‘Once Upon a Time in Hollywood’ Takes International Box Office Crown

Variety.com: Sony’s “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” might not have hit No. 1 in North America, but Quentin Tarantino’s latest film is leading the way at the international box office, where it collected $53.7 million from 46 markets.

That marks the best foreign opening of Tarantino’s career, coming in ahead of 2012’s “Django Unchained.” “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” debuted in a handful of international territories, including Russia, Hong Kong and Taiwan, before this weekend’s larger release. In a win for original content, the movie has now earned $66 million overseas and $180.5 million globally. The studio spent $90 million to produce the film.

“Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” had the strongest showing in the United Kingdom with a five-day launch of $8.9 million, followed by France with $6.9 million, Germany with $5.6 million, and Australia with $4.4 million. In Russia, where it bowed two weeks ago, the film has made $13 million. It has yet to launch in Mexico, Japan, Italy or South Korea.

Tarantino’s love letter to hippie Hollywood took down the two-week streak of Universal’s “Hobbs & Shaw” overseas. The “Fast & Furious” spinoff — starring Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham — earned $45.7 million from 67 foreign markets, taking ticket sales to $303 million overseas.

“Hobbs & Shaw” also hit a global milestone this weekend, eclipsing the $400 million mark with box office receipts reaching $437 million worldwide. The movie opened in Korea this weekend with $15 million, marking a franchise record in that territory. Among holdovers, it had solid performances in France ($3.9 million) and Japan ($2.2 million). “Hobbs & Shaw” launches on Aug. 23 in China, where the ode to hulking men and speedy cars is typically a massive draw.

Third place went to Disney’s “The Lion King,” which pulled in $33.8 million from 54 territories, boosting international tallies to a massive $939 million. After five weeks of release, Jon Favreau’s remake of the animated classic has grossed $1.435 billion, passing “Avengers: Age of Ultron” ($1.405 billion) to become the ninth-biggest movie in history.

Among new releases, Sony’s “The Angry Birds Movie 2” made $19.4 million from 29 international markets, taking its overseas haul to $30.2 million. China led the way with $10 million, followed by Russia with $4.1 million.

This weekend, Sony celebrated “Spider-Man: Far From Home” becoming the studio’s biggest movie of all time with $1.109 billion, beating 2012’s “Skyfall” and its $1.108 billion bounty.

Elsewhere, Universal’s “Good Boys” debuted with $2.1 million from 13 territories. The R-rated comedy, starring Jacob Tremblay, Keith L. Williams and Brady Noon, had the best start in the United Kingdom with $1 million. The movie bowed in North America with $21 million for a global start of $23.1 million.