of $31.9M. Poland opened to $201K at 120 dates – the biggest debut for a Laika Entertainment movie ever in the market. Israel started off with $161K — three times bigger than Coraline’s opening and six times bigger than Paranorman. There are still 30 territories to debut, next week sees France among others.

Lucy, which has now opened in all Universal territories, plugged another $2.4M at 2,138 dates this frame. The Universal international total is $228M. Combined with the EuropaCorp territories, the weekend estimate is $3.2M, bringing the international cume to $289M. The worldwide total for this Luc Besson directed actioner is now $415M.

In other holdovers, Paramount’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles served up another $2M from 932 locations in 34 territories. The international total is now $164.6M. There are still a handful of markets to go including Germany on Oct 16, China on Oct 31 and Japan on Feb 7. Hercules grossed an additional $390K from 18 markets for an offshore cume of $154.2M. Hercules hits China on Oct 21.

PREVIOUS, 8:32 AM PT: Along with the international debut of Alexander And The Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day in about 14 markets, Disney this weekend also saw the China bow of Guardians Of The Galaxy. The Marvel space romp grossed a final $29.8M, scoring the No. 1 spot for the weekend, and the 3rd highest opening weekend for any Disney release there after 2013’s Iron Man 3 and this year’s Captain America: The Winter Soldier. It was also good for an all-time industry record opening in October. China now is catapulted into the No. 3 position among GOTG’s top offshore markets, behind the UK and Russia.

Guardians’ Middle Kingdom release comes during a month when Hollywood pics are packed wall-to-wall ahead of the big rollout of local movies that jam the year’s end. The film went out on Friday, just after the close of the National Day holiday week and saw its Saturday play likely dented by the fact that it was a designated working day, making this a non-traditional weekend. It’s estimated that $4M of the opening gross came from 165 IMAX screens, giving them around a 14% market share. Still playing in 22 territories, and with the first China frame factored in, GOTG earned $28M this weekend for a global gross to date of $687M. The domestic portion of that is $326.07M; overseas is $361M. Italy has yet to bow, but is looming on Oct 22.

The international gross has surpassed Iron Man 2 ($312M), The Wolverine ($282M), Thor ($268M), Iron Man ($267M) and Captain America: The First Avenger ($194M).

As for Alexander, the rollout is staggered overseas with releases through January. The family pic notably entered Mexico and Russia this weekend. Across 32% of its international footprint, the movie grossed a better than expected $3.5M including an uprated $1.7M in Mexico and a better than expected $900K in Russia. The next major markets are Brazil (Oct 23), the UK (Oct 24), Spain (Nov 7), Australia (Dec 4) and Germany (Jan 1).

Boyhood, the critically-acclaimed Richard Linklater film, has $15.1M internationally now and will next open in Italy and Korea on Oct. 23.

Updates on other pictures: Get On Up, the James Brown biopic, opened to a disappointing $135K at 158 dates in Germany with German-Switzerland opening with $24K at 17 dates. The international total is now at only $1.2M. It opens in Greece and New Zealand on Oct. 16.