It has been an extremely healthy bounce-back year for the box office and that has only continued into this blockbuster summer movie season. One of the movies that have set the box office a blaze of late has been Elvis. After an impressive opening weekend in the United States last week, the musical biopic shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon. Especially overseas where the film has made another $15.7 million this weekend on 8,305 screens in 57 international markets.
There are many impressive things to note about that number, but arguably the most notable is that Elvis only had a 28% drop-off in hold over markets. More specifically the film has only had a 2% drop-off in Denmark, a 13% drop-off in both Australia and Poland, and a 14% drop-off in Germany. Other markets worth highlighting are Israel, Belgium, and the United Kingdom which had only a 20%, 25%, and 27% drop off respectively. In terms of new markets, Japan had the biggest opening market this week taking in $1.1 million on 407 screens. This brings the overseas total to $46.2 million and the worldwide total to an amazing $113.5 million. Elvis will look to continue his reign at the box office with the film opening next in Korea on July 13 and in Latin America the following day on July 14.
Elvis is another great sign that people around the world are flooding back to the movies. Especially the older demographic who aren’t really interested in seeing dinosaurs walk the Earth or another superhero movie. It helps that Elvis is still such a recognizable icon today, but even with that, the film is just a good time at the movies in its own right. What director Baz Luhrmann brought to this musical epic was his unique visual style that emphasized the greatness of Elvis while also showing the very human side of this famous legend.
Unlike several other modern biopics based on music icons, Elvis refuses to sugarcoat the story. It tells the lesser-known story of Elvis’ kind soul and talent getting manipulated by greed while also displaying the singer’s inner flaws. Elvis was a relatable, uniquely told, and well-made tragedy, as well as a bittersweet story of a talented artist never reaching their full potential because of unexpected curve balls. What adds to those tough themes are Austin Butler and Tom Hanks’ incredibly transformative performances that need to be seen in a theater to be truly believed.
All this is more than reflected in this film’s continued box office success. The positive word of mouth is also going to help this musical love letter stay in the box office conversation in the coming weeks despite the growing number of new releases. It seems Elvis isn’t leaving the building anytime soon.