Full Article Text
S U N D AY, F E B R U A RY 1 6 , 2 0 2 5
WORLDWIDE BOX OFFICE FOR WEEK
ENDING FEBRUARY 16, 2025
WORLDWIDE BOX OFFICE FOR WEEK ENDING
FEBRUARY 16, 2025
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.
1. Ne Zha 2 –$539m / $1.635b worldwide total
2. Captain America: Brave New World–$181m ww debut
3. Detective Chinatown 1900– $60m / $444m ww
4. Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy–$34m ww debut
5. Paddington in Peru–$25m / $129m ww
6. Chhaava–$19m ww debut
7. Dog Man– $18m / $84m ww
8. Mufasa: The Lion King– $15m / $686m ww
9. God Save The Tuche–$15m ww debut
10. Boonie Bears: Future Reborn– $14m / $101m ww
11. Heart Eyes–$14m / $23m ww
12. A Complete Unknown–$9m / $99m ww
13. Creation of the Gods 2: Demon Force–$8m / $160m ww
14. Moana 2– $7m / $1,046b ww
15. Sonic The Hedgehog 3 –$7m /$479m wwM 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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16. Love Hurts–$7m / $14m ww
17. Operation Hadal–$6m / $54m ww
18. Flight Risk–$6m / $40m ww
19. Companion– $6m / $33m ww
20. The Brutalist– $6m / $31m ww
21. One of Them Days– $5m / $44m ww
22. Conclave– $4m / $96m ww
23. Nosferatu– $3m / $176m ww
24. Legend of the Condor Heroes: The Gallants–$3m / $89m ww
25. Babygirl– $3m / $61m ww
26. I'm Still Here– $3m / $25m ww
27. Becoming Led Zeppelin– $3m / $6m ww
28. Wicked– $2m / $725m ww
29. Den of Thieves 2: Pantera–$2m / $56m ww
30. The Three Investigators: Carpathian Dog aka Die Drei ??? Und Der
Karpatenhund–$2m / $9m ww
31. September 5–$2m / $6m ww
32. Wolf Man–$1m / $34m ww
33. Hitman2–$1m / $16m ww
34. Secret: Untold Melody–$1m / $5m ww
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
Anthony Mackie bears the shield for Captain America: New World
Order, the latest Marvel movie. It had a strong opening. While critics
have been very negative, audiences seem to like the movie just fine.
Let's see how week two holds up, but this will very likely be a winner.
Comparisons can be misleading since the last film in this franchise–
Captain America: Civil War–– was an Avengers movie in all respects,
with a bigger budget and $1b+ haul to show for it. This is all Cap all the
time and has a "smaller" reported budget of $180mb. If it makes
$750m they should be thrilled. Living/Rehab/Long...
WORLDWIDE BOX OFFICE
FOR WEEK ENDING
FEBRUARY 23, ...
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WORLDWIDE BOX OFFICE
FOR WEEK ENDING
FEBRUARY 16, ...
WORLDWIDE BOX OFFICE
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FILM REVIEW: "A WOMAN IS
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WORLDWIDE BOX OFFICE
FOR WEEK ENDING
FEBRUARY 2, 2025
► January (6)
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But the big news remains Ne Zha 2 in China. I'm pretty sure it beat
Star Wars: The Force Awakens and grossed $1b in just eleven days,
(one day better than that other film). The fact that it did so in just one
territory is all the more amazing. And its holds have been astonishing:
last week it grossed $650m. This week? It grossed $539m! Now Star
Wars: The Force Awakens grossed $2b in 53 days. This film is poised
to cut that record in half. I don't need to remind you that Star Wars:
The Force Awakens was the hotly anticipated seventh film in one of the
most popular franchises of all time.
Oscar season is heating up and the box office is benefitting. Both A
Complete Unknown and Conclave are crossing the $100m mark
worldwide at precisely the same time. Plus, the sorely under-
appreciated September 5 is doing some business as well. But they're all
being eclipsed when it comes to the awards that matter: the guilds. And
when it comes to the guilds, Anora is pulling away. If it wins Best
Ensemble at the SAG Awards, I'll consider this PGA, DGA and WGA
award winner a lock for Best Picture.
In other news, Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy received the best
reviews in the franchise since the original film and had a strong
opening everywhere but the US...where it went straight to streaming on
Peacock. A name brand movie with big stars in a market starved for
romantic comedies? What a wasted opportunity.
In France, the Tuches are back. In the fifth film in the series about poor
people winning the lottery and crashing the world of the rich–think
Beverly Hillbillies crossed with Married With Children –heads to
England. Unless it collapses, I'll assume this one is a winner next week.
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. Here goes.
Big Budget ($100mb+)
Detective Chinatown 1900 ($125mb est)
Mid-sized budget ($21mb-$99mb) ► 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, 2:52 PM POPSURFING.COM: WORLDWIDE BOX OFFICE FOR WEEK ENDING FEBRUAR Y 16, 2025
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Boonie Bears: Future Reborn ($50mb?)
Dog Man ($40mb)
Ne Zha 2 ($80mb)
Nosferatu ($50mb)
Small Budget ($20mb or less)
Babygirl ($20mb)
Becoming Led Zeppelin (>$2mb)
The Brutalist ($10mb)
Companion ($10mb)
Conclave ($20mb; must gross $106m to belong on this list)
I'm Still Here ($?mb but likely less than $10mb)
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 the
direct sequel Ne Zha 2 cost $80m and our spunky heroine (based on a
famed mythological character around for centuries) takes 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. 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. 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 .
4. Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy–$50mb and straight to
streaming in the world's biggest market because?
5. Paddington in Peru–$90mb? Sadly, three times is not the charm
artistically for this once-perfect franchise. 3/24/25, 2:52 PM POPSURFING.COM: WORLDWIDE BOX OFFICE FOR WEEK ENDING FEBRUAR Y 16, 2025
https://popsurfing.blogspot.com/2025/02/worldwide-box-office-for-w eek-ending_16.html 4/8
6. Chhaava–$15mb Indian/Hindi language action historical epic.
7. 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.
8. Mufasa: The Lion King– $200mb.
9. God Save The Tuche–the fifth in the French comedy series about a
lower-class family that wins the lottery and tries to crash into upper
society. This time, they have their sights set on the UK.
10. 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.
11. Heart Eyes–$18mb for rom/com slash horror film.
12. 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 doubt
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.
13. 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. And
I'm still waiting for a good translation of the epic from
which Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon was drawn.
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. Love Hurts–$18mb for action comedy starring Ke Huy Quan and
Ariana DeBose. This is no way to follow-up winning an Oscar!
17. Operation Hadal–$150mb. In director Dante Lam's Chinese action
film, mercenaries have taken over a deep sea platform in Chinese
waters and well, the Chinese Navy is not about to take that lying down.
It's a sequel to Operation Red Sea which cost $70m and grossed almost
$600m. This cost twice as much and looks like it will struggle to gross
half as much. Not good. 3/24/25, 2:52 PM POPSURFING.COM: WORLDWIDE BOX OFFICE FOR WEEK ENDING FEBRUAR Y 16, 2025
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18. Flight Risk–$25mb for director Mel Gibson action film starring
Mark Walhberg.
19. Companion– A reported $10mb for this sci-fi horror comedy.
Great reviews means this one should have a long run at the box office.
20. The Brutalist– $10mb; Adrien Brody in this architect-as-hero
period drama.
21. 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.)
22. Conclave– a reported $20mb for this Vatican thriller means this
is a hit. I do not see the point in putting it on PVOD and flooding the
market with bootlegs while potentially harming box office. This is
exactly the sort of film that can play and play in theaters.
23. Nosferatu– $50mb for Robert Eggers, acclaimed director of The
Witch, The Lighthouse and The Northman. That last film had his
biggest budget and was not a commercial success, so I saw him as more
of an arthouse guy. But backers stuck with him, gave Eggers a big
budget and a starry cast for a remake of Nosferatu, which I guess is
classier than remaking Dracula but still a hard sell. And opening on
Christmas Day? That's counter-programming I was not behind.
Happily, I was wrong and Eggers now looks more like the next Peter
Jackson/Guillermo Del Toro. Good for him.
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.
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.
26. I'm Still Here– this Brazilian Oscar contender has no
reported budget. But it's almost certainly a success story
commercially for director Walter Salles. However, it's been a
hard one to track. Usually, the film's grosses have been less
than $1m so it hasn't made my weekly chart. This week, the
film expanded in North America and grossed $1m in that
market alone. So far in North America it has made $2.6m.
Worldwide? Well, Box Office Mojo claims its worldwide gross
stands at $22m. Wow. Maybe it's been opening in markets all
over the world but never quite at the same time and never
hitting big enough numbers to be tracked by ComScore, which
only reports on the Top 10 right now. That seemed like a lot so
I jumped to Wikipedia, where some fan links to a story written
in Brazilian Portuguese and claims it's hit $99m worldwide.
Ha! Uh, no. UPDATE: Wikipedia comes through again. The3/24/25, 2:52 PM POPSURFING.COM: WORLDWIDE BOX OFFICE FOR WEEK ENDING FEBRUAR Y 16, 2025
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rogue editor has likely been blocked and the gross has been
corrected.
27. 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.
28. Wicked– $150mb for each part, so $300mb total plus beaucoup
marketing. It's a big movie! And they're made almost all their money
back from Part One alone.
29. Den of Thieves 2: Pantera–$40mb for Gerard Butler action flick.
30. The Three Investigators: Carpathian Dog aka Die Drei ??? Und Der
Karpatenhund–No reported budget.
31. September 5–No reported budget.
32. Wolf Man–$25mb
33. Hitman2–Korean action comedy. The creator of a webtoon series is
derided for the quality of his latest season...until real-life terrorists
seem to mirror his storyline and he's suddenly under suspicion by the
government. The original film grossed $18m.
34. Secret: Untold Melody–SK drama remake of a Taiwanese weepie
about a pianist whose career is cut short by tragedy...but he finds
comfort from a time-traveling woman.
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 Monday
through Thursday, as most charts do when tallying the latest weekend
and focusing on new releases?
How do we arrive at this number? We take the total worldwide box
office we have for a movie, subtract from it the previous week's total3/24/25, 2:52 PM POPSURFING.COM: WORLDWIDE BOX OFFICE FOR WEEK ENDING FEBRUAR Y 16, 2025
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WORLDWIDE BOX OFFICE FOR WEEK
ENDING FEBRUARY 16, 2025
WORLDWIDE BOX OFFICE FOR WEEK ENDING
FEBRUARY 16, 2025
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.
1. Ne Zha 2 –$539m / $1.635b worldwide total
2. Captain America: Brave New World–$181m ww debut
3. Detective Chinatown 1900– $60m / $444m ww
4. Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy–$34m ww debut
5. Paddington in Peru–$25m / $129m ww
6. Chhaava–$19m ww debut
7. Dog Man– $18m / $84m ww
8. Mufasa: The Lion King– $15m / $686m ww
9. God Save The Tuche–$15m ww debut
10. Boonie Bears: Future Reborn– $14m / $101m ww
11. Heart Eyes–$14m / $23m ww
12. A Complete Unknown–$9m / $99m ww
13. Creation of the Gods 2: Demon Force–$8m / $160m ww
14. Moana 2– $7m / $1,046b ww
15. Sonic The Hedgehog 3 –$7m /$479m wwM 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)
▼ February (25)
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16. Love Hurts–$7m / $14m ww
17. Operation Hadal–$6m / $54m ww
18. Flight Risk–$6m / $40m ww
19. Companion– $6m / $33m ww
20. The Brutalist– $6m / $31m ww
21. One of Them Days– $5m / $44m ww
22. Conclave– $4m / $96m ww
23. Nosferatu– $3m / $176m ww
24. Legend of the Condor Heroes: The Gallants–$3m / $89m ww
25. Babygirl– $3m / $61m ww
26. I'm Still Here– $3m / $25m ww
27. Becoming Led Zeppelin– $3m / $6m ww
28. Wicked– $2m / $725m ww
29. Den of Thieves 2: Pantera–$2m / $56m ww
30. The Three Investigators: Carpathian Dog aka Die Drei ??? Und Der
Karpatenhund–$2m / $9m ww
31. September 5–$2m / $6m ww
32. Wolf Man–$1m / $34m ww
33. Hitman2–$1m / $16m ww
34. Secret: Untold Melody–$1m / $5m ww
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
Anthony Mackie bears the shield for Captain America: New World
Order, the latest Marvel movie. It had a strong opening. While critics
have been very negative, audiences seem to like the movie just fine.
Let's see how week two holds up, but this will very likely be a winner.
Comparisons can be misleading since the last film in this franchise–
Captain America: Civil War–– was an Avengers movie in all respects,
with a bigger budget and $1b+ haul to show for it. This is all Cap all the
time and has a "smaller" reported budget of $180mb. If it makes
$750m they should be thrilled. Living/Rehab/Long...
WORLDWIDE BOX OFFICE
FOR WEEK ENDING
FEBRUARY 23, ...
TV and Film Must Watch List
Best Albums Of The Year -- 1924
To The Present
Music Library Artist List A-E
Music Library Artist List F-J
Music Library Artist List K-O
Music Library Artist List P-S
Music Library Artist List T-Z
Music Library List Z+ Cast
Albums and Soundtracks
Music Library List Z+ Various
Artist Compilations
Music Library Album List Z+
Holiday Music/Christma...
Best Movies Of The Year -- #1
Pick For Each Year a...
MOVIES -- Everything: The
Good, The Bad and the Ugly
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The Best Books Of All Time -- A
(Partial) List Of ...
The Best Books Of All Time -- A
(Partial) List Of ...
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Partial List Of My ...
Best Theater Of All Time -- A
(Partial) List Of Al...
1939: The Greatest Year For
Movies
WORLDWIDE BOX OFFICE
FOR WEEK ENDING
FEBRUARY 16, ...
WORLDWIDE BOX OFFICE
FOR WEEK ENDING
FEBRUARY 9, 2025
FILM REVIEW: "A WOMAN IS
A WOMAN"
THEATER REVIEW: "STILL"
WORLDWIDE BOX OFFICE
FOR WEEK ENDING
FEBRUARY 2, 2025
► January (6)
► 2024 (37)3/24/25, 2:52 PM POPSURFING.COM: WORLDWIDE BOX OFFICE FOR WEEK ENDING FEBRUAR Y 16, 2025
https://popsurfing.blogspot.com/2025/02/worldwide-box-office-for-w eek-ending_16.html 2/8
But the big news remains Ne Zha 2 in China. I'm pretty sure it beat
Star Wars: The Force Awakens and grossed $1b in just eleven days,
(one day better than that other film). The fact that it did so in just one
territory is all the more amazing. And its holds have been astonishing:
last week it grossed $650m. This week? It grossed $539m! Now Star
Wars: The Force Awakens grossed $2b in 53 days. This film is poised
to cut that record in half. I don't need to remind you that Star Wars:
The Force Awakens was the hotly anticipated seventh film in one of the
most popular franchises of all time.
Oscar season is heating up and the box office is benefitting. Both A
Complete Unknown and Conclave are crossing the $100m mark
worldwide at precisely the same time. Plus, the sorely under-
appreciated September 5 is doing some business as well. But they're all
being eclipsed when it comes to the awards that matter: the guilds. And
when it comes to the guilds, Anora is pulling away. If it wins Best
Ensemble at the SAG Awards, I'll consider this PGA, DGA and WGA
award winner a lock for Best Picture.
In other news, Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy received the best
reviews in the franchise since the original film and had a strong
opening everywhere but the US...where it went straight to streaming on
Peacock. A name brand movie with big stars in a market starved for
romantic comedies? What a wasted opportunity.
In France, the Tuches are back. In the fifth film in the series about poor
people winning the lottery and crashing the world of the rich–think
Beverly Hillbillies crossed with Married With Children –heads to
England. Unless it collapses, I'll assume this one is a winner next week.
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. Here goes.
Big Budget ($100mb+)
Detective Chinatown 1900 ($125mb est)
Mid-sized budget ($21mb-$99mb) ► 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, 2:52 PM POPSURFING.COM: WORLDWIDE BOX OFFICE FOR WEEK ENDING FEBRUAR Y 16, 2025
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Boonie Bears: Future Reborn ($50mb?)
Dog Man ($40mb)
Ne Zha 2 ($80mb)
Nosferatu ($50mb)
Small Budget ($20mb or less)
Babygirl ($20mb)
Becoming Led Zeppelin (>$2mb)
The Brutalist ($10mb)
Companion ($10mb)
Conclave ($20mb; must gross $106m to belong on this list)
I'm Still Here ($?mb but likely less than $10mb)
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 the
direct sequel Ne Zha 2 cost $80m and our spunky heroine (based on a
famed mythological character around for centuries) takes 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. 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. 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 .
4. Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy–$50mb and straight to
streaming in the world's biggest market because?
5. Paddington in Peru–$90mb? Sadly, three times is not the charm
artistically for this once-perfect franchise. 3/24/25, 2:52 PM POPSURFING.COM: WORLDWIDE BOX OFFICE FOR WEEK ENDING FEBRUAR Y 16, 2025
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6. Chhaava–$15mb Indian/Hindi language action historical epic.
7. 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.
8. Mufasa: The Lion King– $200mb.
9. God Save The Tuche–the fifth in the French comedy series about a
lower-class family that wins the lottery and tries to crash into upper
society. This time, they have their sights set on the UK.
10. 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.
11. Heart Eyes–$18mb for rom/com slash horror film.
12. 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 doubt
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.
13. 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. And
I'm still waiting for a good translation of the epic from
which Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon was drawn.
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. Love Hurts–$18mb for action comedy starring Ke Huy Quan and
Ariana DeBose. This is no way to follow-up winning an Oscar!
17. Operation Hadal–$150mb. In director Dante Lam's Chinese action
film, mercenaries have taken over a deep sea platform in Chinese
waters and well, the Chinese Navy is not about to take that lying down.
It's a sequel to Operation Red Sea which cost $70m and grossed almost
$600m. This cost twice as much and looks like it will struggle to gross
half as much. Not good. 3/24/25, 2:52 PM POPSURFING.COM: WORLDWIDE BOX OFFICE FOR WEEK ENDING FEBRUAR Y 16, 2025
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18. Flight Risk–$25mb for director Mel Gibson action film starring
Mark Walhberg.
19. Companion– A reported $10mb for this sci-fi horror comedy.
Great reviews means this one should have a long run at the box office.
20. The Brutalist– $10mb; Adrien Brody in this architect-as-hero
period drama.
21. 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.)
22. Conclave– a reported $20mb for this Vatican thriller means this
is a hit. I do not see the point in putting it on PVOD and flooding the
market with bootlegs while potentially harming box office. This is
exactly the sort of film that can play and play in theaters.
23. Nosferatu– $50mb for Robert Eggers, acclaimed director of The
Witch, The Lighthouse and The Northman. That last film had his
biggest budget and was not a commercial success, so I saw him as more
of an arthouse guy. But backers stuck with him, gave Eggers a big
budget and a starry cast for a remake of Nosferatu, which I guess is
classier than remaking Dracula but still a hard sell. And opening on
Christmas Day? That's counter-programming I was not behind.
Happily, I was wrong and Eggers now looks more like the next Peter
Jackson/Guillermo Del Toro. Good for him.
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.
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.
26. I'm Still Here– this Brazilian Oscar contender has no
reported budget. But it's almost certainly a success story
commercially for director Walter Salles. However, it's been a
hard one to track. Usually, the film's grosses have been less
than $1m so it hasn't made my weekly chart. This week, the
film expanded in North America and grossed $1m in that
market alone. So far in North America it has made $2.6m.
Worldwide? Well, Box Office Mojo claims its worldwide gross
stands at $22m. Wow. Maybe it's been opening in markets all
over the world but never quite at the same time and never
hitting big enough numbers to be tracked by ComScore, which
only reports on the Top 10 right now. That seemed like a lot so
I jumped to Wikipedia, where some fan links to a story written
in Brazilian Portuguese and claims it's hit $99m worldwide.
Ha! Uh, no. UPDATE: Wikipedia comes through again. The3/24/25, 2:52 PM POPSURFING.COM: WORLDWIDE BOX OFFICE FOR WEEK ENDING FEBRUAR Y 16, 2025
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rogue editor has likely been blocked and the gross has been
corrected.
27. 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.
28. Wicked– $150mb for each part, so $300mb total plus beaucoup
marketing. It's a big movie! And they're made almost all their money
back from Part One alone.
29. Den of Thieves 2: Pantera–$40mb for Gerard Butler action flick.
30. The Three Investigators: Carpathian Dog aka Die Drei ??? Und Der
Karpatenhund–No reported budget.
31. September 5–No reported budget.
32. Wolf Man–$25mb
33. Hitman2–Korean action comedy. The creator of a webtoon series is
derided for the quality of his latest season...until real-life terrorists
seem to mirror his storyline and he's suddenly under suspicion by the
government. The original film grossed $18m.
34. Secret: Untold Melody–SK drama remake of a Taiwanese weepie
about a pianist whose career is cut short by tragedy...but he finds
comfort from a time-traveling woman.
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 Monday
through Thursday, as most charts do when tallying the latest weekend
and focusing on new releases?
How do we arrive at this number? We take the total worldwide box
office we have for a movie, subtract from it the previous week's total3/24/25, 2:52 PM POPSURFING.COM: WORLDWIDE BOX OFFICE FOR WEEK ENDING FEBRUAR Y 16, 2025
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