Weekend Box Office: ‘The Smurfs 2’ Does Strong Business Overseas
The weekend box office may have belonged to 2 Guns in the US, but The Smurfs 2 is proving to be quite popular with moviegoers overseas.
Director Raja Gosnell’s follow-up to his 2011 family flick failed to strike a chord with folks in North America. However, it appears to have found an audience in several foreign markets.
Although it only massed $27 million in five days from domestic audiences, the sequel generated an extremely healthy $52 million in other territories. This seems to be in keeping with the franchise’s track record; the first installment also proved much more popular overseas.
When all was said and done, Gosnell’s first Smurfs movie wracked up a deeply impressed $420 million from foreign markets. Moviegoers in the US only shelled out around $142.6 million during its theatrical run. That total isn’t too shabby, but it pales in comparison to ticket sales elsewhere.
Weekend box office analysts may keep their eyes locked on how well movies do in North America, but Hollywood sees the power of the foreign box office. Sony’s Rory Bruer seems to understand this better than anyone at the moment.
“They have a very basic and simple appeal, particularly for the little ones, and it seems that in many of these countries, moviegoers have sort of adopted them as their own. The foreign number put up by the original was stunning, and this one is on that same track,” he told The Wrap.
Other studios also understand the power foreign audiences have over their franchises. The folks at Warner Bros. and Legendary Pictures waited to see how well Guillermo del Toro’s Pacific Rim performed in China before discussing the possibility of a sequel.
Since Gosnell’s latest adaptation of the 80s cartoon series is off and running overseas, chances are Sony and Columbia Pictures will continue moving forward with The Smurfs 3. The flick is expected to bow in theaters at some point during 2015.
Do you keep a close eye on the weekend box office? Are you surprised that The Smurfs 2 performed better overseas than it did in the US?
[Image via Sony Pictures / Columbia Pictures]
