Welcome back to my biweekly series chronicling the highlights of the international box office. For an additional explanation about the data, see the original post. Without further ado, let's get to it!

Major Territories:

Australia: The Avengers just barely held off a little yellow rat from the top spot, as Avengers: Endgame grossed $3,836,402 from 686 (presumably screens) over its third weekend. That steep 60% drop-off actually put it below Avengers: Infinity War’s $4,005,834 third frame, but it doesn’t matter at this point. Endgame’s total to date, at $52,067,559, is already comfortably ahead of Infinity War’s lifetime total, which makes it the fourth highest grossing movie ever in Australia, behind only Avatar, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, and The Avengers, in that order. Third place is well within reach, though Endgame simply doesn’t have enough momentum to climb any higher than that.

Pokémon Detective Pikachu was right behind in second, with a $3,514,851 debut from 412 theaters. It was a bit tricky to find appropriate comparisons for Detective Pikachu, so I’ll explain. I ultimately opted to settle for the following three movies: Ready Player One, another WB tentpole steeped in video game nostalgia, released in the Northern Hemisphere spring, and with a futuristic urban setting; Shazam!, also a spring-released WB tentpole, which likewise aimed to hook both families and non-family audiences, and opened very similarly worldwide; and The Angry Birds Movie, also a family-oriented adaptation of a blockbuster video game series that opened in mid-May in most of the world. Those movies respectively opened with $3,023,232, $3,167,301, and $1,912,886 in Australia.

There were a few more movies than just those two in play, albeit less notably. The Hustle rounded out the top three with a $1,550,020 opening at 260 theaters. That was marginally ahead of Life of the Party’s $1,504,750 at 297 theaters over the same weekend last year; Australia tends to be the strongest market for straight Hollywood comedies, though unlike Life of the Party, The Hustle’s Australian opening wasn’t its largest debut. There was another big gap between it and the fourth placed movie, Top End Wedding. An odd duck, the Australian romcom without Hollywood production involvement declined a modest 22% to gross $606,657 at 288 theaters over its second weekend, for a total of $2,099,088 to date. That was marginally ahead of fellow purebred Australian production, surfing drama Breath’s $1,821,599 through the same point as of the same weekend last year. However, that should be considered a bit of a miss for the Universal-distributed movie, considering its director Wayne Blair’s The Sapphires made $14,731,504 back in 2012. Poms rounded out the top five with a mere $551,309 debut at 298 theaters, versus Book Club’s $932,646 start at 269 theaters.

Brazil: Endgame was the game for a third consecutive weekend, grossing a whopping $8,749,062, representing a modest 45% decline, for a total of $72,534,333 to date. That was enough to beat Infinity War’s $66,684,469 final total after a stronger hold. It also officially makes Endgame the highest-grossing movie of all time in Brazil, besting Titanic despite the Brazilian real’s collapse against the dollar. Against Endgame’s bluster, Detective Pikachu stumbled out of the gate with just $1,554,876, though supposedly on only 384 screens. That was substantially behind Ready Player One ($2,190,310) despite Brazil’s lack of fondness for futuristic sci-fi, and even further behind Angry Birds ($2,697,896), let alone Shazam! ($4,721,722). Pet Sematary rounded out the top three with a $849,322 debut on 368 screens, spooking marginally more patrons out of the gate than both Us and The Curse of La Llorona. Internationally as a whole, though, it’s the least of this year’s three big spring horror movies, thanks to consistently middling results everywhere, lacking the pockets of strength the other two have.

France: Amidst significant top-three strength, Endgame holding the top spot comes as a mild surprise. The culmination of the MCU’s story to date continued thriving on its own terms, making another $6,410,037 in its third weekend. That was better than Infinity War over the same frame, aided by a local public holiday on Wednesday, Victory in Europe Day. On top of that, Endgame’s total to date, at $52,317,721, has officially bested Infinity War’s $47,689,983 final total, though it’s nowhere near the top of the all-time chart. Aided greatly by the holiday occasion, Detective Pikachu wasn’t far behind, defying pleasant weather to record a $5,418,922 debut at 467 theaters. That was within the ballpark of Ready Player One’s $5,484,062, while besting Shazam! and Angry Birds combined.

Early reports were confused about which local comedy rounded out the top three. As it turned out, the easy winner was We’ll Be Together, the long-delayed sequel to 2010 smash Little White Lies. It rounded out the terrific trio with a second weekend gross of $4,728,668 at 757 theaters, for a total of $14,901,091 to date. That’s well behind the original’s $21,775,309 through the same point, but it will at least wind up with better retention than recent belated local comedy sequel Tanguy is Back. Universal steered the other notable local comedy in play, swimming team coach story The Shiny Shrimps, to a distant fourth-place $1,589,004 debut at 388 theaters. Hellboy rounded out the top five with a mere $1,078,112 opening at 410 theaters, just as poor in France as it was elsewhere.

Germany: There’s only so many different ways I can salute Endgame’s incredible box office accomplishments. Here’s one: in Germany, not traditionally known for embracing superhero fare, it has a realistic shot at finishing in the all-time top 20, in terms of dollars. Infinity War’s previous superhero record gross barely wound up in the top 50. Over its third weekend, Endgame defied pleasant weather and a Pokémon influx to threepeat in the top spot, falling 52% to gross $5,433,163, for a total of $54,313,636 to date – comfortably besting Infinity War’s $45,398,141 final total. Detective Pikachu, though, fared well in its own right. Its $4,051,631 weekend debut beat both Angry Birds and Ready Player One by over 50%, while more-than-doubling Shazam!. Finally, The Hustle rounded out the top three by opening to $1,516,633 at 467 theaters.

Italy: Oddly, Box Office Mojo (which messed up the Italian weekend grosses) and The Numbers list different total figures for every movie, all slightly higher on the former than the latter. Given these mistakes and discrepancies, I can’t properly discern exactly how much Detective Pikachu’s first place opening was in dollars. BOM’s reported total to date is $2,881,599 on 375 screens, which is easily ahead of Shazam!, Ready Player One, and Angry Birds. The Pokémon attack knocked Endgame from its top spot, as it suffered a steep 65% drop to make $1,514,343 in its third weekend (according to The Numbers). Still, Endgame’s total to date approached $32 million at the weekend’s end, or well ahead of Infinity War’s $22,837,545 final total. The remaining movies in play all made well under $1 million over the weekend, including domestic Netflix title Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile and Pet Sematary in their respective debuts.

Japan: Golden Week this year was one to remember for Japanese exhibitors, and so it followed that the holdovers would suffer precipitous declines (by market standards) over the first weekend after its end. Endgame solidified its remarkable run by returning to first place (in gross terms) with a 40% decline to make $2,874,304 in its third weekend. Its gross as of last weekend had already surpassed Infinity War’s $33,881,648 final Japanese total, and its total to date has edged up to $42,786,826. Below that were Toho’s four Golden Week releases, all of which hit to greater or lesser extents. Detective Pikachu surprised Japanese audiences by not being a mere cash-in, causing strong word of mouth to carry it to the top spot in terms of admissions, and a very close second in gross terms. Its second weekend gross was $2,838,742, for a mere 31% decline, and a total of $13,327,837 to date. If these strong holds continue, and the early read on its third weekend suggests they will, it should be able to best Godzilla ($29,930,046) to become the highest-grossing Hollywood adaptation of a Japanese brand.

The highest-placing Japanese movie on the charts was live action manga adaptation Kingdom, about a boy who wants to become the foremost general of the Qin empire. With $36,666,675 to date after a $2,308,426 fourth weekend gross, it’s running on the very high end of live action manga adaptations. Despite a steep 57% decline from first to fourth, Detective Conan: The Fist of Blue Sapphire is still the big Golden Week winner overall. With a $2,269,420 fifth frame, its total has reached $72,315,022 to date, well ahead of its predecessor, which holds the franchise record, through the same point. Finally, at $15,985,272 to date, the latest installment of the family-targeted anime adaptation series Crayon shin-chan has exceeded the previous movie’s final gross.

Mexico: Endgame threepeated in first with another $4,297,244, representing a 60% decline – better than Infinity War’s third weekend gross and hold. The climatic MCU team-up has now reached an incredible, if unsurprising, milestone: with $69,640,223 to date, it’s the highest-grossing movie of all time in Mexico. Detective Pikachu opened in a close second, with a weekend debut of $4,088,235. That’s well ahead of both Angry Birds and Ready Player One, though quite a bit behind Shazam! A local comedy, Sweet Family, rounded out the top three with a healthy $2,428,862 start. Overall, the total weekend gross of $12,327,720 was merely average despite solid depth.

Russia-CIS: Despite missing a whole box office weekend compared to the rest of the world, Endgame has already bested Infinity War’s Russian gross, and it’s about to become the top superhero movie ever in dollars, let alone in rubles. Its $4,414,328 second weekend gross represented a steep 71% drop. It doesn’t matter, though, because Endgame has already reached a $42,501,812 total in just 14 days. That makes it the second highest grossing Hollywood movie of all time in rubles, behind only Avatar, and third overall also behind Russian basketball movie Going Vertical, though its chart standing is much diminished in dollars. Endgame’s offset left Russia shorn of Detective Pikachu this weekend, so The Hustle instead opened in second place with a surprising $2,510,129 over the weekend on 1,014 screens. That was its highest international debut, and about on par with Ocean’s 8.

South Korea: Endgame dominated for the third consecutive weekend, scoring $6,391,128 on 1,702 screens. Its total of $96,465,163 has bested Infinity War for the superhero record, and Avatar’s $111,345,404 non-local record still looks potentially within reach. Two local movies occupied the subsequent spots: crime comedy Miss & Mrs. Cops made $3,790,949 in its debut on 973 screens, while comedy-drama Inseparable Bros grossed $1,863,143, for a $8,833,004 total through its second weekend. Meanwhile, Detective Pikachu floundered in fourth with just $1,704,608 on 817 screens over the weekend. That was well behind Shazam!, though about on par with Angry Birds.

Spain: Detective Pikachu and Endgame, the same duo that characterized the box office charts in most of the rest of the world, comprised the two movies prominently in play in Spain. Pikachu trumped its competition with a debut that The Numbers called at $2,181,649 at 328 theaters, in lieu of Box Office Mojo data. That was a bit ahead of Shazam! and Angry Birds, though behind Ready Player One. Courtesy of Disney, Box Office Mojo reported a moderate 52% fall for Endgame in its third weekend, for a $1,986,602 gross. Its $28,609,379 total to date, in line with the running theme, has trumped Infinity War’s $24,809,385 final total.

Selected Non-Major Territory Highlights:

Endgame’s smashing pace inevitably continued in most of the world. However, Detective Pikachu managed to dethrone it in The Netherlands with a great $1,262,049 opening on 117 screens. That’s easily ahead of Shazam!, Ready Player One, and Angry Birds, and a surprisingly strong debut considering the cinema-unfriendly weather and the end of spring school holidays. Endgame has rapidly lost its pace there, and it won’t climb into the all-time top 10 by the end of its run, despite easily setting the opening weekend record.

Focus On: Ukraine: I opted for Ukraine as my focus market of choice this time, due to it being the one territory topped by neither Endgame nor Detective Pikachu. In fact, Endgame fell all the way to the third spot, lower than anywhere else in the world. Yet it’s already by far the market’s top grosser in hryvnias, though it only ranks second in dollars.

Local Currency Top 10:

1. 142,079,833 Avengers: Endgame
2. 108,746,751 Aquaman
3. 103,020,825 Avengers: Infinity War
4. 100,522,337 Venom
5. 96,537,726 Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales
6. 95,976,118 Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle
7. 87,678,431 Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald
8. 82,035,027 Captain Marvel
9. 75,756,213 The Secret Life of Pets
10. 75,025,489 Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation

Here is the list in US dollars for comparison. Of note here is that Avatar, despite being the highest-grossing movie of all time, isn’t in the top ten in terms of local currency. In terms of overall trends, Ukraine is somewhat of a microcosm of the international box office in general, though obviously not exactly identical in terms of the specifics. Ukraine’s dominant box office trends and individual fluctuations alike, such as fantasy fare and comedic Hollywood animation thriving, are largely shared with Russia. That includes Russian blockbusters frequently seeing success in their Ukrainian releases, while local movies are limited to just a few successes per year. Like in Russia, holdovers tend to hold poorly, with 50% drops common. Finally, huge overall market growth has largely been obscured by the collapse of the Ukrainian Hryvnia’s value against the dollar – a similar, though more marked, story to Russia.

As for the weekend at hand, the top grosser was, of all things, The Hustle. Helped by the Victory day over Nazism in World War II public holiday on May 9, the comedy hustled to a $733,624 opening on 308 screens. Ocean’s 8 made $424,638 over its proper weekend opening back in June 2018, for a $922,915 overall opening. Despite the holiday boost and Ukraine’s generally frontloaded trends, that movie’s $1,572,737 total looks within reach of The Hustle. However, Detective Pikachu was nipping on the glamorous ladies’ heels with a $722,056 start on 393 screens. That was a bit ahead of Shazam!, Ready Player One, and Angry Birds. Unlike in Russia, Endgame released over the same weekend as everywhere else, and combined with the holiday, that cleared the way for WB to release Pikachu two weeks afterwards. Knocked all the way to third in its third weekend, the Marvelous heroes nonetheless continued their record-breaking run with a 49% drop to $462,178 on 354 screens, for a total of $5,424,965 to date. Avatar’s record in dollars is out of reach, but Endgame has already more than doubled its local currency gross.

As always, I look forward to any feedback or other comments anyone might have!