Worldwide box office February 23-25
| Rank | Film (distributor) | 3-day (world) | Cume (world) | 3-day (int’l) | Cume (int’l) | Territories |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Article 20 (various) | $39.2m | $288.6m | $39.2m | $288.6m | 4 |
| 2. | Pegasus 2 (various) | $34.9m | $433.2m | $34.7m | $431.6m | 4 |
| 3. | Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba – To The Hashira Training (various) | $28.5m | $41.7m | $17m | $30.1m | 57 |
| 4. | Bob Marley: One Love (Paramount) | $28.5m | $120.5m | $15m | $49.4m | 60 |
| 5. | Yolo (various) | $24.7m | $463.2m | $24.7m | $463.2m | 1 |
| 6. | Boonie Bears: Time Twist (various) | $21.9m | $256.9m | $21.9m | $256.9m | 1 |
| 7. | Exhuma (Showbox) | $16.7m | $16.7m | $16.7m | $16.7m | 1 |
| 8. | Madame Web (Sony) | $16.5m | $77.4m | $10.5m | $42m | 65 |
| 9. | Migration (Universal) | $7.8m | $268.7m | $4.8m | $148.3m | 80 |
| 10. | Wonka (Paramount) | $7.7m | $617.2m | $5.2m | $402.7m | 72 |
Worldwide release pushes latest ‘Demon Slayer’ into top 10
Sony’s release of Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba – To The Hashira Training in North America and 43 international markets sees the anime sequel surge into the worldwide top 10 chart.
This third Demon Slayer film from Sony/Crunchyroll debuted in North America with an estimated $11.6m, and grossed an estimated $13.7m in Sony international markets. Comscore puts the international weekend total as $17.0m, including Aniplex’s ongoing Japan release, which began on February 2. Global weekend total is an estimated $28.6m, and the cumulative total is $41.7m.
This latest Demon Slayer film has debuted 29% ahead of 2023’s Kimetsu No Yaiba – To The Swordsmith Village and 66% ahead of 2020’s Kimetsu No Yaiba – The Movie: Mugen Train in Sony’s equivalent international markets at the same stage of release. (This comparison excludes Japan, where Mugen Train was a colossal hit, grossing $365m lifetime according to Box Office Mojo.)
Latin America proved the top international region for To The Hashira Training at the weekend, delivering an estimated $8.0m, 27% ahead of previous instalment To The Swordsmith Village. Mexico led with an estimated $4.5m.
Europe logged an estimated $3.8m, led by France with $1.1m. Germany releases tomorrow (February 27).
The films are adapted from Koyoharu Gotouge’s 2016-20 manga series Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba. The films are concurrent with an anime TV series of the same name, and episodes from the series are incorporated into the latest two films.
‘Bob Marley: One Love’ passes $120m on second weekend
Paramount’s Bob Marley: One Love is right behind the Demon Slayer film in the global chart, with estimated weekend takings of $28.5m. In North America, One Love stayed top of the box office chart, with an estimated $13.5m, declining 53%. For international, estimated takings of $15.0m represent a drop of 37% in holdover markets.
After two weekends of play, One Love has reached $120.6m globally – with $71.2m in North America and $49.4m for international.
The Reinaldo Marcus Green-directed film opened in several new markets at the weekend, including Italy with a chart-topping estimated $1.3m. In international holdover territories, UK/Ireland led with an estimated $3.1m, taking the total there to $14.3m. France took an estimated $3.0m, bringing the total to $9.7m.
One Love continues to break records in Marley’s home nation Jamaica, and has reached $425,000 there.
Different global release patterns make comparisons with previous music biopics hard to frame, but in summer 2022 Warner Bros’ Elvis had reached $113.5m after two weekends of play – on its way to a lifetime total of $288.7m.
Paramount will likely see Elvis as its box office target for One Love – rather than Freddie Mercury film Bohemian Rhapsody, which reached $910.8m worldwide. Production budget for One Love has been reported as $70m.
‘Exhuma’ posts biggest debut of 2024 in Korea
Occult horror film Exhuma is already the biggest local film of 2024 in South Korea, thanks to a five-day opening totalling $16.8m. That number makes Exhuma the second-biggest hit of 2024 so far in the territory, behind only Wonka ($21.5m).
Directed by Jang Jae-hyun, and starring Choi Min-sik, Exhuma – which premiered at the Berlinale last week – concerns a shaman offered a large financial inducement to move a tomb.
The film has landed in seventh place in Comscore’s worldwide box office chart – one of six Asian films in the current top 10. Films released in China for the New Year holiday continue to dominate this chart, led by Zhang Yimou’s legal drama Article 20 which moves up from third place to the top spot, just ahead of motor-racing comedy sequel Pegasus 2 (see chart, above). YOLO, aka You Only Live Once, and family animated sequel Boonie Bears: Time Twist are the other Chinese films in the chart – all now in their third week of release. The four films have a combined box office total of $1.44bn.
‘Anyone But You’ hits $200m; ‘Poor Things’ nudges $100m
Sony celebrated its romantic comedy Anyone But You hitting $200m at the weekend, while Searchlight Pictures’ Poor Things is poised to reach $100m, with its total now at $99.6m.
Anyone But You added another $7.3m at the weekend, narrowly missing the top 10 chart. The film has overtaken action romcom The Lost City ($192.9m) and is now the biggest romantic comedy hit since 2016’s Bridget Jones’s Baby ($212.0m).
Poor Things added an estimated $4.4m globally at the weekend, and dropped just 28% in international holdover markets. UK/Ireland leads international markets with $9.0m, just ahead of a surprisingly robust Italy ($8.7m). South Korea has yet to release the film, which lands there on March 6.