Two new Hollywood releases, Universal’s sports thriller “Him” and Sony’s romantic drama “A Big Bold Beautiful Journey,” were outright rejected by overseas audiences.
“A Big Bold Beautiful Journey,” starring Margot Robbie and Colin Farrell as strangers whose meet-cute takes them on the journey of a lifetime, flopped at the international box office with $4.5 million from 45 markets. Meanwhile the Jordan Peele-produced “Him,” a disturbing mind-bender about a football player with aspirations to be the greatest of all time, fumbled even harder with $400,000 from 25 territories. Both films were saddled with terrible reviews and disappointing audience scores.
“Him” at least started stronger at the domestic box office with $13.5 million, boosting the film’s global tally to $13.86 million. It carries a modest $27 million production budget. Justin Tipping directed “Him,” which stars Marlon Wayans as an aging quarterback who trains a young up-and coming football player (Tyriq Withers) to chilling consequences.
“Sports themes do not travel well overseas, and the sport in this film — American football — is uniquely American in its popularity,” says analyst David A. Gross of Franchise Entertainment Research. “But the picture cost a reasonable $27 million to make, so it can cover its costs on domestic business alone.”
“A Big Bold Beautiful Journey,” however, crumbled in its North America debut as well with $3.5 million for a worldwide haul of $8 million. The film has yet to release in major markets like France, Italy and South Korea.
“The film should do better in foreign markets, but the production cost was high — that’s a big number to recoup,” Gross adds of “A Big Bold Beautiful Journey.”
Luckily Sony is riding high with “Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle,” which just became the highest-grossing anime film ever with $555 million globally. The film is backed by Sony-owned Crunchyroll in North America, the United Kingdom and Brazil, as well as Toho and Aniplex in Japan and other Asian markets. “Demon Slayer” topped overseas charts again with $36 million from markets where Sony’s Crunchyroll is handling the rollout. So far the film has earned a total of $451 million internationally and $104 million domestically. “Infinity Castle” is the first in planned three-film series about a boy who becomes a demon slayer to avenge his family and find a cure for his sister who was turned into a demon.
Universal, meanwhile, had slightly better luck overseas with “Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale,” which added $8.3 million from 35 markets in its second weekend of release. The film, a continuation of the popular TV show, has generated $27.9 million overseas and $31.6 million domestically to date, bringing its global total to $59.5 million. The studio says those ticket sales are above 2022’s “Downton Abbey: A New Era” at the same point in its predecessor’s theatrical run. Neither film could reach the box office heights of the first cinematic feature, 2019’s “Downton Abbey,” which became a huge hit to the tune of $194.6 million globally.
