“Stray Kids: The dominATE Experience,” a concert documentary about the popular K-pop boy band, was No. 1 at the global box office with $19.1 million.
The film, released by Universal in international markets and Bleecker Street in the U.S. and Canada, has earned $13.2 million overseas and $5.6 million domestically in its opening weekend. In terms of the foreign release, Universal reports these ticket sales are tracking ahead of other K-pop concert docs, including 2023’s “BTS Yet to Come to the Cinema” (which racked up $29 million in total). The film has outgrossed 2019’s “Bring the Soul: The Movie” and 2020’s “Break the Silence: The Movie,” which ended their runs with $12.1 million and $8.9 million, respectively.
Mexico was the top international territory with $2.1 million, followed by Germany with $1.5 million and the United Kingdom and Ireland with $1.3 million.
“This is very good business,” says David A. Gross, who runs the movie consulting firm Franchise Entertainment Research. He notes that concert films with such wide releases tend to center around American pop stars such as Michael Jackson, Taylor Swift, Justin Bieber and One Direction. “This is unique,” he adds. “These movies cost very little to put together, and they also sell a lot of albums and merchandise.”
“Stray Kids” captures the music group’s world tour and sold-out performance at Los Angeles’ SoFi Stadium. “The dominATE Experience” had a strong showing in Imax, which represented 20.5% of the global box office with $3.9 million. Those ticket sales mark the company’s largest opening weekend for a Korean-language film.
“A slow overall weekend for the industry can present a land of opportunity for a film like ‘Stray Kids: The dominATE Experience,’” says Comscore’s head of marketplace trends, Paul Dergarabedian. “The K-pop phenomenon is not to be underestimated. There is a huge appetite for these large-scale concert films for fans to enjoy in the communal environment of the movie theater.”
“Stray Kids” was able to top the worldwide box office because major Hollywood studios opted against releasing anything new around the Super Bowl, which is the biggest TV event of the year in the States. It was mostly holdover titles fueling the marketplace, contributing to depressed overall ticket sales across the globe.
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Disney’s animated juggernaut “Zootopia 2” ranked in second place on global charts with $16.8 million — including $12.8 million internationally and $4 million domestically. It’s a staggering amount for a film in its 11th weekend of release. “Zootopia 2” has generated $1.8 billion worldwide, standing as the ninth-highest grossing movie in history.
“Zootopia 2” landed ahead of a much newer Disney release, Sam Raimi’s survival thriller “Send Help,” which added $16.3 million globally in its second weekend in theaters. That includes $6.3 million overseas and $10 million in North America. So far, the well-reviewed R-rated film has grossed $17.9 million internationally and $53.7 million worldwide against a $40 million budget.
Not far behind on worldwide charts was a third Disney title, James Cameron’s blockbuster “Avatar: Fire and Ash,” with $15.7 million globally. International territories accounted for $12.2 million of those sales, while the domestic market brought in $3.5 million. Cameron’s third otherworldly-set adventure has climbed to $1.43 billion to date, a massive tally that’s nonetheless a lot less than its predecessors, 2009’s “Avatar” ($2.9 billion) and 2022’s “The Way of Water” (2.33 billion).
In other box office milestones, “Marty Supreme” has overtaken “Everything Everywhere All at Once” to become A24’s highest-grossing film of all time; “The Housemaid” has cleared the $350 million mark, while “Hamnet” has powered to $70 million.
“Marty Supreme” has amassed $147 million worldwide to date, outgrossing “Everything Everywhere All at Once” ($142 million) and Alex Garland’s dystopian thriller “Civil War” ($127 million worldwide) in terms of A24 releases. And the global tally will keep rising because “Marty Supreme” has yet to open in several big international territories, according to A24. The studio spent $70 million to produce the R-rated sports dramedy (the most the indie studio has ever spent on a film). It has been an Oscar contender with nine nominations, including best picture and lead actor for Timothee Chalamet.
Lionsgate’s sexy psychological thriller “The Housemaid” has generated a mighty $354.7 million, a major milestone for the mid-budget movie. The film, starring Sydney Sweeney and Amanda Seyfried, has become an unexpected breakout at the international box office, which has accounted for $231 million in ticket sales. “The Housemaid,” which catered to mostly female crowds, cost just $35 million to produce and will be wildly profitable for the studio.
Chloe Zhao’s “Hamnet” has earned $48.7 million overseas and $21.8 million domestically, pushing grosses to $70.5 million globally. It’s a notable amount at a trying time for arthouse releases; Focus Features is behind the $34 million-budgeted film. The Shakespearean drama has also been in the awards race with eight Oscar nominations, including best director and actress for Jessie Buckley.
From Variety US