Alicia Vikander’s “Tomb Raider” ruled the international box office with $84.5 million at 32,685 screens in 65 markets, led by a solid $41.1 million opening in China.
Warner Bros. reported that “Tomb Raider” took in nearly 50% of the box office among the top five films in China, where the action-adventure played on 15,500 screens, and notched the studio’s seventh-highest opening weekend in that market. The figure was on par with the openings for “Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle” and “Wonder Woman.”
Disney-Marvel’s “Black Panther,” which opened with a leading $66 million in China last weekend, saw its grosses plunge to $12 million in that market. The superhero saga has totaled $96 million in its first 10 days in China, the leading international market, followed by $59.5 million in the U.K. and $42.7 million in South Korea.
“Black Panther” took in a total of $30 million internationally to push its international take to $577 million — making it the fifth highest title in the Marvel Cinematic Universe by that measure. It’s also now the 14th-highest film in worldwide grosses at $1.182 billion, passing both “Captain America: Civil War” and “Minions.”
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“Tomb Raider” came in first place in Europe, nearly doubling the opening results of “Red Sparrow.” Russia generated the top figure with $4.4 million at a 50% share of the top five films, followed by the U.K. with $4.2 million on 1,089 screens, France with $3.2 million at 553 screens and Germany and Mexico with $2.2 million each. The film opened in nine markets last weekend and has an international total of $102 million.
“Tomb Raider,” a reboot of the Lara Croft franchise and based on a 2013 version of the video game, centers on Vikander’s character unraveling the mystery behind her father’s disappearance. It’s directed by Roar Uthaug and written by Geneva Robertson-Dworet and Alastair Siddons, from a story by Evan Daugherty and Robertson-Dworet. It also stars Walton Goggins and Dominic West. Graham King is the producer; production companies are Warner Bros., MGM, GK Films and Square Enix.
With a $94 million price tag, “Tomb Raider” will need to perform well in the foreign markets if it’s to become profitable. Its U.S. launch was in line with expectations at $23.5 million.
Guillermo del Toro’s “The Shape of Water” took in $17 million in 63 markets in the wake of winning the best picture Academy Award on March 4. The film opened in fourth place in China with $10.3 million. “The Shape of Water” opens next in Malaysia on March 22 and Indonesia on March 28, and has gone past $110 million at the international box office for Fox.
Sony’s “Peter Rabbit” took in $15.5 million from 8,600 screens in 22 markets, lifting its international total to $42.7 million. The live-action CGI family title launched in first place in its home territory of the UK with $9.5 million, topping the opening of “Paddington” by 32%.
Chinese action holdover “Operation Red Sea” scored the fifth-highest weekend number internationally with $11.7 million from seven markets, lifting the worldwide gross to $555.5 million, according to comScore. Zhang Yi, Huang Jingyu, Hai Qing, Du Jiang and Prince Mak star in the story of the evacuation of foreign nationals and Chinese citizens from Yemen’s southern port of Aden during the 2015 Yemeni Civil War.
Fox’s “Red Sparrow” finished sixth on the international chart with $8.9 million from 72 markets, led by Germany with $1.5 million. The Jennifer Lawrence thriller has an international total of $66.6 million.
Disney-Pixar’s “Coco” opened in Japan as the top western release for the weekend with $5.8 million, including previews, placing it 8% ahead of “Zootopia.” “Coco,” which won two Oscars on March 4, has a worldwide total of $757 million, led by $209 million in the U.S. and $183 million in China.
Fox’s “The Greatest Showman” took in $3.8 million from 25 markets, lifting the international total to $229.1 million. The Hugh Jackman musical scored $1.9 million in its fifth weekend in Japan and $1.5 million in the U.K. in its 12th weekend, pushing that market past $53 million.
