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S U N D AY, M A R C H 0 2 , 2 0 2 5
WORLDWIDE BOX OFFICE FOR WEEK
ENDING MARCH 2, 2025
WORLDWIDE BOX OFFICE FOR WEEK ENDING MARCH 2,
2025
Here is a film's gross for the last seven days, followed by its total
worldwide gross. I begin with data from Comscore and then pull from
every other source available. If you want to be added to this newsletter,
email me at mgiltz@pipeline.com.
1. Ne Zha 2 –$108m / $1.980b worldwide total
2. Captain America: Brave New World–$33m /$342m ww
3. Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy –$24m / $97m ww
4. The Monkey– $17m / $38m ww
5. Chhaava– $16m / $70m ww
6. Detective Chinatown 1900– $15m / $477m ww
7. A Complete Unknown–$15m / $120m ww
8. Paddington in Peru–$14m / $164m ww
9. Mickey 17–$9m ww debut
10. Dog Man– $8m / $113m ww
11. Dragon– $8m / $13m ww
12. Last Breath–$8m ww debut
13. The Brutalist– $4m / $41m ww
14. Moana 2– $3m / $1,054b ww
15. Sonic The Hedgehog 3 –$3m /$486m ww M I C H A E L G I LT Z AT W O R K
Michael Giltz is a freelance writer
based in NYC and can be reached at
mgiltz@pipeline.com
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Worldwide Box Office For The
Week Ending March 23
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16. Creation of the Gods 2: Demon Force–$3m / $166m ww
17. Heart Eyes–$3m / $31m ww
18. I'm Still Here– $3m / $30m ww
19. The Unbreakable Boy–$3m / $5m ww
20. Mufasa: The Lion King– $2m / $702m ww
21. Conclave– $2m / $101m ww
22. One of Them Days– $2m / $48m ww
23. Boonie Bears: Future Reborn–$1m / $107m ww
24. Legend of the Condor Heroes: The Gallants–$1m / $92m ww
25. Babygirl– $1m / $64m ww
26. Flight Risk–$1m / $43m ww
27. Companion– $1m / $34m ww
28. Love Hurts–$1m / $17m ww
29. Becoming Led Zeppelin– $1m / $10m ww
30. Exorcism Chronicles: The Beginning–$1m / $2m
31. Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX-Beginning–$1m / $TK?
Bold: movies that have or likely will triple their reported
budgets. That's my standard for a movie being a box office hit
from theatrical alone. Many films will be profitable for a
studio even if they don't triple their reported budget, but it's
a good marker to indicate a big hit.
ANALYSIS
It's Oscar weekend and ironically it's also the slowest weekend of the
year for movie-going. Even slower than Super Bowl weekend? Is
everyone at home working on their ballots for the Oscar pools? On the
bright side, the Oscar shorts are grossing about $3m in North America
from their theatrical screenings, so that's nice to see. My wishful
thinking for Captain America: New World Order is over. Overseas
looked like it might save Cap's bacon, but it's not to be. The Marvel flick
took another disastrous tumble at the box office, so grossing another
$140m to be a hit is not happening.
On the other hand, a slow week at the box office in North America (and
really, around the world) means the Chinese animated film Ne Zha
2 stays in the Top 10 for three weeks in a row, a rare feat for an
international film.
Moana 2 made news because it's headed to streaming after 105 days in
movie theaters. That's just three and a half months, but these days thatDOOR JAZZ CLUB
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seems stunningly patient. The head of the world's biggest theater chain
AMC used its quarterly earnings report to insist 17 days and 30 days
are crazy! And he hopes more studios will shift back to at least 45
days.
Hey, it's a slow week so there's not much to say!
2025 HIT FILMS
Here's a list of all the hit films making money in 2025. My rule of
thumb is that films should gross roughly at least three times as much as
their reported budget. Some people now say a movie need only make 2
1/2 times as much as their budget but I'm sticking with the traditional
formula. Of course, we don't really know a movie's budget or the cost of
advertising or the backroom deals. Remember, just because a movie
isn't a hit from theatrical alone doesn't mean they're losing money. Far
from it. We can't dive deep into Hollywood accounting. But we can spot
the really big hits that will change careers, launch franchises and
generally pay the bills. A few international films probably made the cut
but since I don't have even a reported budget, I hate to reward them
with hit status. Also, I'll include movies from 2024 if they make the
majority of their money in 2025. Finally, I identify the country for non-
Hollywood movies. And I indicate the language Indian films were made
in to celebrate the country's diverse industry, which is vibrant and
includes much more than the Hindi-language Bollywood Westerners
knew best. Here goes.
Big Budget ($100mb+)
Detective Chinatown 1900 (China) ($125mb est)
Mid-sized budget ($21mb-$99mb)
Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy ($50mb)
Dog Man ($40mb)
Ne Zha 2 (China) ($80mb)
Nosferatu ($50mb)
Small Budget ($20mb or less)
Babygirl ($20mb)
Becoming Led Zeppelin (>$2mb)
The Brutalist ($10mb)
Chhaava (Indian/Hindi) ($15mb)
Companion ($10mb) 3/24/25, 2:47 PM POPSURFING.COM: WORLDWIDE BOX OFFICE FOR WEEK ENDING MARCH 2 , 2025
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Conclave ($20mb)
Dragon (Indian/Tamil) ($4mb)
I'm Still Here ($2mb)
One of Them Days ($14mb)
Presence ($2mb)
NOTES
mb = a film's budget in millions of US dollars; ww = worldwide
1. Ne Zha 2– Reported $80mb. Chinese animated fantasy sequel to
the 2019 smash which cost about $20m and grossed $743m. A spin-off
film Jiang Ziya was hobbled by COVID but grossed $243m. Now we
have the direct sequel Ne Zha 2, which cost $80m and finds our spunky
heroine (based on a famed mythological character around for
centuries) taking on sea monsters. The series is based on Investiture of
the Gods by Xu Zhonglin from the 16th century.
2. Captain America: Brave New World–$180mb.
3. Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy– $50mb and straight to
streaming in the world's biggest market because? Yes, it's only at
$100m. But the film made $24m this week, so even if it drops by 50%
next week and the week after and ends up at $120m, I'm calling it a hit.
The more money it makes, the stupider they look for going straight to
streaming in North America.
4. The Monkey -- $10m reported budget means this adaptation of a
Stephen King short story is a box office winner right out of the gate.
Cheap horror films are money in the bank... but 2025 has so many I
have to assume audiences will become sick and tired of them any
minute now. Not forever, not all of them, but surely the surfeit of
slasher flicks will prove too much of a good thing. Just not yet.
5. Chhaava– $15mb Indian/Hindi language action historical epic.
6. Detective Chinatown 1900– $125mb at least? This is the fourth
in a wildly popular buddy comedy mystery series. Think oh, Rush
Hour? 48 Hours? Each film cost more than the one before and grossed
more. Since we're on film #4 and it's a period movie set in San
Francisco, it's safe to assume this cost more than #3, which cost $117m
and grossed $686m worldwide. I mean, $150mb is probably more
realistic, at least, but even at that level it's still a hit. Oh and clues in
this one indicate the next film in the series will be set in London.
So, Detective Chinatown 1920, here we come .
7. A Complete Unknown–$60mb+ for this Bob Dylan biopic? That's a
lot of money for a film about Dylan going electric at Newport. I mean, I
wanted to see it but then I'm a Dylan fanatic. But $180m worldwide
seems highly unlikely to me, if not impossible. (Do other countries give
a toss about this? Is Chalamet a big enough draw for this story? I doubt3/24/25, 2:47 PM POPSURFING.COM: WORLDWIDE BOX OFFICE FOR WEEK ENDING MARCH 2 , 2025
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it.) I'm glad it was made, but it was made for too much. Like Gladiator
II, this will be seen as a commercial success, but it's not. UPDATE:
Well, it keeps going and going and maybe Chalamet is a worldwide
draw now, thanks to Wonka and the Dune films and he can bring in
people to a serious drama like this. More power to him. It's now at
$120m and grossed an excellent $15m this week. If it gets close to
$150m, I'll happily eat crow and call it a hit. It's already a good example
of a movie that may not be technically profitable from box office alone
but is clearly a financial success story that will be a valuable title in
anyone's library, pulling in plenty via rentals and sales and cable and
streaming and the like. Now where's the sequel where Dylan goes born
again Christian? Or the spin-off telling the story of Joan Baez?
Seriously, that one should be done like, now.
8. Paddington in Peru–$90mb? Sadly, three times is not the charm
artistically or commercially for this once-perfect franchise.
9. Mickey 17–$120mb for director Bong Joon-ho's slapstick sci-fi
comedy. Once again, a tip of the hat to actor Robert Pattinson for
forging a very interesting career.
10. Dog Man– A reported $40mb. It's always good to gross your
budget on opening week. Plus, the books are funny, the reviews are
good, the audience response is great and it has the rest of the world to
open in. So get ready for Dog Man 2.
11. Dragon– $4mb for this Indian/Tamil coming of age comedy
drama. A young guy gets too clever with a crooked path to riches,
endangering his job, his relationships and his family's reputation. Can
he reform? Does he want to?
12. Last Breath–$24mb for this Nicolas Cage deep-sea diving drama.
13. The Brutalist– $10mb; Adrien Brody in this architect-as-hero
period drama. I'm not a fan of the film but I am delighted to see any
passion project this unlikely make money. Truly.
14. Moana 2– $150mb. Is the budget lower since it was intended for
tv, at first? Or higher because they had to rethink everything? Disney
says it cost $150mb, just like the original. You can bet Dwayne Johnson
gets more than his share of coconuts, but that won't matter with a hit
like this.
15. Sonic The Hedgehog 3– $120mb
16. Creation of the Gods 2: Demon Force–$110mb? Creation of the
Gods is a live action fantasy trilogy that was shot all at once over an 18
month period, a la Lord of the Rings. Since the first part cost $110m,
presumably parts two and three cost at least as much, though their
initial releases were delayed because of time-consuming special effects.
And guess what? Like Ne Zha 1 and 2, this too is based on Investiture
of the Gods, making Ming dynasty author Xu Zhonglin the hottest
scribe in town. Yes, there are a handful of English translations of the
tales, but none of them received a single professional review and only
one even has a handful of reader reviews, so I would be wary. I'd really
like to read the book, but until I learn Mandarin, it ain't happening.3/24/25, 2:47 PM POPSURFING.COM: WORLDWIDE BOX OFFICE FOR WEEK ENDING MARCH 2 , 2025
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And I'm still waiting for a good translation of the epic from
which Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon was drawn.
17. Heart Eyes–$18mb for rom/com slash horror film.
18. I'm Still Here– this Brazilian Oscar contender has no reported
budget, though one Portuguese article says $1.5m, which certainly
sounds reasonable, so I'll call it at $2mb. It's a success even if it cost
three times that.
19. The Unbreakable Boy–heartwarming family film about little boy
who has a rare bone disease and autism, but also has a zest for life that
wins over everyone.
20. Mufasa: The Lion King– $200mb.
21. Conclave– a reported $20mb for this Vatican thriller means this is
a hit. This is exactly the sort of film that can play and play in theaters.
22. One of Them Days– $14mb. It's always good to gross your
budget during a film's opening week. So yea for producer Issa Rae and
this comedy starring Keke Palmer and SZA. (What an opening week for
SZA! Her movie opened well and she made my list of The 250 Best
Albums of the 21st Century...So Far.)
23. Boonie Bears: Future Reborn–$50mb? This once low budget
animated franchise keeps getting bigger and bigger at the box office.
Film #9 grossed $220m and #10 grossed $270m. And then it all
crashed back to earth with movie #11, which is topping out at about
$110m, almost 60% lower than the last one. They won't lose money on
this, but I'm taking it off my list of theatrical hits for the year. They
need to lower the budget for #12 or give it a rest or something. I mean,
none of them seem well reviewed, so quality isn't exactly the issue here.
All good things come to an end.
24. Legend of the Condor Heroes: The Gallants–No budget available. A
wuxia martial arts period adventure film written and directed by the
legendary Tsui Hark. It's based on part of the novel of the same name
by Jin Yong. According to one report it's the highest grossing wuxia
film at the Chinese box office. That would mean it made more than
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and every local box office hit. Mostly
Hark would be competing with himself. His budgets bounce up and
down, from the massive $200mb for both The Battle at Lake Changjin
1 and 2 (which he co-directed), and $60mb for some Detective Dee
movies and down to $20mb or $30mb for various other flicks. So it's
quite possible this is a hit, but without any reported budget, I am loathe
to name it one. If they make a sequel, I'll then consider this one a hit!
When they make more, surely a movie must be a winner.
25. Babygirl– $20mb for this Nicole Kidman sexy drama about a
powerful businesswoman finding her kink with a younger, dominating
man...her intern, no less! No milk was harmed in the making of this
movie. Now one friend and various media stories go back and forth on
Kidman and the seemingly endless streaming movies and miniseries
and movies she's been making, most of them perhaps commercial but
certainly not artistic hits. Is she nobly getting projects made when3/24/25, 2:47 PM POPSURFING.COM: WORLDWIDE BOX OFFICE FOR WEEK ENDING MARCH 2 , 2025
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people need to work? Keeping herself a significant box office draw
worldwide (such as with this sexy winner) at an age when many women
used to find work difficult? Or tarnishing her significant cachet by
turning out junk? I'll withhold judgment critically since I haven't
actually watched many of her recent projects. But I would definitely say
that commercially at least, Kidman is approaching her 60s in as
bankable a spot as any woman–and more than most men–in
Hollywood.
26. Flight Risk–$25mb for director Mel Gibson action film starring
Mark Walhberg.
27. Companion– A reported $10mb for this sci-fi horror comedy.
Great reviews means this one should have a long run at the box office.
28. Love Hurts–$18mb for action comedy starring Ke Huy Quan and
Ariana DeBose. This is no way to follow-up winning an Oscar!
29. Becoming Led Zeppelin –Long-gestating doc broke into the Top
10 on opening weekend, playing on IMAX screens only. In its second
weekend, the film has an excellent hold. This traditional doc (talking
heads, concert footage) has already grossed $6m, which is serious
money for this type of film. There is no reported budget, but given all
that I know, it seems likely the total was $2mb or less, so this is a
winner.
30. Exorcism Chronicles: The Beginning–A Korean animated horror
film about a priest partnering with magic-wielding monks to battle a
demon and protect a child. We just don't get animated films like that in
the U.S. Maybe Ralph Bakshi should have moved overseas to get his
projects made?
31. Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX-Beginning–$1m / $TK? This
film is pulled from the first episode(s) of the new season of a long-
running anime series. So it's probably all gravy and just good pr for the
new season launch.
THE CHART AND HOW IT IS COMPILED
This column is a week by week tracking of box office around the
world. It is compiled by pulling from every possible source: ComScore,
Box Office Mojo, Variety, Hollywood Reporter, Deadline, charts for
countries like China and India and South Korea, individual stories in
trade or general interest newspapers, Wikipedia and anyone else
discussing box office.
ComScore Weekly Global Box Office Chart
The weekly charts contain the total gross for every movie in theaters
around the world during the last seven days. If a movie opens on a
Thursday, we include all the box office from Thursday through
Sunday. If it opens on a Tuesday night, we cover all six days. If it
opens on a Sunday (as some movies do in India or wherever,
depending on holidays), then we include the box office for that one
day. If a movie was released before the current week, we include the
box office for all seven days. Why ignore the box office from Monday3/24/25, 2:47 PM POPSURFING.COM: WORLDWIDE BOX OFFICE FOR WEEK ENDING MARCH 2 , 2025
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WORLDWIDE BOX OFFICE FOR WEEK
ENDING MARCH 2, 2025
WORLDWIDE BOX OFFICE FOR WEEK ENDING MARCH 2,
2025
Here is a film's gross for the last seven days, followed by its total
worldwide gross. I begin with data from Comscore and then pull from
every other source available. If you want to be added to this newsletter,
email me at mgiltz@pipeline.com.
1. Ne Zha 2 –$108m / $1.980b worldwide total
2. Captain America: Brave New World–$33m /$342m ww
3. Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy –$24m / $97m ww
4. The Monkey– $17m / $38m ww
5. Chhaava– $16m / $70m ww
6. Detective Chinatown 1900– $15m / $477m ww
7. A Complete Unknown–$15m / $120m ww
8. Paddington in Peru–$14m / $164m ww
9. Mickey 17–$9m ww debut
10. Dog Man– $8m / $113m ww
11. Dragon– $8m / $13m ww
12. Last Breath–$8m ww debut
13. The Brutalist– $4m / $41m ww
14. Moana 2– $3m / $1,054b ww
15. Sonic The Hedgehog 3 –$3m /$486m ww M I C H A E L G I LT Z AT W O R K
Michael Giltz is a freelance writer
based in NYC and can be reached at
mgiltz@pipeline.com
FAV O R I T E L I N K S
Americablog
Five O'Clock Lightning baseball blog
Deep Pop -- Lori Lakin's Blog
The Back Page -- Jason Page on ESPN
Radio
Cine-Blog -- George Robinson's Blog
Documents On Art & Cinema - Daryl
Chin's Blog
Brucie G's Wondrous Blog Of
Adventure and Mystery -- Bruce
Greenspan's Blog
B L O G A R C H I V E
▼ 2025 (38)
▼ March (7)
Worldwide Box Office For The
Week Ending March 23
MUSIC: SEAN MASON
QUARTET AT THE SIDEMore Create Blog Sign In
POPSURFING.COM3/24/25, 2:47 PM POPSURFING.COM: WORLDWIDE BOX OFFICE FOR WEEK ENDING MARCH 2 , 2025
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16. Creation of the Gods 2: Demon Force–$3m / $166m ww
17. Heart Eyes–$3m / $31m ww
18. I'm Still Here– $3m / $30m ww
19. The Unbreakable Boy–$3m / $5m ww
20. Mufasa: The Lion King– $2m / $702m ww
21. Conclave– $2m / $101m ww
22. One of Them Days– $2m / $48m ww
23. Boonie Bears: Future Reborn–$1m / $107m ww
24. Legend of the Condor Heroes: The Gallants–$1m / $92m ww
25. Babygirl– $1m / $64m ww
26. Flight Risk–$1m / $43m ww
27. Companion– $1m / $34m ww
28. Love Hurts–$1m / $17m ww
29. Becoming Led Zeppelin– $1m / $10m ww
30. Exorcism Chronicles: The Beginning–$1m / $2m
31. Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX-Beginning–$1m / $TK?
Bold: movies that have or likely will triple their reported
budgets. That's my standard for a movie being a box office hit
from theatrical alone. Many films will be profitable for a
studio even if they don't triple their reported budget, but it's
a good marker to indicate a big hit.
ANALYSIS
It's Oscar weekend and ironically it's also the slowest weekend of the
year for movie-going. Even slower than Super Bowl weekend? Is
everyone at home working on their ballots for the Oscar pools? On the
bright side, the Oscar shorts are grossing about $3m in North America
from their theatrical screenings, so that's nice to see. My wishful
thinking for Captain America: New World Order is over. Overseas
looked like it might save Cap's bacon, but it's not to be. The Marvel flick
took another disastrous tumble at the box office, so grossing another
$140m to be a hit is not happening.
On the other hand, a slow week at the box office in North America (and
really, around the world) means the Chinese animated film Ne Zha
2 stays in the Top 10 for three weeks in a row, a rare feat for an
international film.
Moana 2 made news because it's headed to streaming after 105 days in
movie theaters. That's just three and a half months, but these days thatDOOR JAZZ CLUB
THE MOVIES, BOOKS,
THEATER, CONCERTS,
ALBUMS I'VE ...
THEATER: "A STREETCAR
NAMED DESIRE" LACKS
DRIVE
WORLDWIDE BOX OFFICE
FOR WEEK ENDING
MARCH 9, 2025
WORLDWIDE BOX OFFICE
FOR WEEK ENDING
MARCH 2, 2025
MY OSCAR BALLOT: Who I
Pick to Win at the 97th Ann...
► February (25)
► January (6)
► 2024 (37)
► 2023 (8)
► 2022 (6)
► 2021 (8)
► 2020 (7)
► 2019 (93)
► 2018 (34)
► 2017 (6)
► 2016 (2)
► 2015 (11)
► 2014 (2)
► 2013 (5)
► 2012 (17)
► 2011 (15)
► 2010 (10)
► 2009 (43)
► 2008 (86)
► 2007 (781)
► 2006 (2405)
► 2005 (5)3/24/25, 2:47 PM POPSURFING.COM: WORLDWIDE BOX OFFICE FOR WEEK ENDING MARCH 2 , 2025
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seems stunningly patient. The head of the world's biggest theater chain
AMC used its quarterly earnings report to insist 17 days and 30 days
are crazy! And he hopes more studios will shift back to at least 45
days.
Hey, it's a slow week so there's not much to say!
2025 HIT FILMS
Here's a list of all the hit films making money in 2025. My rule of
thumb is that films should gross roughly at least three times as much as
their reported budget. Some people now say a movie need only make 2
1/2 times as much as their budget but I'm sticking with the traditional
formula. Of course, we don't really know a movie's budget or the cost of
advertising or the backroom deals. Remember, just because a movie
isn't a hit from theatrical alone doesn't mean they're losing money. Far
from it. We can't dive deep into Hollywood accounting. But we can spot
the really big hits that will change careers, launch franchises and
generally pay the bills. A few international films probably made the cut
but since I don't have even a reported budget, I hate to reward them
with hit status. Also, I'll include movies from 2024 if they make the
majority of their money in 2025. Finally, I identify the country for non-
Hollywood movies. And I indicate the language Indian films were made
in to celebrate the country's diverse industry, which is vibrant and
includes much more than the Hindi-language Bollywood Westerners
knew best. Here goes.
Big Budget ($100mb+)
Detective Chinatown 1900 (China) ($125mb est)
Mid-sized budget ($21mb-$99mb)
Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy ($50mb)
Dog Man ($40mb)
Ne Zha 2 (China) ($80mb)
Nosferatu ($50mb)
Small Budget ($20mb or less)
Babygirl ($20mb)
Becoming Led Zeppelin (>$2mb)
The Brutalist ($10mb)
Chhaava (Indian/Hindi) ($15mb)
Companion ($10mb) 3/24/25, 2:47 PM POPSURFING.COM: WORLDWIDE BOX OFFICE FOR WEEK ENDING MARCH 2 , 2025
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Conclave ($20mb)
Dragon (Indian/Tamil) ($4mb)
I'm Still Here ($2mb)
One of Them Days ($14mb)
Presence ($2mb)
NOTES
mb = a film's budget in millions of US dollars; ww = worldwide
1. Ne Zha 2– Reported $80mb. Chinese animated fantasy sequel to
the 2019 smash which cost about $20m and grossed $743m. A spin-off
film Jiang Ziya was hobbled by COVID but grossed $243m. Now we
have the direct sequel Ne Zha 2, which cost $80m and finds our spunky
heroine (based on a famed mythological character around for
centuries) taking on sea monsters. The series is based on Investiture of
the Gods by Xu Zhonglin from the 16th century.
2. Captain America: Brave New World–$180mb.
3. Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy– $50mb and straight to
streaming in the world's biggest market because? Yes, it's only at
$100m. But the film made $24m this week, so even if it drops by 50%
next week and the week after and ends up at $120m, I'm calling it a hit.
The more money it makes, the stupider they look for going straight to
streaming in North America.
4. The Monkey -- $10m reported budget means this adaptation of a
Stephen King short story is a box office winner right out of the gate.
Cheap horror films are money in the bank... but 2025 has so many I
have to assume audiences will become sick and tired of them any
minute now. Not forever, not all of them, but surely the surfeit of
slasher flicks will prove too much of a good thing. Just not yet.
5. Chhaava– $15mb Indian/Hindi language action historical epic.
6. Detective Chinatown 1900– $125mb at least? This is the fourth
in a wildly popular buddy comedy mystery series. Think oh, Rush
Hour? 48 Hours? Each film cost more than the one before and grossed
more. Since we're on film #4 and it's a period movie set in San
Francisco, it's safe to assume this cost more than #3, which cost $117m
and grossed $686m worldwide. I mean, $150mb is probably more
realistic, at least, but even at that level it's still a hit. Oh and clues in
this one indicate the next film in the series will be set in London.
So, Detective Chinatown 1920, here we come .
7. A Complete Unknown–$60mb+ for this Bob Dylan biopic? That's a
lot of money for a film about Dylan going electric at Newport. I mean, I
wanted to see it but then I'm a Dylan fanatic. But $180m worldwide
seems highly unlikely to me, if not impossible. (Do other countries give
a toss about this? Is Chalamet a big enough draw for this story? I doubt3/24/25, 2:47 PM POPSURFING.COM: WORLDWIDE BOX OFFICE FOR WEEK ENDING MARCH 2 , 2025
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it.) I'm glad it was made, but it was made for too much. Like Gladiator
II, this will be seen as a commercial success, but it's not. UPDATE:
Well, it keeps going and going and maybe Chalamet is a worldwide
draw now, thanks to Wonka and the Dune films and he can bring in
people to a serious drama like this. More power to him. It's now at
$120m and grossed an excellent $15m this week. If it gets close to
$150m, I'll happily eat crow and call it a hit. It's already a good example
of a movie that may not be technically profitable from box office alone
but is clearly a financial success story that will be a valuable title in
anyone's library, pulling in plenty via rentals and sales and cable and
streaming and the like. Now where's the sequel where Dylan goes born
again Christian? Or the spin-off telling the story of Joan Baez?
Seriously, that one should be done like, now.
8. Paddington in Peru–$90mb? Sadly, three times is not the charm
artistically or commercially for this once-perfect franchise.
9. Mickey 17–$120mb for director Bong Joon-ho's slapstick sci-fi
comedy. Once again, a tip of the hat to actor Robert Pattinson for
forging a very interesting career.
10. Dog Man– A reported $40mb. It's always good to gross your
budget on opening week. Plus, the books are funny, the reviews are
good, the audience response is great and it has the rest of the world to
open in. So get ready for Dog Man 2.
11. Dragon– $4mb for this Indian/Tamil coming of age comedy
drama. A young guy gets too clever with a crooked path to riches,
endangering his job, his relationships and his family's reputation. Can
he reform? Does he want to?
12. Last Breath–$24mb for this Nicolas Cage deep-sea diving drama.
13. The Brutalist– $10mb; Adrien Brody in this architect-as-hero
period drama. I'm not a fan of the film but I am delighted to see any
passion project this unlikely make money. Truly.
14. Moana 2– $150mb. Is the budget lower since it was intended for
tv, at first? Or higher because they had to rethink everything? Disney
says it cost $150mb, just like the original. You can bet Dwayne Johnson
gets more than his share of coconuts, but that won't matter with a hit
like this.
15. Sonic The Hedgehog 3– $120mb
16. Creation of the Gods 2: Demon Force–$110mb? Creation of the
Gods is a live action fantasy trilogy that was shot all at once over an 18
month period, a la Lord of the Rings. Since the first part cost $110m,
presumably parts two and three cost at least as much, though their
initial releases were delayed because of time-consuming special effects.
And guess what? Like Ne Zha 1 and 2, this too is based on Investiture
of the Gods, making Ming dynasty author Xu Zhonglin the hottest
scribe in town. Yes, there are a handful of English translations of the
tales, but none of them received a single professional review and only
one even has a handful of reader reviews, so I would be wary. I'd really
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And I'm still waiting for a good translation of the epic from
which Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon was drawn.
17. Heart Eyes–$18mb for rom/com slash horror film.
18. I'm Still Here– this Brazilian Oscar contender has no reported
budget, though one Portuguese article says $1.5m, which certainly
sounds reasonable, so I'll call it at $2mb. It's a success even if it cost
three times that.
19. The Unbreakable Boy–heartwarming family film about little boy
who has a rare bone disease and autism, but also has a zest for life that
wins over everyone.
20. Mufasa: The Lion King– $200mb.
21. Conclave– a reported $20mb for this Vatican thriller means this is
a hit. This is exactly the sort of film that can play and play in theaters.
22. One of Them Days– $14mb. It's always good to gross your
budget during a film's opening week. So yea for producer Issa Rae and
this comedy starring Keke Palmer and SZA. (What an opening week for
SZA! Her movie opened well and she made my list of The 250 Best
Albums of the 21st Century...So Far.)
23. Boonie Bears: Future Reborn–$50mb? This once low budget
animated franchise keeps getting bigger and bigger at the box office.
Film #9 grossed $220m and #10 grossed $270m. And then it all
crashed back to earth with movie #11, which is topping out at about
$110m, almost 60% lower than the last one. They won't lose money on
this, but I'm taking it off my list of theatrical hits for the year. They
need to lower the budget for #12 or give it a rest or something. I mean,
none of them seem well reviewed, so quality isn't exactly the issue here.
All good things come to an end.
24. Legend of the Condor Heroes: The Gallants–No budget available. A
wuxia martial arts period adventure film written and directed by the
legendary Tsui Hark. It's based on part of the novel of the same name
by Jin Yong. According to one report it's the highest grossing wuxia
film at the Chinese box office. That would mean it made more than
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and every local box office hit. Mostly
Hark would be competing with himself. His budgets bounce up and
down, from the massive $200mb for both The Battle at Lake Changjin
1 and 2 (which he co-directed), and $60mb for some Detective Dee
movies and down to $20mb or $30mb for various other flicks. So it's
quite possible this is a hit, but without any reported budget, I am loathe
to name it one. If they make a sequel, I'll then consider this one a hit!
When they make more, surely a movie must be a winner.
25. Babygirl– $20mb for this Nicole Kidman sexy drama about a
powerful businesswoman finding her kink with a younger, dominating
man...her intern, no less! No milk was harmed in the making of this
movie. Now one friend and various media stories go back and forth on
Kidman and the seemingly endless streaming movies and miniseries
and movies she's been making, most of them perhaps commercial but
certainly not artistic hits. Is she nobly getting projects made when3/24/25, 2:47 PM POPSURFING.COM: WORLDWIDE BOX OFFICE FOR WEEK ENDING MARCH 2 , 2025
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people need to work? Keeping herself a significant box office draw
worldwide (such as with this sexy winner) at an age when many women
used to find work difficult? Or tarnishing her significant cachet by
turning out junk? I'll withhold judgment critically since I haven't
actually watched many of her recent projects. But I would definitely say
that commercially at least, Kidman is approaching her 60s in as
bankable a spot as any woman–and more than most men–in
Hollywood.
26. Flight Risk–$25mb for director Mel Gibson action film starring
Mark Walhberg.
27. Companion– A reported $10mb for this sci-fi horror comedy.
Great reviews means this one should have a long run at the box office.
28. Love Hurts–$18mb for action comedy starring Ke Huy Quan and
Ariana DeBose. This is no way to follow-up winning an Oscar!
29. Becoming Led Zeppelin –Long-gestating doc broke into the Top
10 on opening weekend, playing on IMAX screens only. In its second
weekend, the film has an excellent hold. This traditional doc (talking
heads, concert footage) has already grossed $6m, which is serious
money for this type of film. There is no reported budget, but given all
that I know, it seems likely the total was $2mb or less, so this is a
winner.
30. Exorcism Chronicles: The Beginning–A Korean animated horror
film about a priest partnering with magic-wielding monks to battle a
demon and protect a child. We just don't get animated films like that in
the U.S. Maybe Ralph Bakshi should have moved overseas to get his
projects made?
31. Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX-Beginning–$1m / $TK? This
film is pulled from the first episode(s) of the new season of a long-
running anime series. So it's probably all gravy and just good pr for the
new season launch.
THE CHART AND HOW IT IS COMPILED
This column is a week by week tracking of box office around the
world. It is compiled by pulling from every possible source: ComScore,
Box Office Mojo, Variety, Hollywood Reporter, Deadline, charts for
countries like China and India and South Korea, individual stories in
trade or general interest newspapers, Wikipedia and anyone else
discussing box office.
ComScore Weekly Global Box Office Chart
The weekly charts contain the total gross for every movie in theaters
around the world during the last seven days. If a movie opens on a
Thursday, we include all the box office from Thursday through
Sunday. If it opens on a Tuesday night, we cover all six days. If it
opens on a Sunday (as some movies do in India or wherever,
depending on holidays), then we include the box office for that one
day. If a movie was released before the current week, we include the
box office for all seven days. Why ignore the box office from Monday3/24/25, 2:47 PM POPSURFING.COM: WORLDWIDE BOX OFFICE FOR WEEK ENDING MARCH 2 , 2025
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