EXCLUSIVE: As it lights up the domestic box office, Sony and Wayfarer Studios’ It Ends with Us is also off to a more than lively start overseas. Out in just 68% of the international box office landscape, the Blake Lively-starrer grossed $13.3M through Friday in 42 markets. This points to an offshore weekend debut of $27M-$30M, to land it in the $72M-$79M range worldwide.
The female-driven $25M-budget romance drama has become an event movie in the markets where it has opened this weekend, notably seeing launch days that were 73% above The Fault in Our Stars, more than double A Star is Born and Little Women, over triple Anyone But You and more than four-times Sony’s own sleeper from summer 2022, Where the Crawdads Sing. Those comps are all in like-for-like markets at current exchange rates.
The top markets through Friday are the UK ($2.4M), Australia ($2.4M), Brazil ($1.5M) and Mexico ($1M) and Sweden ($725K). The Middle East as a whole through Friday is at $720K.
We’re hearing that fans of the source novel by Colleen Hoover, as well as newcomers to the IP, are turning out. Recall that back in 2014, Fault in Our Stars became a phenomenon, particularly in Brazil, running as perfect counter-programming to the World Cup in that host country. It Ends with Us is likewise positioned as an option for female moviegoers. It also has a unique dovetail in that Lively just made a cameo in husband Ryan Reynolds’ box office smash Deadpool & Wolverine.
That latter film will win the global weekend again, as it looks to join the $1B club. The numerous red carpet photo-ops for the couple are certain to have boosted It Ends with Us’ profile, though the film is clearly standing on its own and tracking in markets where the book is not as well known. So far, it’s a case of serendipity, and savvy scheduling.
Markets still to open throughout August include France, Germany and Italy and China. Denmark — where Lively attended a premiere last night — releases early September. Also to come are Korea and Japan, as well as most of Southeast Asia.