Worldwide box office: August 15-17
| Title | Film (distributor) | 3-day (world) | Cume (world) | 3-day (int’l) | Cume (int’l) | Territories |
| 1 | Weapons (Warner Bros) | $43.4m | $148.7m | $18.4m | $59.7m | 74 |
| 2 | Nobody (various) | $32m | $137.3m | $32m | $137.3m | 1 |
| 3 | Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba Infinity Castle (various) | $31.3m | $192.8m | $31.3m | $192.8m | 3 |
| 4 | Coolie (various) | $27.6m | $45.3m | $25.2m | $39m | 21 |
| 5 | Freakier Friday (Disney) | $23.8m | $86.3m | $9.3m | $31.5m | 48 |
| 6 | Dead To Rights (various) | $23.4m | $358m | $22.7m | $257.3m | 4 |
| 7 | War 2 (various) | $21.9m | $31.5m | $20.1m | $28.4m | 26 |
| 8 | The Bad Guys 2 (Universal) | $21.2m | $117.4m | $13.7m | $60.2m | 68 |
| 9 | The Shadow’s Edge (various) | $20.3m | $30.5m | $20.3m | $30.5m | 3 |
| 10 | Fantastic Four: The First Steps (Disney) | $18.1m | $468.7m | $9.3m | $221.7m | 53 |
Credit: Comscore. All figures are estimates.
‘Weapons’ closes in on $150m
Warner Bros/New Line’s Weapons achieved a strong hold globally in its second weekend of play – relative to typical films in the horror genre. A strong hold, but not a stunning one.
Zach Cregger’s original story grossed an estimated $25.0m in North America plus $18.4m across 73 international markets, combining to give a global weekend total of $43.4m – topping the worldwide chart ahead of Chinese animation Nobody.
Weapons fell 43% in North America, 33% across international markets, and 39% globally.
In cumulative, Weapons has $89.0m in North America, $59.7m for international and $148.7m worldwide. Given a production budget reported at $38m, the film looks on track for strong profitability, even after revenue sharing with cinemas and marketing costs. Ancillary revenue is all to come.
Among international markets, UK/Ireland leads with $8.3m, ahead of Mexico ($5.5m), France ($4.0m), Spain ($3.9m), Australia ($3.8m) and Saudi Arabia ($2.9m). Weapons has yet to open in Japan and South Korea, and Indonesia ($2.0m) is the strongest Asian market so far – ranked ninth among international territories.
Also for Warner Bros, Superman added an estimated $8.4m worldwide, and has now reached $594.5m. Warner Bros/Apple Original Films’ F1 aka F1: The Movie added an estimated $12.0m, and is now at $590.0m.
Neither film is in the latest worldwide top 10 box office chart, thanks to strong performance from films from China, Japan and India which collectively occupy six of the 10 places. Aside from Weapons, the other US studio titles that are still in the worldwide top 10 chart are Freakier Friday, The Bad Guys 2 and The Fantastic Four: First Steps.
Paramount’s The Naked Gun and Universal’s Jurassic World Rebirth are both outside the top 10. The Naked Gun grossed an estimated $9.8m at the weekend, and is now at $72.9m worldwide. Jurassic World Rebirth grossed an estimated $7.3m and is now at $828.6m.
‘Nobody 2’ launches with $14m
Universal’s Nobody 2 has debuted outside the worldwide top 10 with an estimated $9.3m in North America and $4.9m across 47 international markets – yielding a global opening of $14.2m. The film is a sequel to 2021’s Nobody, and stars Bob Odenkirk, Connie Nielsen, Colin Hanks, Sharon Stone, John Ortiz and RZA. Action-enthused market Saudi Arabia leads the international pack with an estimated $708,000, ahead of UK/Ireland ($628,000) and Australia ($454,000). United Arab Emirates is next with $405,000 – beating major box office territories such as France, Spain and Italy.
‘Demon Slayer’ sequel hits international markets, shoots up chart
Rising from ninth to third place in the worldwide box office chart is Japanese anime Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba Infinity Castle, which began its international release outside Japan via Sony Pictures/Crunchyroll. Sony reported an estimated $17.5m across eight markets, led by Indonesia with $3.6m – the biggest anime opening of all time, and the biggest opening in the territory since Deadpool & Wolverine.
Sony achieved similar stellar outcomes in other Asian markets for Haruo Sotozaki’s film, including an estimated $3.5m in Hong Kong – the biggest anime opening of all time and the top opening of the pandemic era. Malaysia ($3.3m), Thailand ($3.2m) and Vietnam ($2.5m) likewise all achieved the biggest anime opening of all time, and in Thailand this was also the biggest animation of all time.
Including the Japan release, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba Infinity Castle grossed an estimated $31.3m at the weekend, and the total across nine markets to date is $192.8m.
Kimetsu No Yaiba Infinity Castle is the first original film in the Demon Slayer series since 2020’s Kimetsu No Yaiba Mugen Train. In between the two original films have been films compiled frm episodes in the Demon Slayer anime TV series: Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba – To The Swordsmith Village and Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba – To The Hashira Training.
In 2020, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba Mugen Train grossed $485.5m worldwide including $365.7m in Japan, according to available data.
Indian films ‘Coolie’ and ‘War 2’ crash top 10 chart
A pair of new Indian films – Coolie and War 2 – have landed in the worldwide box office chart respectively in fourth and seventh place. The release coincides with Indian Independence Day weekend – the national holiday, held annually on August 15, celebrates the anniversary of the Indian Independence Act of 1947 coming into effect.
Directed by Lokesh Kangaraj, Tamil-language action film Coolie grossed an estimated $27.6m from 21 markets for the weekend period, and $45.3m in total since release Thursday. Veteran Tamil actor Rajinikanth (Jailer) leads the vengeance thriller. The total to date includes $6.3m in North America
Directed by Ayan Mukeraj, Hindi-language action thriller War 2 grossed an estimated $21.8m from 26 markets for the weekend period, and $31.5m in total since release Thursday. War 2 is a sequel to War (2019) and the sixth film in the Yash Raj Films Spy Universe series, which began in 2012 with Ek Tha Tiger. Hrithik Roshan, NT Rama Rao Jr (aka NTR Jr) and Kiara Advani lead the cast. NTR Jr, who has primarily worked in Telegu cinema, makes his Hindi film debut in War 2.
War 2’s total includes $3.1m for the North American release.
Strong hold sees ‘Nobody’ rise above ‘Dead To Rights’ in China
Among the three Chinese films in the latest worldwide top 10 chart, a strong hold for animation Nobody sees it rise above historical drama Dead To Rights, and also move up from fourth place globally a week ago to second place.
Nobody grossed an estimated $32.0m at the weekend, taking its total since August 2 release to $137.3m. Yu Shui’s film features a pilgrimage of animal characters, and is adapted from the classical mythological novel Journey To The West.
Dead To Rights – which is set against events of the Nanjing Massacre (1937-8) – added another estimated $23.4m at the weekend, taking its cumulative total to $358.0m.
New Chinese release The Shadow’s Edge has debuted with $20.3m for the weekend period, and $30.5m including previews. Larry Yang’s action film stars Jackie Chan as a tracking expert police officer who comes out of retirement to help Macau police catch a group of skilled thieves.
China contributed strongly to Universal/DreamWorks’ The Bad Guys 2 at the weekend – the animation opened in China with an estimated $6.7m from Saturday and Sunday only. Worldwide weekend total was $20.8m, and cumulative it’s now at $117.4m.
In international holdover markets, The Bad Guys 2 fell a relatively slim 34%, and in North America the film held even better, down just 29%.
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.