FRIDAY UPDATE, Refresh for latest…: With 65 overseas markets under its fan-belt, Universal’s Fast X has grossed $68.7M at the international box office through Thursday. The full day yesterday was $35.1M (including previews in eight markets). The Toretto family is No. 1 in all majors and reporting markets.
China continues to lead play on the Louis Leterrier-directed installment with $26.3M through two days (including previews). Adding Friday’s estimates, it’s at $37M through three days with the hope that Saturday and Sunday see significant uplift versus today. Through Friday, Fast X is already seeing the biggest launch frame for a studio title there in 2023.
Elsewhere, Mexico has a running cume of $4.2M through Thursday. Yesterday’s $2.1M take was above both F9 and Hobbs & Shaw. France added $2.2M yesterday to reach a $4M cume so far. Fast X was No.1 in the market for the Ascension Day holiday, rising 27% from Wednesday’s start. Excluding previews, the two-day total is 22% above F9. Indonesia has grossed $3.5M through two days.
In Germany, Fast X has a $3.2M cume through Thursday, 64% above F9 and 46% over Hobbs & Shaw. India gave the crew a No. 1 opening on Thursday with $1.7M; Italy bowed to $1.1M on Thursday, notable as three Italian football teams were playing in European cups in the same evening. The first day is the second-biggest opening of the year, behind only Super Mario Bros.
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PREVIOUS, THURSDAY UPDATE: Universal’s Fast X officially opened in 12 international box office markets on Wednesday, revving up with $32.9M (including Wednesday previews in a further 38 markets). The movie is No. 1 in every hub where it has opened, including China, France, Germany and Korea.
The lead play so far is China, which has a running cume through Thursday of $25.7M (note that Thursday’s figures are not included in the $32.9M Wednesday total above). As noted yesterday (see below), the start is encouraging given recent tepid audience sentiment towards Hollywood movies in the market. Fast X has maintained its 9 rating on Maoyan and scored the biggest Wednesday opening of the year for any film in the PRC.
In Mexico, and following a local promotional event with 6,000 fans, the Louis Leterrier-directed franchise entry grossed an estimated $2.1M from previews on Wednesday, in line with the opening Wednesday of F9 and the biggest preview result of the year (55% ahead of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3).
France, with $1.8M from 813 screens on Wednesday, gave FX the second-biggest opening day of 2023 behind only The Super Mario Bros. Movie. The first day result is in line with Hobbs & Shaw, above Top Gun Maverick (+24%), GOTG3 (+50%) and Ant-Man Quantumania (+75%).
Germany grossed $1.5M on opening Wednesday, coming in 88% above F9.
Meanwhile, at $1.4M, Indonesia gave the Toretto family the biggest opening day ever for a non-superhero film, the biggest opening day of the franchise, and the biggest opening day of all-time for a Universal film.
Other notable markets include Thailand with $1.3M on Wednesday, capitalizing on a partial public sector holiday which drove strong results; Korea at $1M and a 93% CGV Egg score; Brazil with $1M for the biggest preview gross of 2023 (also topping the Wednesday previews of Fast 8); Taiwan, which launched with $600K from Wednesday previews and more than double the same day preview result for Fast 9; and Malaysia at $486K on Wednesday, delivering the biggest Wednesday preview result of the year, the biggest ever in May and the 4th biggest for Universal.
Officially releasing today are the UK, Spain and Japan, among others.
More to come…
PREVIOUS, WEDNESDAY: Universal’s Fast X has started its engines overseas, opening notably in China and Korea on Wednesday and clocking $18.4M from just those two markets.
The Louis Leterrier-directed franchise instalment got off to a strong start in China, taking an estimated $17.4M today, including $2.7M from midnight shows. It’s dominating the market with 84% of the total box office and has a great 9 from audiences on Maoyan. This is above F9’s 7.8.
The Wednesday is also the No. 4 biggest opening day for a studio film in China since the beginning of the pandemic and the other films ahead of it all opened on a Friday rather than a non-holiday Wednesday. It’s especially encouraging given sentiment towards Hollywood movies in the market has been tepid of late to say the least. The score is 84% of the Friday launch of Avatar: The Way of Water and 2.6x the Friday opening of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, which itself provided some salve recently.
Still, the opening day results are below other films in the franchise (which opened on a weekend day and in a different climate in China). Fast X‘s Wednesday came in 57% below Hobbs & Shaw and 68% below F9. Compared to other Wednesday launches, FX is in the range of Avengers: Age of Ultron and Jurassic World.
Although China has been a huge market for the Fast & Furious franchise, it remains a swing here given recent uncertainties. We’ll be watching it closely throughout the weekend.
Korea also opened today with $1M and 60% market share. That’s 86% of F8, 30% above F7 and below both F9 and Hobbs & Shaw which opened on national holidays. The audience reactions are strong with a 94% CGV Egg score, above F9’s 89%.
Also opening today were such majors as France and Germany. We’ll have those numbers tomorrow. In total Fast X releases this weekend in 84 overseas markets.
Updates to come…
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