American Movies With Higher Grosses in Other Countries

[jscoggins]

Historically, due to the size of our economy and moviegoing habits, the US has been the single largest box office market for home-grown products.

However, there is a growing trend of movies performing better outside of the US than back home. I'm not referring to the worldwide gross being bigger than the domestic gross. Rather, I'm referring to instances where the gross in one country alone beats the US gross.

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The Last Samurai (2003)
US Gross: $111 mil
Japanese Gross: $119 mil




Letters From Iwo Jima (2006)
(Note: Almost all of the dialogue was in Japanese.)
US Gross: $13.7 mil
Japanese Gross: $42.9 mil




Resident Evil: Retribution (2012)
US Gross: $42.3 mil
Japanese Gross: $48.3 mil




Pacific Rim (2013)
US Gross: $101.8 mil
Chinese Gross: $111.9 mil




Escape Plan (2013)
US Gross: $25 mil
Chinese Gross: $40.9 mil




Need for Speed (2014)
US Gross: $43.6 mil
Chinese Gross: $66.2 mil




Transformers: Age of Extinction (2014)
(Note: Coproduction with China with significant scenes set there.)
US Gross: $245.4 mil
Chinese Gross: $301 mil




The Expendables 3 (2014)
US Gross: $39.3 mil
Chinese Gross: $72.9 mil




Furious 7 (2015)
US Gross so far: $340 mil
Chinese Gross so far: $389 mil

[Buscemi]

Escape Plan
$25.1 million domestic
$40.9 million in China ($112.2 million internationally)

Need for Speed
$43.6 million domestic
$66.2 million in China ($159.7 million internationally)

Also, I've noticed Stallone's movies are much more popular internationally than domestically. The Expendables 3 was also a smash in China but flopped in the US.

[jscoggins]

Yeah, Need for Speed is getting a sequel almost solely due to the Chinese market, lol.

[dvdmike]

It's going to happen way more and more

[Buscemi]

The funny thing is, China really isn't that big of a market when you think about it. Last year, only 11 films grossed the US equivalent of $100 million there. In the US, it was 33 (and box office was down too).

In addition, six of those eleven were native Chinese productions. It's a big mistake to put all emphasis on China when most Hollywood productions will either fail to make a dent at the box office there or not even be released.

Yes, the foreign market is growing bigger (but mainly due to better tracking and higher 3-D surcharges outside North America) but there should more be focus than just one country. Russia, the UK, Germany, France, Japan, South Korea and Mexico are also big filmgoing markets but Hollywood hardly ever focuses on those (except maybe when horror films are greenlighted).

[jscoggins]

Originally Posted by Buscemi

The funny thing is, China really isn't that big of a market when you think about it. Last year, only 11 films grossed the US equivalent of $100 million there. In the US, it was 33 (and box office was down too).

In addition, six of those eleven were native Chinese productions. It's a big mistake to put all emphasis on China when most Hollywood productions will either fail to make a dent at the box office there or not even be released.

Yes, the foreign market is growing bigger (but mainly due to better tracking and higher 3-D surcharges outside North America) but there should more be focus than just one country. Russia, the UK, Germany, France, Japan, South Korea and Mexico are also big filmgoing markets but Hollywood hardly ever focuses on those (except maybe when horror films are greenlighted).

Well, action and horror travel better than dramas or comedies because there's no language barrier.

But yes, in general, the average Chinese consumer 1) can't afford a movie ticket, much less an IMAX or 3D ticket and 2) the restrictions against foreign productions mean that non-Chinese movies have limited theatrical windows.

[jscoggins]

Furious 7 has grossed $323 mil so far in China. That beats the US domestic gross even though the movie opened two weeks later there.

http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/...l&id=fast7.htm

[Monterey Jack]

Um, all of them...?

[Samus Aran]

Originally Posted by Buscemi

Also, I've noticed Stallone's movies are much more popular internationally than domestically. The Expendables 3 was also a smash in China but flopped in the US.

It's a lot easier to dub a Stallone movie than, say, Wayne's World or City Slickers.

[scolbert08]

Pacific Rim (US: $101.8m, China: $111.9m)
Resident Evil: Retribution (US: $42.3m, Japan: $48.3m)

[jscoggins]

Furious 7 has a chance of passing $400 mil in China before Avengers 2 opens there. It's already the highest grossing movie ever in China.

http://pro.boxoffice.com/statistics/...g-over-holiday

[spectre08]

Originally Posted by jscoggins

Furious 7 has a chance of passing $400 mil in China before Avengers 2 opens there. It's already the highest grossing movie ever in China.

http://pro.boxoffice.com/statistics/...g-over-holiday

and it'll take Avenger what, 2 weeks to beat thaT?

[jscoggins]

Originally Posted by spectre08

and it'll take Avenger what, 2 weeks to beat thaT?

Tough to say. We're looking at movies exceeding their predecessors' by 2, 3, and even 4 times. This is happening even though the vast majority of people in China still live on less than $5 a day, and movie tickets cost as much as they do in the US.

[nashcameronn]

The Expendables 3 might have to do with where it leaked online.

[jscoggins]

Furious 7 has grossed at least $389 mil in China.

[Tony208]

Looking at how big of a hit Furious 7 and Need for Speed were, I think China has a thing for cars and car movies.

Just getting a license to drive a car can cost more than the car itself

http://www.bloomberg.com/bw/articles...e-than-the-car

[blonde_devil]

Originally Posted by Tony208

Looking at how big of a hit Furious 7 and Need for Speed were, I think China has a thing for cars and car movies.

I read somewhere that it is simply because action is action in any country so these sell better than say dramas where there is a lot of dialogue and you need to worry about getting the translation right, etc. Drama or comedy doesn't always translate over to other cultures properly but a car blowing up is pretty universal.

Iron Man 3 grossed $409 million in North America and $806.4 million in other countries - pretty massive difference but that isn't just in one country, it is all combined so it should be higher. Still pretty impressive though.

[dohrmannmf]

Originally Posted by blonde_devil

I read somewhere that it is simply because action is action in any country so these sell better than say dramas where there is a lot of dialogue and you need to worry about getting the translation right, etc. Drama or comedy doesn't always translate over to other cultures properly but a car blowing up is pretty universal.

The same is often said about horror movies. I always considered that to be the one real universal genre, but I never really considered action. That works too!

[jscoggins]

Originally Posted by dohrmannmf

The same is often said about horror movies. I always considered that to be the one real universal genre, but I never really considered action. That works too!

Horror is highly dependent on culture. What's scary in some parts of the world may seem silly to outsiders.