Disney royals Anna and Elsa maintained their reign over international box office charts as “Frozen 2” generated another $164 million from 45 foreign territories over the weekend.
The animated sequel debuted in a handful of overseas markets this weekend including Italy ($7.7 million), Australia ($6.6 million) and Russia ($13.7 million), where it now stands as the biggest animated opening weekend of all time. Globally, “Frozen 2” has earned a mighty $739 million in just 12 days of release and should become the sixth Disney movie this year to cross $1 billion at the worldwide box office.
Adding to its slew of box office records, “Frozen 2” is already the highest-grossing animated movie in history in Indonesia and the Philippines. It also surpassed the lifetime haul of its predecessor in 11 territories including China ($90.5 million). Other top markets include Korea ($61.2 million), Japan ($38.3 million) and the United Kingdom ($35 million).
New to movie theaters this weekend, Lionsgate’s “Knives Out,” a murder mystery starring Daniel Craig, Jamie Lee Curtis and Chris Evans, carved up $28.3 million overseas, boasting strong showings in China, the U.K., Russia and Australia. The whodunit directed by Rian Johnson kicked off with $41.7 million in North America for a promising global start of $70 million. It cost $40 million to produce.
Elsewhere, Disney-Fox’s “Ford v Ferrari” amassed $10.2 million from 48 markets, boosting its overseas haul to $62 million. The racing drama starring Christian Bale and Matt Damon has earned $143 million globally, led by Russia with $8.8 million, the U.K. with $6.7 million and France with $6.4 million. The movie opens next weekend in Korea and Thailand, followed by Japan in January. A theatrical release date in China has yet to be determined.