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: Aladdin started upright down under with $5,259,368 at 578 (likely screens). That was ahead of both Maleficent and The Jungle Book, though inevitably far behind Beauty and the Beast, as with most of its international starts in general. John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum was a fairly distant second, with a nonetheless impressive 31% decline to $1,965,283 at 258 theaters. John Wick: Chapter 2 opened in May 2017, months after most of the world, in Australia, so John Wick 3’s opening alone almost matched its predecessor’s total. Pokémon Detective Pikachu took the bronze medal, but was affected by Aladdin, declining 48% to make $1,187,747 at 288 theaters in its third weekend. Its total of $8,105,562 to date is running behind Shazam! ($10,355,839 through the same point), thanks to its lack of school holidays in comparison. Avengers: Endgame was the final notable holdover; with $55,990,729 to date after a fourth-place $1,057,898 fifth weekend gross, it has officially overtaken The Avengers in US dollars.

Brazil: Aladdin did alright with a $4,680,838 start on 1,219 screens. That was almost double The Jungle Book, but still far behind Maleficent. Avengers: Endgame rounded out an all-Disney leading duo, adding further dough onto its already record-breaking cume with $1,825,639 on 951 screens in its fifth weekend. John Wick 3 finished the top three over its second weekend, making $790,519 on 525 screens; at $2,636,578 to date, its total has exceeded John Wick 2’s finish. Last and least, Detective Pikachu is a sad rodent, with just $3,997,948 to date after a steep third weekend decline, still failing to match Shazam’s opening alone.

France: Disney is usually a strong brand in France. Impeded by generally cinema-unfriendly European weather among other factors, however, Aladdin wasn’t. Its $3,587,004 debut was less than half of The Jungle Book, though not quite as far behind Maleficent. The original Aladdin bested Jurassic Park for the second highest admissions total of 1993, its year of release in most of the world outside North America. In contrast, the live-action remake may ultimately fall short of 2019’s top 20. In second, John Wick 3 counterprogrammed to success; its $2,055,803 start at 329 theaters almost matched its predecessor’s finish. Miscellaneous holdovers followed with steep drops, led by Detective Pikachu (third with $1,212,740), then We’ll Be Together (fifth with $1,061,405), and finally Avengers: Endgame (sixth with $1,029,449). They are all lagging behind some very rosy comparisons, and yet each movie has found success in its own right.

The other major event at the French box office was a Cannes showdown between Pain & Glory, Pedro Almodóvar’s autobiographical latest, and The Dead Don’t Die, a droll, starry zombie comedy from Jim Jarmusch. After their comparable openings over the frame ending May 19, the two movies trended in totally different directions last weekend. The former was the one highlight among holdovers, slipping just 9% to a fourth-place $1,139,537 at 432 theaters, and at $2,869,458 to date, France could best Spain as its highest-grossing territory – which wouldn’t be unusual for Almodóvar. The latter fared much worse, collapsing 65% to tenth place and just $445,399 at 291 theaters, for a total of $1,943,463 to date – already far lower than Pain & Glory despite its higher-grossing opening. Overall, though, they both served as a sideshow against weekend box office that was among the weakest of the year to date.

Germany: John Wick 3 blazed Aladdin over their respective opening frames in a seemingly surprising upset. However, Germany was already one of the second John Wick’s strongest territories, and German audiences have generally been blasé towards previous Disney live-action remakes. Still, Wick shot further than his predecessor with a $3,549,085 start at 547 theaters, whereas Aladdin fell short of both Maleficent and The Jungle Book, with $3,114,411 over the weekend. Among holdovers, both Endgame and Detective Pikachu continued excelling past their comparisons with near-identical respective weekends of $1,334,863 (Endgame’s fifth) and $1,322,554 (Pikachu’s third).

India: Aladdin was alight over the weekend with a $3,016,779 debut, crushing Beauty and the Beast. Among other news, while its $1,166,597 gross to date is modest, John Wick 3 already bested its predecessor’s total on opening. Finally, Avengers: Endgame has reached a high-tier Bollywood gross of $61,124,215 to date, easily besting all previous Hollywood comers in the process.

Italy: Italy always delivers for proper Disney fare (even The Nutcracker and the Four Realms succeeded there), and it was no different for Aladdin. Prince Ali trumped over all with a massive $6,319,712 debut on 908 screens, besting Maleficent and almost doubling The Jungle Book in the process. In second was another opening, as well-received local crime drama The Traitor’s $1,619,560 opening on 381 screens made two successful starts in one weekend. Holdovers also delivered riches over the highest-grossing May weekend since 2014. Pain & Glory declined a mere 35% to a third-place $796,952 on 469 screens in its second weekend, for a total of $2,390,697 to date, leaving it within spitting distance of Julieta’s Italian total. John Wick 3, on the other hand, felt the usual Italian holdover burn with a 58% descent to fourth and a $725,474 gross on 352 screens; still, its $2,904,466 total to date is about 50% over its predecessor’s lifetime total.

Japan: In the absence of an Aladdin to dominate, strong depth and a solid mix of local and Hollywood fare characterized the Japanese market. Local TV series adaptation The Confidence Man JP repeated in the top spot with $3,211,057 in its second weekend; its 8% drop was strong even by Japanese standards. Another homegrown success, Aircraft Carrier Ibuki, opened in second with a $2,252,785 debut over the proper weekend, exceptional by indie distributor standards. A mix of successful holdovers Detective Pikachu (in third), Kingdom (in fifth), Avengers: Endgame (in sixth), and Detective Conan: The Fist of Blue Sapphire (in seventh) rubbed shoulders with the latest installment of the Sadako / Grudge franchise’s opening (in fourth) further down the charts; each movie made over $1 million in just two days.

Mexico: Aladdin’s lamp shined brightly with an $8,913,265 opening to dominate the charts. That was about 40% short of Maleficent in dollars, yet it barely fell short in pesos. In a very distant second place, John Wick 3 nonetheless had a great hold, declining just 36% to $1,235,146 on 1,198 screens in its second weekend. Its $4,567,311 total to date is more than double its predecessor’s lifetime total. In third and fourth respectively, Detective Pikachu and Avengers: Endgame were each thwacked by the tough general audience competition from Aladdin, both declining about 60% to make less than $1 million in their respective third and fifth weekends.

Russia-CIS: Aladdin had a solid but not quite splendid $6,508,425 weekend debut, trailing The Jungle Book in a nonetheless easy first place. In second, The Secret Life of Pets 2 grossed a total of $3,474,368 from previews on 1,446 screens ahead of its official opening; that was a bit ahead of the first movie’s preview total from far fewer screens. The dueling holdovers Detective Pikachu and John Wick 3 were a respective third and fourth after steep 60% drops to $1,495,045 on 1,763 screens and $1,301,510 on 1,650 screens, respectively, in their joint second weekends. The former is trailing Shazam through the same point, while the latter has barely beaten its predecessor’s lifetime total.

South Korea: Aladdin capitalized on excellent word of mouth in a musical-friendly country to deliver a surprise backloaded triumph over a solid local title, with a $6,046,833 weekend debut on 1,311 screens – besting The Jungle Book and almost doubling Maleficent in the process. The aforementioned local movie, crime actioner The Gangster, the Cop, the Devil, was right on the Arabian thief’s tail, making $5,601,652 on 1,132 screens in its second weekend, for a good 34% hold and a total of $20,435,465 to date. Endgame rounded out the top three with a 59% drop to $1,268,300 on 615 screens in its fifth and final weekend of wide play; its $104,015,033 total is good for fifth all-time, and second after Avatar for a Hollywood movie.

Spain: Aladdin was the sole Spanish box office highlight; its $4,908,445 debut was about 20% ahead of Maleficent and The Jungle Book, and also around 20% behind Beauty and the Beast. Holdovers and minor openers each made less than $1 million, with steep drop-offs.

Selected Non-Major Territory Highlights:

Aladdin showed his power in typically action-loving markets Indonesia and the Philippines, as its total debuts in each (respectively $5,766,464 and $4,076,975) remarkably bested its starts in France and Germany, both far larger markets. Aladdin also easily bested Beauty and the Beast in Indonesia, and it fell just short of Maleficent in the Philippines. Completely on the opposite side of the spectrum, however, was its pathetic $207,992 second place start on 320 screens in exchange rate-battered Turkey, which has only about 18% fewer people than the Philippines.

Focus On: Slovenia: Slovenia is among the smallest international territories in terms of box office. That partially explains why The Hustle was tops for a second straight weekend over the frame ending May 26; Slovenia has been the only (fully tracked) territory where it managed that feat so far, and that unusual chart-topper is responsible for my choice.

For basic context about the tastes of Slovenian moviegoers, here’s the 10 highest-grossing movies in Slovenia:

1. $1,825,003 Avatar
2. $1,460,506 Titanic
3. $1,372,209 The Smurfs
4. $1,268,299 Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs
5. $1,236,133 Bohemian Rhapsody
6. $1,154,075 Pr’ Hostar [local comedy]
7. $1,090,147 Ice Age: Continental Drift
8. $891,891 Minions
9. $845,583 Fifty Shades of Grey
10. $788,493 Mamma Mia!

I suspect Slovenia is a leading candidate for worst all-time top 10, according to the opinions of r/boxoffice users. Anyways, this chart isn’t all that dissimilar in composition to parts of Western Europe. The key difference is that Slovenia is a rather new market, barely existing for box office purposes 25 years ago; like much of Eastern Europe, it’s generally grown slowly but steadily since the fall of the Iron Curtain. That explains why there’s only one movie before 2009 on its top 10 chart.

Additionally, Slovenia is one of the weakest of all territories, both in relative and absolute terms, for the type of blockbuster fare that Hollywood tends to prioritize. Along with the idiosyncrasies of being a very small market (entire weekends totaling under $100,000 aren’t all that uncommon, especially in the summer), Slovenia’s aging, female-skewed population (average age of 42.8 years and 0.95 males per female) also contributes to its moviegoers’ preeminent tastes. Finally, in common with much of Europe, Slovenia is a very weather-dependent market, which tends to have strong holds as long as the weather is unfavorable for outdoor pursuits.

Unfortunately for Slovenian exhibitors, the weather did not cooperate over the weekend ending May 26. The Hustle narrowly topped the weekend box office despite a 52% drop to $25,450 on 11 screens. That caused it to fall behind the pace of Ocean’s 8 through the same point. Aladdin was a slight second in its opening with just $20,789 on 28 screens. That was about on par with Maleficent’s start on far fewer screens, though easily ahead of The Jungle Book. John Wick 3 rounded out the top three with a healthy 42% dip to $20,164 on 18 screens in its second weekend. Its total to date is now ahead of its predecessor’s lifetime total. Among other holdovers, Detective Pikachu has suffered for its brand’s evident failure in Slovenian establishment; its $50,826 in ten days is behind Ready Player One through the same point, and just a fraction of what Angry Birds had grossed in ten days. Finally, Avengers: Endgame has already bested all its MCU predecessors and could finish as the highest-grossing movie of 2019; with a $593,940 total to date, it currently holds that title.

I know this isn’t as detailed as usual; my focus here was admittedly on simply getting this out after falling behind in its preparation. As always, I look forward to any other feedback or miscellaneous comments anyone might have!