Apple Original Films’ F1 is off to the races at the global and international box office, heading to higher-than-projected openings in both cases, as well as domestic.
Overseas, the Warner Bros release from director Joseph Kosinski has rounded $39.5M through its first three days (Wednesday-Friday) from a total 78 markets; this includes some paid previews from earlier in the week.
The offshore bow through Sunday is now expected to reach $80M-$85M. This would easily surpass such Brad Pitt comps as World War Z ($73.8M) and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood ($64.6M) at today’s rates and in like-for-like markets excluding China.
Combined with domestic, the global start is looking to come in at $140M, and possibly more. This would mark the biggest launch for an Apple movie. As ever, slight fluctuation from what we’re seeing today is possible.
Word of mouth is helping propel F1 as it careens around the globe; international was always going to be in the driver’s seat given Formula 1’s popularity, while domestic is proving a better-than-expected shotgun.
Offshore launches are No. 1s or No. 1 for a U.S. title virtually everywhere. Europe, as expected, is firing – and heat wave impact is being offset by Latin America. Asia Pacific is coming in as predicted.
The Top 10 markets through Friday are: UK ($4.8M), France ($3M), Mexico ($2.8M), China ($2.7M), Australia ($2M), Germany ($1.8M), Korea ($1.5M), UAE ($1.3M), Italy ($1.3M) and Taiwan ($1.1M).
China, as always the wildcard, has grossed about $6M through Saturday (note that the Saturday figure is not included in the international total above). Korea had a big Saturday (also not included in the overseas total above), jumping 117% from Friday to reach $2.75M through today.
Among notable stats, China’s Friday opening was the biggest for an Apple film and the biggest opening day for Pitt. Spain’s Friday came in ahead of the fifthquel in the hugely popular local franchise Padre No Hay Mas Que Uno (as well as being bigger than No Time to Die, the last two Mission: Impossibles and Top Gun: Maverick). Mexico scored the biggest opening day for an Apple title, ahead of a fistful of comps. Australia’s Thursday debut was the best for Apple and for Pitt, also above comps.
We’ll have a full update on Sunday.