Friday AM Update: Together with domestic’s $13.2M Thursday night and two-days worth of offshore money of $22.4M, Disney/Marvel’s Black Widow stands at a running global tally of $35.6M. Industry estimates forecasted that the standalone MCU title starring Scarlett Johansson could reach a height of $140M.
Internationally, yesterday the Cate Shortland-directed movie debuted in 30 additional material markets, including Germany, Russia, Australia, Japan, Korea, Brazil and Mexico, taking the full total to 41 material markets to date.
Here’s how the territories to date breakdown: Korea ($3.3M), UK ($3.1M), France ($2.9M), Australia ($1.7M), Italy ($1.2M), Russia ($1.1M), Mexico ($1M), Hong Kong ($900K), Japan ($700K), and other territories ($6.5M).
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Anthony D’Alessandro contributed to Friday AM Update
Thursday Update: Disney/Marvel’s long-anticipated Black Widow began offshore rollout on Wednesday in 11 material markets including France, Italy and the UK, grossing an estimated $4.9M for the day and setting new pandemic era benchmarks. While pre-weekend projections were conservative at a floor of $50M, the Cate Shortland-directed origins story is poised to aim higher at the international box office.
Not included in the total above are Korea previews of $1.8M yesterday. Early social sentiment there is strong (Naver 9.22/CGV 96%) and with today’s estimated gross of $1.6M the cume in Korea is already $3.3M. Concerns over a spike in Covid cases, notably in Seoul, have led to speculation that the government may impose tough restrictions as early as tomorrow in the area so this will be a market to watch.
In the UK and despite competition from over 26M people watching the England vs Denmark Euro 2020 semi-final last night, the Scarlett Johansson-starrer kicked off with $1.7M and 70% market share. The No. 1 start is the highest opening day since the start of Covid and was 1% ahead of Fast 9 and only 5% below Captain America: Winter Soldier. The market has 85% of cinemas open with 50% capacity restrictions.
France launched atop the box office with the highest pandemic era
single/opening day at $1.6M. This is also the biggest debut excluding previews since Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker in 2019. Opening day was 21% ahead of Ant-Man And The Wasp (including previews) and 2% above Black Panther (including previews). All of France’s cinemas are back in operation with no capacity limitations.
Italy‘s $700K launch was No. 1 with the 2nd highest pandemic opening day and 80% market share. This is 11% ahead of Ant-Man 2 (which bowed on a Tuesday) and 54% over Thor: Ragnarok. There are 55% of cinemas open in the market with 50% capacity restrictions.
In further debuts, Netherlands grossed $300K on Wednesday for the top spot and best result during since Covid began. Black Widow bowed 8% above Doctor Strange and 4% below Ant-Man 2. Sweden also took in $300K on its opening day, at No. 1 and good for the biggest post-Covid single/opening day. The launch is 46% ahead of Captain America: Winter Soldier and 33% above Ant-Man 2.
Other markets including Belgium, Finland, Norway and Switzerland were No. 1 launches.
Black Widow continues rolling out this weekend and will be open in all of the material international markets by Sunday except for China, Taiwan, India, SE Asia, South Africa, Uruguay and Peru. Today sees further openings in Germany, Russia, Australia, Japan, Korea, Brazil and Mexico, among others.
