“Nosferatu,” a gothic horror remake inspired by Bram Stoker’s “Dracula,” sunk its teeth into $100 million at the global box office.
What’s impressive is the film, from Focus Features and director Robert Eggers, surpassed the milestone after 10 days of release. Very few arthouse movies have crossed that benchmark at all in post-pandemic times.
“Nosferatu,” starring Bill Skarsgård as Count Orlok, along with Lily-Rose Depp and Nicholas Hoult, brought in $26.8 million over the weekend from 6,317 screens in 61 markets at the international box office. The R-rated movie has collected an additional $69.4 million domestically since Christmas Day for a grand total of $100.3 million to date. It cost $50 million, a hefty price tag for an indie, but appears to have the staying power needed to get out into the black.
Also swimming toward a box office achievement is Disney’s “Moana 2,” with $960.5 million in the bank and $1 billion on the horizon. The animated sequel, which was developed for streaming before pivoting to cinemas, generated $26 million from 52 territories in its sixth weekend of release and $535 million internationally to date. At this pace, “Moana 2” will eventually be Disney’s third 2024 release to join the billion-dollar club following “Inside Out 2” and “Deadpool & Wolverine.”
Disney is dominating at the box office as “Mufasa: The Lion King” again reigned supreme on weekend charts. The prequel about the future leader of Pride Lands has added another $53.5 million from 52 overseas markets, bringing its international total to $307 million. “Mufasa” has grossed $476.4 million to date and will imminently cross the $500 million mark. The film carries a huge price tag above $200 million, so Disney needs “Mufasa” to stick around through the new year to justify its cost.
Paramount’s “Sonic the Hedgehog 3” wasn’t far behind “Mufasa” with $51.2 million from 61 international markets. The third installment about the fuzzy blue speedster has amassed $148 million abroad and $336 million so far. After this weekend’s performance, the “Sonic” franchise has collectively surpassed $1 billion in total box office receipts worldwide across three films. A fourth entry is in development.
Elsewhere, Universal’s “Wicked” adaptation added $10.8 million from 81 international markets over the weekend, boosting its tally to $230.5 million overseas and $681 million worldwide. “Wicked” recently overtook 2008’s “Mamma Mia” ($611 million) to officially stand as the highest-grossing Broadway adaptation in global box office history. Universal needs to sustain interest in all things pink and green since the second half of the big-budget musical, “Wicked: For Good,” opens in November.
