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: To no great surprise, Toy Story 4 outdrew The Secret Life of Pets 2 in an animated showdown at the box office Down Under. However, its $5,561,916 debut, reportedly at 586 theaters, was 70% of Incredibles 2, 71% of Finding Dory, and 86% of Toy Story 3. Pets 2 was worse with a measly $1,435,896 at 280 theaters over the proper weekend; including extensive previews, its $4,167,731 total opening was 74% of its predecessor’s total start.

The rest of the top five were close behind. First, Men in Black: International rounded out the top three, but it’s not exactly beaming in lots of green with a 51% drop to just $1,313,223 at 396 theaters in its second weekend. Its $4,618,546 total to date is 95% of Men in Black 3’s opening. Aladdin was affected somewhat by the tough competition, receding 45% to record $1,124,559 at 275 theaters, for a fifth straight weekend over $1 million. Its $20,239,708 total to date is ahead of The Jungle Book through the same point, as well as besting Maleficent’s total weeks ago. Rocketman concluded the top five with a 32% dip to $1,038,208 at 314 theaters; its $11,349,820 total to date is 35% behind A Star is Born through the same point.

The other notable debut was Child’s Play, ranking a mere sixth with $558,493 at 221 theaters, which was 7% ahead of Brightburn’s opening in a country that typically doesn’t take to horror. The weekend’s total gross was $12,736,325 – down 20% from the equivalent frame last year, which was powered by the one-two punch of Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom’s opening and Incredibles 2’s continued strength in its second salvo.

Brazil: With a spectacular $9,341,080 first-place debut on 1,199 screens, Toy Story 4 notched the #1 animated debut in dollars, let alone local currency. That opening was 26% ahead of Finding Dory, 41% above of Incredibles 2, and a staggering 268% over Toy Story 3. However, Toy Story 4 didn’t loom like a heavy shadow over the weekend box office, causing the holdovers to recede in fear; rather, its outsized presence actually seemed to encourage the holdovers. In particular, Aladdin dipped a mere 18%, mustering a fifth weekend gross of $1,524,791 on 506 screens; its $18,740,775 total to date is well ahead of The Jungle Book’s lifetime total. Men in Black: International also held decently, finishing the top three with a second weekend of $1,099,259 on 659 screens; it was off 38% after losing 36% of its screens, though its $3,513,120 total so far is only 71% of Men in Black 3’s opening.

France: Over the first weekend of the year with a total gross under $10 million, Men in Black: International repeated by default despite making a measly $1,227,648 at 697 theaters in its second weekend, representing a 46% decline. Its $3,991,614 total to date is just 65% of Men in Black 3’s opening. Box Office Mojo somehow dropped the ball on reporting the weekend gross of Parasite, the movie which almost certainly took second. Based on its estimated weekend admissions of 125,000 as well as average ticket prices, the widely acclaimed Bong Joon-ho movie likely grossed about $995,000 from 278 theaters in its third weekend, for the chart’s mildest decline. Its total has reached approximately $5,421,000, besting Bong Joon-ho’s own Snowpiercer as the biggest South Korean movie of the century; with a likely major expansion next weekend to coincide with Fete du Cine in the offing, a $10 million finish isn’t yet out of the question. One of many local comedies that deluge French theaters every year, Beaux-parents (probably) debuted in third place with $990,942 at 391 theaters.

The vaguely notable also-rans began with Dark Phoenix in fourth, which fell 49% to gross $946,000 from 597 theaters; its $8,982,000 total to date is 27% behind X-Men: Apocalypse through the same point. Aladdin’s uncharacteristically lackluster run has almost wrapped up after a 44% decline to find a fifth place fifth frame gross of $754,643 at 643 theaters. Its total of $14,498,424 to date is still ahead of Maleficent through the same point, but the competition from Toy Story 4 and a record-breaking heat wave this weekend will ensure that Fete du Cine isn’t nearly as kind as it was to that movie, leaving Aladdin likely to fall short of its $17,173,088 finish. Surreal local comedy Deerskin settled for sixth with a $578,089 start from 313 theaters; despite French audiences’ diverse and often artistically adventurous tastes, star Jean Dujardin’s appeal is likely responsible for its fairly wide release. Finally, Child’s Play was lost in the crowd despite being distributed by Paramount in France with just $547,203 from 248 theaters, or 64% of Ma.

Germany: There wasn’t much worth reporting over a quiet weekend, as exhibitors bided their time waiting for summer holidays to begin. Aladdin owned first with a 1% increase in its fifth weekend; its $1,463,854 weekend gross was good for a total of $14,984,400 to date, which was 4% ahead of Maleficent through the same point. Men in Black: International is the big loser despite a 21% fall to repeat in second with a $1,016,318 second salvo gross. Its $2,743,982 total to date is barely half of Men in Black 3’s heat-muted opening back in 2012. Five Feet Apart opened three months after much of the world and was rewarded for its delay with a respectable $1,010,986 debut to finish the top three – 82% ahead of Love, Simon.

Italy: You know summer has started when an American movie that won’t get a wide release in North America tops the Italian box office. With Italy’s weakest season by far in full swing, Johnny Depp drama The Professor didn’t need to show strength in its debut ($586,043 on 387 screens) to top the box office. Likewise, while The Secret Life of Pets 2 declined by a reasonable 26% in its third weekend, that was still only good for a second place $544,084 gross on 473 screens. With Toy Story 4 having opened this past Friday, its total (currently $3,204,164) won’t reach the original movie’s $5,140,471 opening. Aladdin had an identical decline to round out the top three with $421,074 on 331 screens in its fifth weekend. Its $16,497,206 total to date is currently 4% behind Maleficent through the same point, though well ahead of The Jungle Book’s total. Meanwhile, Child’s Play was cast aside, somehow missing out on breaking into a decrepit top three with just $344,186 on 354 screens in its debut, and it coming in 21% ahead of Brightburn wasn’t much of a consolation prize.

Japan: Aladdin’s run in the land of the rising sun continued making Disney executives’ moods rise, with a minimal 5% decline to gross $9,608,251 in its third weekend. Its $51,386,624 total to date is 15% behind Beauty and the Beast through the same point, which had benefited greatly from Golden Week. In a distant second, action comedy The Fable scored yet another strong debut for a local movie, with $2,889,542 over the proper weekend. Dark Phoenix paled in comparison, settling for third place with a $1,724,000 debut, which was 45% short of X-Men: Apocalypse. Men in Black: International’s 51% decline (for a $1,241,496 gross) in its sophomore frame confirmed it as another wipeout for a Hollywood movie that didn’t jive with Japanese sensibilities; its $6,397,138 total to date is 11% behind Men in Black 3’s opening. Last and not necessarily least, Godzilla: King of the Monsters fell to fifth with $1,131,095, representing a 42% fourth frame descent; despite strong reception in Japan, its $22,950,954 total to date is trailing Godzilla by 10%.

Mexico: Toy Story 4 broke the bank with a truly astounding $23,812,010 debut, fighting off exchange rate woes to record the third highest opening ever in Mexico, and first for animation. That was also 58% ahead of Toy Story 3, 97% above Incredibles 2, and 148% beyond Finding Dory. The toys exerted a crushing effect on the competition, as only one other movie exceeded $1 million over the weekend. That movie was Men in Black: International, which was down 66% to $1,354,605 on 1,068 screens in its second weekend. Its $7,227,557 total to date has at least exceeded Men in Black 3’s opening.

Russia-CIS: The Toy Story series has never found much of an audience in Russia, and that streak continued with Toy Story 4’s $2,406,558 debut on 1,498 screens. For comparison’s sake, The Secret Life of Pets 2 was still in the top three after an $815,865 fourth weekend gross, building its total up to $22,487,801 to date. Relative to other Pixar movies, the toys’ latest adventure came in 56% behind Incredibles 2 and 25% below Finding Dory, though 1% ahead of Toy Story 3, which opened when exchange rates were much more favorable. Men in Black: International wouldn’t have had to do much to retain first place, yet it couldn’t get the job done thanks in part to losing lots of screens. Its second weekend gross was $1,619,999 on 1,488 screens, down 56% from its opening for a total of $7,930,405 to date – more than Dark Phoenix will finish with, at least.

South Korea: Toy Story 4 benefited from good word of mouth to knock a fellow Disney movie from the top spot with an $8,520,583 debut on 1,335 screens. Initial returns were 1% behind Incredibles 2, 37% ahead of Finding Dory, and 130% beyond Toy Story 3, in their respective openings. However, the intra-studio competition wasn’t enough to deter Aladdin, which wafted its way to another incredible hold, down just 4% to gross $7,292,440 on 1,226 screens in its fifth weekend. By now, fellow Disney live-action remakes have ceased being appropriate comparisons for Aladdin’s exceptional run; instead, it would be best to look to fellow music-centered slow-burn phenomenons Frozen and Bohemian Rhapsody. Aladdin’s $49,365,035 total to date is 74% of the former and 106% of the latter through their respective fifth frames, improving after a stronger weekend hold than both movies. Unusually, local movies were soundly outclassed by Hollywood; crime picture Long Live the King had an indifferent $3,540,075 debut on 884 screens, while Parasite was down 46% to $2,886,064 on 782 screens, for fourth place in its fourth weekend. Its total, currently $67,423,535, looks like it will fall short of the local top 10.

Spain: Toy Story 4 opened to a commanding first as expected, though its actual gross wasn’t all that impressive. With $3,681,484 at 430 theaters, it was 30% short of Toy Story 3, 17% behind Incredibles 2, but 14% ahead of Finding Dory. In second, Aladdin dipped just a bit below the $1 million mark, down 41% to make $944,899 at 331 theaters in its fifth weekend. Its $22,166,332 total to date is already beyond the entire runs of Maleficent and The Jungle Book. Godzilla: King of the Monsters was more like the runt of the litter in third, with an impressively awful $520,817 debut at 303 theaters – just 41% of the first Godzilla movie in 2014. Finally, Men in Black: International has accumulated $1,885,880 through ten days, or 65% of Men in Black 3’s opening.

Selected Non-Major Territory Highlights:

Toy Story 4 turned out to be a huge draw in Latin America, nowhere more than Argentina, where it reportedly broke Avengers: Endgame’s previous record for OW admissions by 38%. However, its estimated $6.9 million debut, while crushing all of Toy Story 3, Finding Dory, and Incredibles 2 even in dollars, was only Argentina’s third best ever, thanks to massive inflation devaluing its peso. Outside of Latin America however, the box office was generally quiet even where Toy Story 4 opened immediately.

Focus On: Vietnam: One of several growing Hollywood hotspots in Asia, Vietnam has just recently resumed weekend box office reporting available on Box Office Mojo, after a temporary streak in 2015-16. Shorter-term box office happenings here include deceptively low per-screen averages and Parasite almost doubling Toy Story 4 in their respective debuts. For more, read on.

First, here is Vietnam’s all-time top 10, in US dollars:

1. $11,703,305 Avengers: Endgame
2. $7,225,225 Furious 7
3. $6,935,211 The Fate of the Furious
4. $5,564,332 Cua lai vo bau [local romantic comedy]
5. $5,300,000 (est. after ten days) Kong: Skull Island
6. $5,259,089 Avengers: Age of Ultron
7. $4,992,672 Furie [local martial arts actioner]
8. $4,419,787 The Mermaid [Chinese romantic fantasy comedy, directed by Stephen Chow]
9. $4,400,147 Jurassic World
10. $4,142,077 Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom

Note that data for Avengers: Infinity War is not available. Vietnam’s box office tastes are largely akin to the rest of Southeast Asia, with Hollywood action flicks connecting alongside a healthy local industry and a select few Chinese crossover hits. The most unusual movie on the above list is Kong: Skull Island, which received a huge boost from its Vietnamese production. In terms of weekend-to-weekend trends, Vietnam is also a microcosm of its region, with steep declines in both gross and screen count the norm outside of holiday periods. It is also worth noting that Vietnam’s box office is currently running at a similar level to where Thailand was a few years back, despite having about 40% more people; that indicates significant untapped potential even without a great improvement in means among the general population.

As for the weekend at hand, Parasite opened in first with $624,238 from a reported 4,291 screens, which would seem to tell a different story about the Vietnamese market’s saturation. However, I highly suspect that Box Office Mojo is misreporting showtime counts as screen counts, which has been an ongoing issue with their Lithuanian charts. With the limited state of Vietnamese box office charts, I cannot provide any appropriate comparisons, so I will suffice to note that this was the twelfth best opening of the year, based on the available figures. Toy Story 4 debuted in second with just $341,662 from 3,790 showtimes, which was 55% of The Secret Life of Pets 2, 84% of The Good Dinosaur, and 112% of Inside Out, the last of which was delayed by two months in a presumably piracy-heavy market. The last two comparisons seem to indicate that the Pixar sequel’s brand is actually a disadvantage in Vietnam, which seems immensely surprising until you realize that it’s the Toy Story franchise’s general trend in territories (at least, outside of Latin America) that were poorly established when the first two movies opened. The aforementioned Pets 2 rounded out the top three with a 52% decline to a $197,452 third weekend gross from 2,070 showtimes; its $2,380,165 total to date is 3% ahead of its predecessor through the same point, and good for ninth among the top-grossing movies of 2019. The last significant holdover was Men in Black: International, which plunged 70% to just $169,933 from 1,974 showtimes in its second weekend; its $1,150,255 total so far is just 34% of what Godzilla: King of the Monsters has grossed to date. Overall, the weekend’s total gross of $1,560,083 is twelfth among the sixteen weekends of 2019 that Box Office Mojo has full data available for.

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