“Blade Runner 2049” is the leader of the worldwide box office this weekend, despite finishing in a distant second domestically to “Happy Death Day.”
The sequel is tracking to earn $29.3 million overseas from 64 territories this weekend, which, combined with its $15.1 million domestic total, is enough to claim first. The long-awaited sequel starring Harrison Ford and Ryan Gosling has struggled to make up for its massive budget. Its global grosses are expected to total $158.6 million worldwide by the end of the weekend. Warner Bros. is distributing the film domestically, while Sony is handling the overseas rollout.
Still, “Blade Runner 2049” is not the highest grossing movie at the international box office. That title goes to Chinese sports comedy “Never Say Die,” which is expected to earn $30 million more this weekend from 5 markets. After Sunday, the film’s projected total is $281.8 million.
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The Thai heist thriller “Bad Genius” follows “Never Say Die” and “Blade Runner” at the international box office where it’s earning $16.9 million this weekend from 4 territories. Then comes “Kingsman: The Golden Circle,” with $15.6 million from 66 markets, and “It,” with $10.4 million from 65 markets. Those top five are the only films to earn more than $10 million this weekend from international territories.
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Two fresh films — “Geostorm” and “The Snowman” — launched abroad in the $9 million range. The former, from Warner Bros., opening in eight smaller asian markets where its top-grossing territories were Taiwan ($1.8 million); Malaysia ($1.3 million); Thailand ($1.2 million); and Hong Kong ($1.2 million). “Geostorm” will open in the U.S. next weekend in addition to 50 more international territories. The latter, from Universal and Working Title, launched in 27 territories. Of those, the U.K. and Ireland earned “The Snowman” $1.9 million and in Norway, it’s looking at $1.4 million.
“Happy Death Day,” which is leading North America, opened in 11 overseas territories to $5 million.
