With Jurassic World‘s successful opening internationally on Wednesday and the early results from the film’s continued rollout today, Universal Pictures International’s 2015 box office grosses have crossed $2 billion, the fastest that any studio has reached this milestone in history. UPI has overtaken the record set by 20th Century Fox in 2010, which reached $2 billion on June 15 of that year. This also marks the second time in Universal’s 103-year history that the studio has reached $2 billion at the international box office, besting a previous record climb set on September 17, 2013. The announcement was made today by Duncan Clark, President of Distribution, UPI.
“Our continued success this year has been driven by the studio’s ability to build new franchises such as ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’ and to nurture our homegrown franchises, which include the ‘Pitch Perfect’ and ‘Fast & Furious’ series,” said Clark. “We have benefitted from strategic dating choices, allowing our tentpole films breathing room to reach their full potential at the international box office. This was truly a team effort across the globe. We are proud to share this accomplishment with not only our leadership in London and Los Angeles, but with our local teams who worked tirelessly to make this one of the most exciting years in our studio’s history.”
Jurassic World, the long-awaited next installment of Steven Spielberg’s groundbreaking “Jurassic Park” series, directed by Colin Trevorrow and starring Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard, will have opened in 45 territories through today. On Wednesday, China opened No. 1 with an impressive $17.24 million (RMB 107M) to become the sixth-biggest debut for a foreign film ever in China. It is the third foreign film ever to cross RMB 100M on its first day, where the opening day does not fall on a weekend or national holiday. Other No. 1 openings on Wednesday include Belgium, Egypt, France, Indonesia, Philippines, French Switzerland and Trinidad. Jurassic World opens in an additional 21 territories tomorrow.
As far as other 2015 international highlights, Fifty Shades of Grey is studio’s highest-grossing R-rated film of all time. The film has grossed $403.6 million at the international box office.
Vin Diesel, Paul Walker and Dwayne Johnson led the all-star returning cast of Fast & Furious 7 to a gross of more than $1.16 billion at the international box office. Among countless records, Fast & Furious 7 was the fastest film ever to cross the $1 billion threshold worldwide in only 17 days, the highest-grossing film ever in China ($390.8 million), and the third-highest-grossing film at the international box office ever, joining the ranks of Avatar and Titanic.
Pitch Perfect 2 is off to a great start at the international box office. The film, directed by Elizabeth Banks and starring a cast of new and returning favorites, has grossed $90 million in 46 territories. Pitch Perfect 2 opens in an additional 12 territories in the coming weeks.
Movies also coming from UPI this summer include Ted 2, the follow-up to the highest-grossing original R-rated comedy of all time, from writer, director and voice star Seth MacFarlane; Minions, Illumination Entertainment and Universal’s comedy adventure that stars the voices of Sandra Bullock and Jon Hamm; Trainwreck, the latest film from director Judd Apatow, written by and starring breakout comedy star Amy Schumer; and Straight Outta Compton, the story of the meteoric rise and fall of N.W.A., which is directed by F. Gary Gray.
Later this year, writer, director, producer M. Night Shyamalan returns to the genre that launched his career in a new original thriller, The Visit, produced by Jason Blum; Everest, an epic adventure from Universal, Cross Creek and Working Title, inspired by the incredible events surrounding an attempt to reach the summit of the world’s highest mountain that is directed by Baltasar Kormákur; the drama Steve Jobs, from the minds of director Danny Boyle and writer Aaron Sorkin, produced by Mark Gordon, Guymon Casady, Scott Rudin and Christian Colson; the haunting gothic horror story from Legendary directed by Guillermo del Toro, Crimson Peak; the drama, By the Sea, the new film from writer/director Angelina Jolie Pitt, starring Brad Pitt and Jolie Pitt; and Legendary’s horror-comedy, Krampus.
