Hollywood Can No Longer Count On Overseas Box Office Even For U.S. Hits

'Twisters' is just the latest tentpole to earn decent (or exceptional) domestic grosses only to stumble or flop outside of North America

Universal will be releasing Twisters onto PVOD beginning tomorrow. Comcast films that open above $50 million (the Lee Isaac Chung-directed disaster sequel debuted last month with $81 million) are supposed to get 31-day windows. This isn’t the first “exception,” as Fast X opened with $67 million and cratered fast (finishing with $146 million) before arriving on PVOD just 22 days after its mid-May launch. However, Twisters has legged out over the last 29 days, earning $222 million and counting with $35-$55 million left in the can. Why so early?

Domestic distributor Universal split the $155 million budget and is splitting the theatrical pot with overseas distributor Warner Bros. Discovery. Comcast might be offering up Twisters earlier on PVOD, confident that it won’t hurt its box office, to get some “new money from new consumers” revenue to compensate for the “missing” overseas booty. While its ≈ $255 million domestic finish is excellent and above Twister’s unadjusted $241 million, it has only earned $310 million worldwide. All signs point toward an under-$375 million finish. 

Whether one blames WBD’s “tornados = kaiju” marketing or the “nothing for overseas audiences” factor, this puts Amblin and friends in a pickle as to whether Twisters is a revived franchise or a failed IP for IP’s sake akin to Dungeons and Dragons. However, it’s not the only “big” movie to perform “fine” in North America while stumbling overseas. Inside Out 2 might clear $1 billion overseas. Deadpool & Wolverine will soon pass Joker ($1.073 billion worldwide) as the biggest R-rated grosser. But everything else is a crapshoot.