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 threepeated with a great hold, declining just 17% to find $3,321,190 at 479 theaters. Its $15,337,885 total to date just about matches Maleficent’s lifetime total, while adding up to 82% of what The Jungle Book had grossed through the same point. However, with a staggered release and the end of holidays, the latter had grossed 82% of its final total through the end of its third weekend, leaving Aladdin potentially within range of its $22,694,801 finish. In second, Rocketman also held well, declining 24% to record $2,388,815, reportedly at 521 cinema locations. However, that was still a worse drop than A Star is Born’s second weekend, and Rocketman’s $7,353,985 to date is only 73% of what that movie had made through the same point.

Actioners occupied the remainder of the top five, starting with the bomb of the weekend, Dark Phoenix. It crashed to a truly pathetic third-place $1,894,425 start at 441 theaters, or just 41% of X-Men Apocalypse. That means its entire run may gross less than Apocalypse’s opening alone. Godzilla: King of the Monsters was well behind in fourth, plunging 50% to make a mere $925,807 at 279 theaters in its second weekend. Its $3,240,013 total to date is behind Kong: Skull Island’s opening alone, along with just 51% of Godzilla’s start. John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum rounded out the top five with a modest 29% decline. Its $796,452 fourth weekend gross at 257 theaters was ahead of John Wick: Chapter 2’s second weekend.

Brazil: Dark Phoenix may have topped the weekend chart in a superhero-happy country, but that doesn’t mean it opened well. In fact, its $2,764,000 start on 479 screens was a mere 44% of Apocalypse’s debut back in 2016. Aladdin was not far behind in its third weekend, dropping 36% to make $2,543,434 on 596 screens. Its $13,809,379 total to date has already exceeded The Jungle Book’s lifetime total.

Far behind those two was a series of tiring holdovers, interspersed with a couple of lackluster starts. Rocketman cooled 39% to record a third-place $690,422 gross on 324 screens in its second weekend; its $2,139,295 total to date is well behind A Star is Born. However, that was far better than the other second weekend holdover, Godzilla 2, which plunged an eye-popping 70% to sixth place with a $350,976 second weekend gross; its $1,906,033 total to date is barely half of Skull Island’s opening weekend, and worse still compared to Godzilla. Among the debuts, a 44-minute TV spinoff crushed an unnecessary sequel in a clash of canine-centered cinema. Paw Patrol Mighty Pups: The Movie made $626,566 from 340 screens, while A Dog’s Journey drastically underperformed compared to both its predecessor and A Dog’s Way Home with $299,102 on 304 screens.

China: Propelled by solid word of mouth (8.8 Maoyan score), unlike its main competitors, local drama My Best Summer topped the daily box office over the weekdays ahead of the release of Men in Black International. It had started out in fourth during the Dragon Boat Festival, rising to third over the full weekend (beating local action/crime sequel Chasing the Dragon 2: Wild Wild Bunch, $21,550,349 to $20,381,690, in the process). Dark Phoenix won the weekend, but its $44,360,676 four-day total was still quite a bit behind X-Men: Apocalypse ($59,587,048 in three days) despite the holidays. Godzilla: King of the Monsters followed in second with $23,552,708, for a 64% drop-off, and a total of $110,725,491 to date. Also of note: the latest Doraemon movie is well behind its predecessor, thanks to the much greater competition for general audiences. Overall, the $111,009,116 top ten weekend gross was behind the $133,734,511 of the Dragon Boat Festival weekend last year, which was dominated by Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom.

France: Dark Phoenix had one of its healthier debuts here, with a first-place sum of $4,235,000, which was nonetheless only 68% of Apocalypse. In second, Aladdin declined 35%, making $2,428,689 in its third weekend, for a total collection of $11,024,374 to date. That was marginally ahead of Maleficent through the same point, but barely half of The Jungle Book through the same point. Aladdin’s French run hasn’t been as magical as elsewhere, considering the original animated movie’s phenomenal success, but Disney’s not going to be shedding very many tears over one country.

South Korea’s first Palme d’Or winner, Parasite, sizzled in a close third with a whopping $2,060,470 debut from just 179 theaters. That was 84% ahead of Japanese movie Shoplifters, last year’s Palme d’Or winner. King of the Monsters slipped 55% to a Box Office Mojo-reported fourth in its second weekend, making a mere $1,055,077 at 549 theaters, for a total of $3,837,360 to date. Following the running theme, that was behind Skull Island’s opening alone, and even further behind Godzilla’s opening. Finally, Rocketman’s $3,698,680 twelve-day running total is behind A Star is Born’s $4,591,990 through the same point.

Germany: Aladdin pulled off the threepeat in Germany, as in much of the world. Its $2,070,682 third weekend gross represented a decent 32% drop; however, its $10,187,238 total to date is 77% of The Jungle Book and 97% of the World Cup-impeded Maleficent through the same point. Dark Phoenix couldn’t put up much of a fight with a mere $1,724,000 second-place debut, below John Wick 3’s second weekend and just 57% of Apocalypse. Speaking of Wick, the threequel rounded out the top three with a third weekend gross of $1,314,918 from 601 theaters, for a total of $8,426,672 to date. The major second weekend holdovers, Rocketman and Godzilla 2 were just as lackluster in Germany as elsewhere, ranking a respective fourth and fifth over the weekend with grosses of $912,152 (for a 28% drop) and $880,447 (for a 48% fall). Like much of the world, the former ($2,758,598 to date) is behind A Star is Born through the same point, while the latter ($3,180,953 to date) has yet to reach the openings of Skull Island or the first Godzilla.

India: Bollywood megastar Salman Khan’s latest movie, Bharat, dominated the Eid al-Fitr holiday with an estimated worldwide gross of $38 million to date. Dark Phoenix braved the competition with lackluster results, as its $2,273,000 debut was just 66% of Apocalypse.

Italy: The Secret Life of Pets 2 didn’t have to do much to win a weekend slowed badly by the start of summer, which is consistently Italy’s weakest period for box office. Indeed, its puny $1,172,082 start on 632 screens was 23%(!) of the original movie, which opened during the more profitable fall season in 2016. In a very close second, Aladdin crashed 65% after two strong weekends, grossing $1,135,917 on 557 screens in its third frame; its total of $14,794,724 has slipped behind Maleficent through the same point. Dark Phoenix rounded out the not-so-terrific trio with a $1,034,700 rise on 467 screens, or 51% of Apocalypse’s opening. Meanwhile, Godzilla 2 and Rocketman were less than highlight-worthy in their respective second weekends; the latter in particular is already out of the top five, and it has made less to date than A Star is Born opened with.

Japan: Aladdin granted Disney executives’ wishes with a $10,374,556 two-day debut, besting even Beauty and the Beast. Without major holidays to leverage, however, it’s unlikely to match that movie’s $110,790,534 total. Against that competition, Godzilla: King of the Monsters fell a somewhat steep 45% to $3,436,495 in its second weekend. Nonetheless, its $16,284,295 total to date is 7% ahead of the first Godzilla through the same point. Leggy local hit The Confidence Man JP rounded out the top three with another good hold, down 29% to $1,908,474 in its fourth weekend for an impressive $20,435,818 total to date.

Mexico: In a superhero-loving country, Dark Phoenix managed to open in first place with $4,777,000. That was 68% of Apocalypse, one of Dark Phoenix’s best holds in major territories. However, Aladdin wasn’t all that far behind in its third weekend, with a $3,574,172 gross, for a reasonable 41% decline. In pesos (but not dollars thanks to the exchange rate situation), in fact, that was one of the five best third weekends ever, and it allowed for a $25,634,345 total to date in dollars, besting The Jungle Book’s finish in the process. Godzilla 2 was much more woeful in its second weekend, collapsing 67% to gross $1,518,827; its $7,798,006 total through ten days is barely ahead of the original’s opening weekend. Finally, Solteras, a local comedy about a woman seeking a husband, opened to $1,141,669 in fourth place.

Russia-CIS: Dark Phoenix just barely flew high enough to top the weekend box office, with an opening of $3,398,000, which was a mere 54% of Apocalypse. The Secret Life of Pets 2 was barely behind in its second weekend, discovering another $3,106,434 from 1,798 screens, for a 57% drop. Its $17,230,443 total to date is 71% of what the first movie had made through the same point after a similar rollout. Aladdin fell 50% in its third weekend to round out the top three; its $1,813,591 weekend sum was marginally behind The Jungle Book, while its $15,355,225 total to date also trails that movie through the same point. Meanwhile, Godzilla 2 was clobbered by the competition, plunging 74% to a pathetic $617,566 second weekend gross on 1,725 screens; its $3,820,479 total to date trails Skull Island’s opening weekend.

South Korea: Parasite trumped the competition, yet it seems to have mixed word of mouth, characterized by a 41% drop to $12,385,379 on 1,578 screens over the three-day frame, for a total of $51,002,490 after just two weekends. In second was Aladdin with a stellar 54% increase to make $8,184,401 in its third weekend, for a $27,937,429 total to date. I can now say I was wrong to attribute its increase to South Korea’s Memorial Day alone, as that holiday occurred on June 6, and yet Aladdin pulled it off over the three-day weekend of June 7-9. With continued stellar word of mouth and a fairly quiet schedule until Spider-Man: Far from Home, $50 million looks like its floor. Dark Phoenix was the other major movie in play; however, its pallid $5,551,000 third place total debut added up to just 49% of Apocalypse despite Memorial Day on Thursday. Meanwhile, the less said about Rocketman (in its opening) and Godzilla 2 (in its second weekend), the better.

Spain: Aladdin threepeated all too easily, slipping just 18% to find a third weekend gross of $2,477,327 at 352 theaters. Its $16,674,815 total to date has very nearly exceeded Maleficent’s entire run, and it will also soon surpass The Jungle Book. In second, Dark Phoenix went up in flames with a mere $1,328,000 debut, for 71% of Apocalypse. The remainder of the top five was comprised of slow showings by Ma (in its debut), along with Rocketman and John Wick 3 (in their respective second weekends), each of which grossed less than $500,000. However, at least the last of those has already exceeded its predecessor’s mere $1,373,120 total.

Selected Non-Major Territory Highlights:

In both Hong Kong and Taiwan, Dark Phoenix won the battle even as Aladdin won the war. With respective openings of $1,773,000 and $2,226,000, the former was quite a bit behind Apocalypse in both. Meanwhile, the latter defied both countries’ typical fast-burn nature with a marginal increase in Hong Kong ($1,302,131 third weekend, $5,138,843 to date) and a 2% decrease in Taiwan ($1,238,651 third weekend, $5,866,872 to date); both totals are far ahead of The Jungle Book, though nonetheless still behind Beauty and the Beast through the same point.

As for The Netherlands, BOM reported that The Secret Life of Pets 2 declined 34% from previews to its official $576,280 opening weekend on 135 screens, which was no typo. Its $1,989,561 total opening is 73% of its predecessor’s total debut. There, Aladdin continued its winning ways with a 21% decline to $1,148,517 in its third weekend; its $5,395,206 total to date is 156% of Maleficent’s lifetime total, along with 88% of a school holiday-goosed Jungle Book through the same point.

Focus On: New Zealand: Rocketman rocked on here with a pumped-up $489,268 second weekend (a decline of 38% from its opening) on 127 screens; its $1,666,603 total is almost inexplicably ahead of Bohemian Rhapsody through the same point. For my best attempts at surmising why that could be, as well as further explanations about New Zealand’s box office trends, along with the rest of its chart over the weekend ending June 9, read on.

First off, here’s New Zealand’s all-time top 10, in US dollars:

1. $12,587,471 Avatar
2. $9,859,928 Star Wars: The Force Awakens
3. $9,593,480 Avengers: Endgame
4. $8,879,189 The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
5. $8,628,197 Hunt for the Wilderpeople [local, Taika Waititi-directed adventure comedy-drama]
6. $7,990,908 The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
7. $7,599,048 Titanic
8. $7,140,832 The Avengers
9. $7,092,223 Avengers: Infinity War
10. $6,811,784 Shrek 2

The first thing we can see here is how significant big-name local directors are; two of Peter Jackson’s Middle-earth movies reached the all-time top 10, along with Taika Waititi’s biggest home-grown hit. In addition, both directors had movies that just missed the top 10. New Zealand also stands out, like Slovenia, for the outsized influence of older moviegoers on its box office. To give one example, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel is the sixth highest-grossing movie of 2012 in New Zealand. Holds tend to be strong over about two out of every three weekends, and New Zealand’s significant Asian population (over an eighth of its total) means that hit Indian and Chinese films tend to open in surprisingly high positions. Otherwise, New Zealand’s box office trends are essentially a microcosm of Australia’s.

However, Rocketman is noticeably outperforming in New Zealand compared to Australia (and mostly everywhere else); in addition to the factors I mentioned, New Zealand has some of the most liberal policies and societal attitudes regarding LGBT rights in the world, and I would guess Elton John is extremely popular there. Dark Phoenix took the second spot with a $353,446 opening on 98 screens, which was just 46% of X-Men: Apocalypse. Aladdin rounded out the top three over a turbulent weekend for holdovers, declining 41% to find $345,087 on 95 screens in its third frame; its princely $2,335,849 total is already ahead of Maleficent’s entire run. Bharat took the fourth position with a $147,167 opening on 30 screens, well behind last year’s Eid movie Race 3, while Godzilla: King of the Monsters rounded out the top five by plunging 63%, for a second weekend of just $139,911 on 74 screens. Its $660,597 total to date is still behind the openings of both its predecessor and Kong: Skull Island. Overall, the weekend’s $1,858,281 total gross was comfortably ahead of the $1,335,650 total from the same frame last year, which Ocean’s 8 won by default.

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