‘Moana 2’ Hits $600 million at global box office, ‘Lord of the Rings: War of the Rohirrim’ fizzles overseas with $2 million debut
“Moana 2” has notched $600 million in global ticket sales, standing as the sixth-biggest movie of the year after just two weeks of release.
Disney’s animated sequel, which was developed as a TV series before pivoting to theaters, has generated $300 million overseas and $300 million domestically for an even global tally of $600 million. In the coming days, it’ll overtake the lifetime gross of its predecessor, 2016’s “Moana,” with $643 million worldwide.
Over the weekend, “Moana 2” added a sizable $103.5 million from 52 international markets as well as $52 million in North America. Outside of the United States and Canada, France has enjoyed the biggest turnout with $32.5 million to date, followed by the United Kingdom with $27.2 million, Germany with $19.7 million and Mexico with $19.1 million.
Among new offerings, the Warner Bros. anime fantasy film “The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim,” faltered with $2 million from 3,410 screens in 31 territories. The movie, based on J. R. R. Tolkien characters and set 183 years before the events of Peter Jackson’s “Lord of the Rings” trilogy, opens in North America and an additional 42 offshore markets on Dec. 13. Top earning territories were Spain with $347,000 followed by Mexico with $239,000 and Thailand with $146,000.
In another box office milestone, Universal’s “Wicked” adaptation surpassed $400 million worldwide, including $135 million overseas and $320 million domestically. The big-budget musical added $26 million from 79 international markets, including openings in France with $2 million and Netherlands with $1.9 million. “Wicked” faltered in China with a dismal $1.2 million debut on 8,900 screens, ranking at No. 8 on the country’s box office charts.
Meanwhile, Paramount’s “Gladiator II” collected $17 million in its fourth frame at the international box office, boosting its tally to $235 million overseas and $368.4 million globally.
The quarter-century-in-the-making sequel to Ridley Scott’s Oscar-winning 2000 epic “Gladiator” has been far bigger in offshore markets. So, the film is relying on international audiences to help justify its massive budget of more than $250 million to produce and at least $100 million to promote.
There’s also “Red One,” a Christmas-set action comedy starring the Rock as Santa’s head of security, which collected $3.5 million from 4,000 screens in 75 overseas markets. The film, from Amazon MGM, has generated a soft $78.2 million from offshore territories and $164 million globally. “Red One” was originally destined for streaming before the studio opted for a theatrical release, so any coinage from the big screen could be viewed as a win for movie theaters, Amazon MGM and Warner Bros. (which has international rights on Amazon MGM releases).
