EXCLUSIVE: Celine Song’s Materialists has crossed the $100M mark globally, with $101.3M through today. Of that, $64.8M is from the international box office. Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions boarded offshore rights on the A24 original out of the 2024 European Film Market in Berlin, and staggered overseas release from June through September this summer, cranking out strong numbers and holds along the way. Materialists is the No. 1 romantic drama of the year globally, and the No. 2 romance film for 2025 behind Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy.
Savvy marketing and promotional activations; fun input from the cast of Dakota Johnson, Chris Evans and Pedro Pascal; and hitting a sweet spot for an underserved audience all contributed to the success of the estimated $20M budgeted film which put a twist on the genre. The importance of getting a movie in this space this to $100M+ worldwide is clear: The industry needs fresh fare that entices audiences in terms of concept, but also discourse in its wake.
Materialists was the No. 3 biggest domestic opener for A24 when it bowed on June 13, and is now the indie’s 7th highest grosser domestically (in Puerto Rico, it became the studio’s biggest release ever) and its 3rd biggest worldwide, with Sony powering offshore.
Sony has for several years found a niche in female-centric films, including post-pandemic titles like 2024’s It Ends With Us, the biggest romantic drama since 2018; Anyone But You (2023), the highest grossing R-rated romantic comedy globally since 2016; and summer 2022’s Where the Crawdads Sing.
Materialists, which sees Johnson as Lucy, an ambitious New York City matchmaker who finds herself torn between the perfect match, John (Pascal), and her imperfect ex, Harry (Evans), is the latest in Sony’s international success stories. So how did it happen?
Sony began rollout in in Australia, New Zealand, Netherlands and Poland in early June, lockstep with A24’s domestic release. Sony later added France, Brazil and Mexico in July. Notable August releases included Korea, UK, Spain and Germany with Italy rounding out the overseas footprint earlier this month.
The Top 5 offshore markets through today are: Germany ($5.4M), UK ($5.2M), Mexico ($5M), Australia ($4.7M) and Spain ($4.1M).
Bringing a fresh perspective to the romantic comedy/drama, the movie resonated with a new generation while also attracting older females and sparking cultural conversation about modern dating and relationships.
Johnson, Evans and Pascal participated in numerous interviews, including Johnson’s appearance on Hot Ones and a Vogue Rapid Fire with Johnson and Pascal. Social video of them “kissing” went viral.
Internationally, Sony capitalized on talent (over 10 hours of interviews), and partnerships with high-fashion outlets like Elle Greece and Harper’s Bazaar Korea. Song traveled to Paris (Champs-Elysées Film Festival), Mallorca (Atlàntida Mallorca Film Fest) and the UK.
Johnson attended the Karlovy Vary Film Festival in July (both for Materialists and Splitsville). Earlier, in May, she made her first trip to the Cannes Film Festival, already speaking to Deadline about the movie.
Around the world, Sony’s marketing team implemented “Global Girls’ Night” and influencer screening programs, in addition to stunted screenings like “Match-making Screenings” (Taiwan), speed dating events (Sweden, Colombia, Finland) and Team Chris/Team Pedro screening battles (Brazil).
There were also collaborations with influencers, targeting young females across TikTok, META and YouTube. The studio worked with 46 bespoke international influencers to create content, and amplified those spots globally in bursts.
Local highlights included in Mexico with Pinky Promise TV where creators asked passersby relationship-centric questions. In MENA, couple creators The Rahals created a scene-insertion video; and in France couple creators Camiso & Kassandra discussed red and green flags in relationships.
Custom TikTok spots were fashioned to capitalize on cultural moments and trending topics, constantly pushing relevance. For example: “Four Fantastic Reasons to see Materialists” spots when Pascal was deep into his promotional tour for The Fantastic Four: First Steps.
Netherlands further collaborated with renowned fashion designer, Claes Iversen, who designed a dress for Loiza Lamers (winner of Holland’s Next Top Model), inspired by Lucy’s blue dress in Materialists. Together they attended The Young Patrons Gala from the National Opera & Ballet Netherlands, where they debuted the gown.
Materialists is written and directed by Song. David Hinojosa, Christine Vachon, Pamela Koffler and Song served as producers, with Taylor Shung, Len Blavatnik, Danny Cohen, Timo Argillander and Andrea Scarso exec producing.