Full Article Text
S U N D AY, F E B R U A RY 0 9 , 2 0 2 5
WORLDWIDE BOX OFFICE FOR WEEK
ENDING FEBRUARY 9, 2025
WORLDWIDE BOX OFFICE FOR WEEK ENDING FEBRUARY 9,
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 –$650m / $1.096b worldwide total
2. Detective Chinatown 1900– $124m / $384m ww
3. Boonie Bears: Future Reborn– $27m / $87m ww
4. Dog Man– $25m / $66m ww
5. Creation of the Gods 2: Demon Force–$24m / $152m ww
6. Mufasa: The Lion King– $18m / $671m ww
7. Operation Hadal–$13m / $48m ww
8. A Complete Unknown–$12m / $90m ww
9. Companion– $12m / $27m ww
10. Paddington in Peru–$11m / $104m ww
11. Sonic The Hedgehog 3 –$16m /$472m ww
12. Babygirl– $10m / $58m ww
13. Flight Risk–$9m / $34m ww
14. Heart Eyes–$9m ww debut
15. The Brutalist– $7m / $25m ww
16. Love Hurts–$7m ww debutM 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)
Moving A Loved One Into
AssistedMore Create Blog Sign In
POPSURFING.COM3/24/25, 2:54 PM POPSURFING.COM: WORLDWIDE BOX OFFICE FOR WEEK ENDING FEBRUAR Y 9, 2025
https://popsurfing.blogspot.com/2025/02/worldwide-box-office-for-w eek-ending_9.html 1/8
17. Legend of the Condor Heroes: The Gallants–$8m / $86m ww
18. Conclave– $5m / $92m ww
19. Wicked– $4m / $723m ww
20. Den of Thieves 2: Pantera–$4m / $54m ww
21. One of Them Days– $4m / $39m ww
22. Wolf Man–$3m / $33m ww
23. Becoming Led Zeppelin–$3m ww debut
24. Moana 2– $2m / $1,039b ww
25. Hitman2–$2m / $15m ww
26. Secret: Untold Melody–$2m / $4m ww
27. September 5–$2m / $4m ww
28. Gladiator II–$1m / $462m ww
29. Nosferatu– $1m / $173m ww
30. I'm Still Here– $1m / $22m ww
31. Better Man–$1m / $20m ww
32. Presence– $1m / $8m ww
33. The Three Investigators: Carpathian Dog aka Die Drei ??? Und Der
Karpatenhund–$1m / $7m 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
The Chinese box office continues to set records. Three different movies
have proven big winners: the eleventh in the Boonie Bears animated
franchise, the fourth in the live action Detective Chinatown franchise
and the animated blockbuster Ne Zha 2. It is now the first film in
history to gross $1 billion in one market alone. The previous record
holder was Star Wars: The Force Awakens, which grossed $936.7m in
North America alone. (That's a good thing since it cost a reported
$500mb!) Worldwide it hit $2b in all. Will Ne Zha 2 match it?
Unlikely. The original grossed more than $700m in China alone, but in
North America it grossed less than $4m. In the entire rest of the world
it grossed less than $40m.
Because it's Super Bowl weekend, not much is happening in the U.S.
But next weekend we'll see the worldwide launch of Captain America: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
NYCD Cheat Sheet
The Best Books Of All Time -- A
(Partial) List Of ...
The Best Books Of All Time -- A
(Partial) List Of ...
Best TV Shows Of All Time -- A
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, 2:54 PM POPSURFING.COM: WORLDWIDE BOX OFFICE FOR WEEK ENDING FEBRUAR Y 9, 2025
https://popsurfing.blogspot.com/2025/02/worldwide-box-office-for-w eek-ending_9.html 2/8
Brave New World. Will Anthony Mackie win fans as the new Cap?
Early tracking looks good for opening weekend and it sure would help
if the movie is actually any good. We shall see.
While we wait, I'm launching a new permanent feature: a list of the
movies that have proven hits from theatrical alone. I'll group them in
three categories: big budget ($100m+), mid-sized (hmm, maybe
$21mb-$99mb) and small budget ($20mb or less). Blockbusters can
get you only so far; for theatrical to succeed, we need all types of
movies: low budget horror flicks, mid-sized movies for adults or
potential offbeat franchises and would-be blockbusters.
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)
Boonie Bears: Future Reborn ($50mb?)
Dog Man ($40mb)
Ne Zha 2 ($80mb)
Nosferatu ($50mb)
Small Budget ($20mb or less)
Babygirl ($20mb)
The Brutalist ($10mb)
Companion ($10mb)
Conclave ($20mb; must gross $106m to belong on this list) ► 2023 (8)
► 2022 (6)
► 2021 (8)
► 2020 (7)
► 2019 (93)
► 2018 (34)
► 2017 (6)
► 2016 (2)
► 2015 (11)
► 2014 (2)
► 2013 (5)
► 2012 (17)
► 2011 (15)
► 2010 (10)
► 2009 (43)
► 2008 (86)
► 2007 (781)
► 2006 (2405)
► 2005 (5)3/24/25, 2:54 PM POPSURFING.COM: WORLDWIDE BOX OFFICE FOR WEEK ENDING FEBRUAR Y 9, 2025
https://popsurfing.blogspot.com/2025/02/worldwide-box-office-for-w eek-ending_9.html 3/8
I'm Still Here ($?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. 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 .
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. 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 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.
6. Mufasa: The Lion King– $200mb.
7. Operation Hadal–$150mb. In director Dante Lam's Chinese action
film, mercenaries have taken over a deep sea platform in Chinese3/24/25, 2:54 PM POPSURFING.COM: WORLDWIDE BOX OFFICE FOR WEEK ENDING FEBRUAR Y 9, 2025
https://popsurfing.blogspot.com/2025/02/worldwide-box-office-for-w eek-ending_9.html 4/8
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.
8. 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.
9. Companion– A reported $10mb for this sci-fi horror comedy.
Great reviews means this one should have a long run at the box office.
10. Paddington in Peru–$90mb? Sadly, three times is not the charm
artistically for this once-perfect franchise.
11. Sonic The Hedgehog 3– $120mb
12. 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.
13. Flight Risk–$25mb for director Mel Gibson action film starring
Mark Walhberg.
14. Heart Eyes–$18mb for a Valentine's Day-themed horror flick.
15. The Brutalist– $10mb; Adrien Brody in this architect-as-hero
period drama.
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. 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.
18. 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.
19. 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 the Part One alone.
20. Den of Thieves 2: Pantera–$40mb for Gerard Butler action flick.
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.)3/24/25, 2:54 PM POPSURFING.COM: WORLDWIDE BOX OFFICE FOR WEEK ENDING FEBRUAR Y 9, 2025
https://popsurfing.blogspot.com/2025/02/worldwide-box-office-for-w eek-ending_9.html 5/8
22. Wolf Man–$25mb
23. Becoming Led Zeppelin–Long-gestating doc breaks into the Top 10
on opening weekend, playing on IMAX screens only.
24. Moana 2– 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.
25. 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.
26. 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.
27. September 5–No reported budget.
28. Gladiator II–$250mb for Ridley Scott sword and sandals epic. It
needed $750m worldwide for me to call it a hit from theatrical alone
but $600m would be just fine. It's got swords. It's got sandals. Does it
have legs? No, it does not. This is the sort of film that everyone thinks
of as a hit, but actually didn't deliver. The talk of Gladiator 3 is
nonsense. Maybe many years from now they'll use the name to launch a
new franchise, but this is the end for now.
29. Nosferatu– $50mb for Robert Eggers, acclaimed director of The
Witch, The Lighthouse and The Northman. That had his biggest budget
and was not a commercial success. I saw him as more of an arthouse
guy. But backers stuck with him, gave him a big budget again and a
starry cast for a remake of Nosferatu, which I guess is classier than
remaking Dracula but still a hard sell. And on Christmas Day? That's
counter-programming I was not behind. Happily, I was wrong and
Eggers looks more like the next Peter Jackson/Guillermo Del Toro than
a guy given big budgets too fast or for the wrong projects. Good for
him.
30. 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.
31. Better Man–$110mb!!! I just gasped when I saw the budget. Oh
dear. I love the craziness of this movie. But that's a LOT of money for3/24/25, 2:54 PM POPSURFING.COM: WORLDWIDE BOX OFFICE FOR WEEK ENDING FEBRUAR Y 9, 2025
https://popsurfing.blogspot.com/2025/02/worldwide-box-office-for-w eek-ending_9.html 6/8
Newer Post Older Postsuch a nutty idea. And forget the nutty idea. It's a musical biopic about
an artist whose music I really like but has virtually no profile outside
the UK. For heaven's sake, Queen is one of the biggest acts in the world
and their biopic cost literally half of this one. Better Man would have
been a big gamble at $30mb.
32. Presence– $2mb for retired director Steven Soderbergh's first of
two movies out in 2025.
33. The Three Investigators: Carpathian Dog aka Die Drei ??? Und Der
Karpatenhund–No reported budget.
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 total
worldwide box office...and that's how much it made during the past
seven days. Naturally, territories and movies sometimes fall through
the cracks but we are as up to date as we can be, given our dependence
on other outlets for the basic info.
First, I list box office on every film we can from around the world. Any
movie grossing at least US $1 million will be on here if we get info on
it. Then I give some thoughts on the box office overall and individual
films. That's followed by notes where I give info on each movie, with a
focus on films not from Hollywood. So Despicable Me 4 you know. But
a small Korean comedy or French drama? That I'll identify for you as
best I can.
--30--
POSTED BY MICHAEL GILTZ AT 10:32 PM
N O C O M M E N T S :
Post a Comment
Home3/24/25, 2:54 PM POPSURFING.COM: WORLDWIDE BOX OFFICE FOR WEEK ENDING FEBRUAR Y 9, 2025
https://popsurfing.blogspot.com/2025/02/worldwide-box-office-for-w eek-ending_9.html 7/8
WORLDWIDE BOX OFFICE FOR WEEK
ENDING FEBRUARY 9, 2025
WORLDWIDE BOX OFFICE FOR WEEK ENDING FEBRUARY 9,
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 –$650m / $1.096b worldwide total
2. Detective Chinatown 1900– $124m / $384m ww
3. Boonie Bears: Future Reborn– $27m / $87m ww
4. Dog Man– $25m / $66m ww
5. Creation of the Gods 2: Demon Force–$24m / $152m ww
6. Mufasa: The Lion King– $18m / $671m ww
7. Operation Hadal–$13m / $48m ww
8. A Complete Unknown–$12m / $90m ww
9. Companion– $12m / $27m ww
10. Paddington in Peru–$11m / $104m ww
11. Sonic The Hedgehog 3 –$16m /$472m ww
12. Babygirl– $10m / $58m ww
13. Flight Risk–$9m / $34m ww
14. Heart Eyes–$9m ww debut
15. The Brutalist– $7m / $25m ww
16. Love Hurts–$7m ww debutM 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)
Moving A Loved One Into
AssistedMore Create Blog Sign In
POPSURFING.COM3/24/25, 2:54 PM POPSURFING.COM: WORLDWIDE BOX OFFICE FOR WEEK ENDING FEBRUAR Y 9, 2025
https://popsurfing.blogspot.com/2025/02/worldwide-box-office-for-w eek-ending_9.html 1/8
17. Legend of the Condor Heroes: The Gallants–$8m / $86m ww
18. Conclave– $5m / $92m ww
19. Wicked– $4m / $723m ww
20. Den of Thieves 2: Pantera–$4m / $54m ww
21. One of Them Days– $4m / $39m ww
22. Wolf Man–$3m / $33m ww
23. Becoming Led Zeppelin–$3m ww debut
24. Moana 2– $2m / $1,039b ww
25. Hitman2–$2m / $15m ww
26. Secret: Untold Melody–$2m / $4m ww
27. September 5–$2m / $4m ww
28. Gladiator II–$1m / $462m ww
29. Nosferatu– $1m / $173m ww
30. I'm Still Here– $1m / $22m ww
31. Better Man–$1m / $20m ww
32. Presence– $1m / $8m ww
33. The Three Investigators: Carpathian Dog aka Die Drei ??? Und Der
Karpatenhund–$1m / $7m 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
The Chinese box office continues to set records. Three different movies
have proven big winners: the eleventh in the Boonie Bears animated
franchise, the fourth in the live action Detective Chinatown franchise
and the animated blockbuster Ne Zha 2. It is now the first film in
history to gross $1 billion in one market alone. The previous record
holder was Star Wars: The Force Awakens, which grossed $936.7m in
North America alone. (That's a good thing since it cost a reported
$500mb!) Worldwide it hit $2b in all. Will Ne Zha 2 match it?
Unlikely. The original grossed more than $700m in China alone, but in
North America it grossed less than $4m. In the entire rest of the world
it grossed less than $40m.
Because it's Super Bowl weekend, not much is happening in the U.S.
But next weekend we'll see the worldwide launch of Captain America: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
NYCD Cheat Sheet
The Best Books Of All Time -- A
(Partial) List Of ...
The Best Books Of All Time -- A
(Partial) List Of ...
Best TV Shows Of All Time -- A
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, 2:54 PM POPSURFING.COM: WORLDWIDE BOX OFFICE FOR WEEK ENDING FEBRUAR Y 9, 2025
https://popsurfing.blogspot.com/2025/02/worldwide-box-office-for-w eek-ending_9.html 2/8
Brave New World. Will Anthony Mackie win fans as the new Cap?
Early tracking looks good for opening weekend and it sure would help
if the movie is actually any good. We shall see.
While we wait, I'm launching a new permanent feature: a list of the
movies that have proven hits from theatrical alone. I'll group them in
three categories: big budget ($100m+), mid-sized (hmm, maybe
$21mb-$99mb) and small budget ($20mb or less). Blockbusters can
get you only so far; for theatrical to succeed, we need all types of
movies: low budget horror flicks, mid-sized movies for adults or
potential offbeat franchises and would-be blockbusters.
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)
Boonie Bears: Future Reborn ($50mb?)
Dog Man ($40mb)
Ne Zha 2 ($80mb)
Nosferatu ($50mb)
Small Budget ($20mb or less)
Babygirl ($20mb)
The Brutalist ($10mb)
Companion ($10mb)
Conclave ($20mb; must gross $106m to belong on this list) ► 2023 (8)
► 2022 (6)
► 2021 (8)
► 2020 (7)
► 2019 (93)
► 2018 (34)
► 2017 (6)
► 2016 (2)
► 2015 (11)
► 2014 (2)
► 2013 (5)
► 2012 (17)
► 2011 (15)
► 2010 (10)
► 2009 (43)
► 2008 (86)
► 2007 (781)
► 2006 (2405)
► 2005 (5)3/24/25, 2:54 PM POPSURFING.COM: WORLDWIDE BOX OFFICE FOR WEEK ENDING FEBRUAR Y 9, 2025
https://popsurfing.blogspot.com/2025/02/worldwide-box-office-for-w eek-ending_9.html 3/8
I'm Still Here ($?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. 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 .
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. 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 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.
6. Mufasa: The Lion King– $200mb.
7. Operation Hadal–$150mb. In director Dante Lam's Chinese action
film, mercenaries have taken over a deep sea platform in Chinese3/24/25, 2:54 PM POPSURFING.COM: WORLDWIDE BOX OFFICE FOR WEEK ENDING FEBRUAR Y 9, 2025
https://popsurfing.blogspot.com/2025/02/worldwide-box-office-for-w eek-ending_9.html 4/8
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.
8. 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.
9. Companion– A reported $10mb for this sci-fi horror comedy.
Great reviews means this one should have a long run at the box office.
10. Paddington in Peru–$90mb? Sadly, three times is not the charm
artistically for this once-perfect franchise.
11. Sonic The Hedgehog 3– $120mb
12. 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.
13. Flight Risk–$25mb for director Mel Gibson action film starring
Mark Walhberg.
14. Heart Eyes–$18mb for a Valentine's Day-themed horror flick.
15. The Brutalist– $10mb; Adrien Brody in this architect-as-hero
period drama.
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. 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.
18. 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.
19. 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 the Part One alone.
20. Den of Thieves 2: Pantera–$40mb for Gerard Butler action flick.
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.)3/24/25, 2:54 PM POPSURFING.COM: WORLDWIDE BOX OFFICE FOR WEEK ENDING FEBRUAR Y 9, 2025
https://popsurfing.blogspot.com/2025/02/worldwide-box-office-for-w eek-ending_9.html 5/8
22. Wolf Man–$25mb
23. Becoming Led Zeppelin–Long-gestating doc breaks into the Top 10
on opening weekend, playing on IMAX screens only.
24. Moana 2– 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.
25. 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.
26. 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.
27. September 5–No reported budget.
28. Gladiator II–$250mb for Ridley Scott sword and sandals epic. It
needed $750m worldwide for me to call it a hit from theatrical alone
but $600m would be just fine. It's got swords. It's got sandals. Does it
have legs? No, it does not. This is the sort of film that everyone thinks
of as a hit, but actually didn't deliver. The talk of Gladiator 3 is
nonsense. Maybe many years from now they'll use the name to launch a
new franchise, but this is the end for now.
29. Nosferatu– $50mb for Robert Eggers, acclaimed director of The
Witch, The Lighthouse and The Northman. That had his biggest budget
and was not a commercial success. I saw him as more of an arthouse
guy. But backers stuck with him, gave him a big budget again and a
starry cast for a remake of Nosferatu, which I guess is classier than
remaking Dracula but still a hard sell. And on Christmas Day? That's
counter-programming I was not behind. Happily, I was wrong and
Eggers looks more like the next Peter Jackson/Guillermo Del Toro than
a guy given big budgets too fast or for the wrong projects. Good for
him.
30. 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.
31. Better Man–$110mb!!! I just gasped when I saw the budget. Oh
dear. I love the craziness of this movie. But that's a LOT of money for3/24/25, 2:54 PM POPSURFING.COM: WORLDWIDE BOX OFFICE FOR WEEK ENDING FEBRUAR Y 9, 2025
https://popsurfing.blogspot.com/2025/02/worldwide-box-office-for-w eek-ending_9.html 6/8
Newer Post Older Postsuch a nutty idea. And forget the nutty idea. It's a musical biopic about
an artist whose music I really like but has virtually no profile outside
the UK. For heaven's sake, Queen is one of the biggest acts in the world
and their biopic cost literally half of this one. Better Man would have
been a big gamble at $30mb.
32. Presence– $2mb for retired director Steven Soderbergh's first of
two movies out in 2025.
33. The Three Investigators: Carpathian Dog aka Die Drei ??? Und Der
Karpatenhund–No reported budget.
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 total
worldwide box office...and that's how much it made during the past
seven days. Naturally, territories and movies sometimes fall through
the cracks but we are as up to date as we can be, given our dependence
on other outlets for the basic info.
First, I list box office on every film we can from around the world. Any
movie grossing at least US $1 million will be on here if we get info on
it. Then I give some thoughts on the box office overall and individual
films. That's followed by notes where I give info on each movie, with a
focus on films not from Hollywood. So Despicable Me 4 you know. But
a small Korean comedy or French drama? That I'll identify for you as
best I can.
--30--
POSTED BY MICHAEL GILTZ AT 10:32 PM
N O C O M M E N T S :
Post a Comment
Home3/24/25, 2:54 PM POPSURFING.COM: WORLDWIDE BOX OFFICE FOR WEEK ENDING FEBRUAR Y 9, 2025
https://popsurfing.blogspot.com/2025/02/worldwide-box-office-for-w eek-ending_9.html 7/8