THURSDAY UPDATE, Update for the latest…: Universal’s Fast $32.9 million (including Wednesday previews in an additional 38 markets). The film is #1 in all hubs where it has been shown, including China, France, Germany and Korea.
The main piece so far is China, which has ongoing sales of $25.7 million through Thursday (note that Thursday’s numbers are not included in Wednesday’s $32.9 million total above). As mentioned yesterday (see below), the launch is encouraging given the recent muted sentiment towards Hollywood films in the market. Nearly
In Mexicoand after a local promotional event with 6,000 fans, the Louis Leterrier-directed franchise entry Wednesday grossed an estimated $2.1 million from previews, matching F9’s opening Wednesday and the biggest preview result of the year (55% ahead of Guardians). of the Galaxy Vol. 3).
FranceWith $1.8 million at 813 screens on Wednesday, FX brought in the second-biggest opening day of 2023 behind The Super Mario Bros. Movie. The first day result is in line with Hobbs & Shaw, ahead of Top Gun Maverick (+24%), GOTG3 (+50%) and Ant-Man Quantumania (+75%).
Germany grossed $1.5 million as of opening lunchtime, up 88% on F9.
It’s now $1.4 million. Indonesia gave the Toretto family the biggest opening day ever for a non-superhero movie, the biggest opening day in the franchise, and the biggest opening day ever for a Universal movie.
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PREVIOUS, WEDNESDAY: Universal’s Fast $18.4 million from just these two markets.
The Louis Leterrier-directed franchise segment got off to a good start China, which grossed an estimated $17.4 million today, including $2.7 million from midnight shows. It dominates the market with 84% of the total box office takings and gets a great 9 from viewers on Maoyan. This beats F9’s 7.8.
Wednesday is also the fourth busiest opening day for a studio film in China since the pandemic began, and the other films before that all opened on a Friday rather than a non-holiday Wednesday. This is particularly encouraging as sentiment towards Hollywood movies has been muted in the market lately, to say the least. The score is 84% of Avatar: The Way of Water’s Friday launch and 2.6x the Friday launch of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, which itself recently provided some salve.
Still, the opening day results are below those of other films in the series (which premiered in China on a weekend day and in a different climate). Fast X’s Wednesday was 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.
Though China has been a huge market for the Fast & Furious franchise, given the recent uncertainties here, it remains a tumble. We’ll be watching it closely throughout the weekend.
Korea also opened today with $1M and a 60% market share. That’s 86% of F8, 30% more than F7 and less than F9 and Hobbs & Shaw open on bank holidays. Audience reactions are strong with a CGV Egg score of 94%, which is higher than F9’s 89%.
Large companies such as France and Germany also opened today. We’ll have those numbers tomorrow. In all, Fast X will appear in 84 overseas markets this weekend.
Updates to follow…