Box Office: 'Paddington' Kills (Overseas) As 'Sonic 3' Tops 'Warcraft' (Globally)
Lionsgate notches its third-straight "good enough" programmer as 'Flight Risk' tops with a $12 million weekend as the Oscars give a boost to some of this year's nominees.
Paddington in Peru is (eventually) coming to get… you!
Although it doesn’t open in North America until President’s Day/Valentine’s Day weekend, the third installment of the Paddington franchise has been playing here and there overseas since November 2024. So, no, it’s not exactly the highest-grossing “new release” of this year. The third entry in the always overseas-skewing franchise has earned $83 million thus far. That includes $9.3 million from territories represented by Sony and $43 million from the United Kingdom. What? More than half of its earnings are from the UK. Bridget Jones has fainted from the shock while Johnny English has begun double-chugging those martinis he uses to silence the screams of all the A) men he’s killed and B) women he failed to protect.
By the way, if you’re curious why Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy is getting a theatrical release in most overseas markets while being released on Peacock in North America, it’s because Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason made $24 million domestically in 2016 (compared to $72 million in 2001 and $41 million in 2004) while earning $60 million in the UK and $207 million worldwide. I’m not saying I agree with the decision, as generational nostalgia may have led to a domestic box office bump for this fourth installment, but it’s not illogical. If we ever get a Johnny English: Legacies, I’d expect it to skip theatrical and go straight to Peacock in North America as well.
Paddington earned $76 million domestically in 2015 while earning (starting in late 2014) $250 million worldwide on a $55 million budget. Paddington 2 began its international roll-out in late 2017 before debuting domestically over the 2018 MLK weekend. Warner Bros. subbed in for the Weinstein Company for… reasons… as the domestic distributor. The critically acclaimed sequel earned $41 million in North America but $241 million worldwide on a $40 million budget. A cheaper sequel earning less in North America but more overseas for a near-equal global cume makes Paddington the Has Fallen of kid-friendly theatrical franchises, but with (not yet having seen Paddington in Peru… Paddington Stare *activated*) 95% fewer first-act massacres, scary foreign baddies and righteous head stabbings.
Paddington in Peru, directed not by Paul King but by Dougal Wilson, will open domestically alongside Captain America: Brave New World. This, alongside Bridget Jones 4 opening overseas on the same weekend, seems like a “when you make God bleed, people will cease to believe in Him” power move. Does the online obsession with Paddington 2 correlate with real-world adoration for the spectacular sequel and thus position Paddington 3 as a relative breakout sequel in North America? Maybe! Will Captain America 4, Paddington 3 and Bridget Jones 4 become relative #YouCanSeeThemAll successes? Probably! Can Sam Wilson do what Steve Rogers never could by not getting his ass kicked in the UK by both Paddington and Bridget Jones? Doubtful!