“Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga” is stalling at the international box office with $33.3 million from 75 territories. The fifth entry in director George Miller’s post-apocalyptic series has generated $58.9 million globally in its first weekend of release, a rough start given its $168 million production budget.
Domestically, the Warner Bros. prequel “Furiosa” is closely battling Sony’s animated “The Garfield Movie” for first place on box office charts, with each grossing roughly $25 million over the weekend and an estimated $31 million through Memorial Day on Monday. Whichever lands at No. 1, this ranks as one of the worst Memorial Day holiday weekends in decades.
“Furiosa,” at this rate, will struggle to live up to its predecessor, 2015’s “Max Max: Fury Road.” That film, starring Tom Hardy and Charlize Theron, captured $380 million against a similarly big budget. Though the R-rated prequel, which puts the spotlight on Anya Taylor-Joy and Chris Hemsworth, has been widely embraced by critics and audiences, it hasn’t received the same level of praise as “Fury Road,” so it wasn’t able to break out beyond its core fanbase of older male moviegoers.
Outside of the U.S. and Canada, “Furiosa” started strongest in Korea with $4.5 million, followed by France with $2.6 million, the United Kingdom with $2.5 million, Mexico with $2.4 million and Australia with $2.2 million. Imax screens accounted for $9.5 million of global box office sales, including $4.7 million from international markets.
Since “The Garfield Movie” began its international rollout weeks ago, it’s powering ahead in terms of worldwide ticket sales with $91.1 million. “Garfield,” in which Chris Pratt voices the famous orange cat who hates Mondays, was far less expensive than “Furisoa” at a cost of $60 million. It placed third on international weekend charts with $14 million from 51 overseas markets. “The Garfield Movie” has yet to roll out in several major markets, including Japan, France and Australia. So far, the biggest markets are Mexico with $17.4 million and Germany with $5.2 million.
Disney and 20th Century’s “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes” captured second place on overseas charts with $20.6 million from 52 markets. With $17.1 million in North America over the four-day weekend, the fourth chapter in the “Apes” reboot franchise has generated $172 million internationally and $294.8 million globally to date. Those ticket sales are enough to rank as the fourth-highest grossing movie of the year. Still, the $160 million-budgeted “Kingdom” needs plenty more momentum to match the global total of its predecessors, “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” ($481 million), “War for the Planet of the Apes” ($490 million) and “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes” (a series-best $710 million).
Paramount’s “IF,” a fantasy-comedy directed by John Krasinski and starring Ryan Reynolds, trailed in fourth place on international charts with $11.3 million from 64 territories. The kid-friendly film added roughly $21 million domestically over the four-day holiday weekend, bringing “IF’s” worldwide tally to $103.6 million. The movie cost $110 million to make and many millions more to market, so it’s counting on staying power through the summer to justify its budget.
Source Agencies
