Box Office: ‘Jumanji 2’ Kicks Off Overseas With $52 Million as ‘Frozen 2’ Powers Toward $1 Billion

By Rebecca Rubin

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – Disney’s “Frozen 2” skated past international box office competition again as the animated sequel propels toward the billion-dollar mark globally.

“” generated another $90 million from 48 foreign territories, boosting its worldwide weekend haul to $124.9 million. After three weekends in theaters, Disney’s musical follow-up has made $919.7 million and should cross $1 billion soon. That would make it the sixth Disney movie, along with “Avengers: Endgame,” “The Lion King,” “Aladdin,” “Toy Story 4” and “Captain Marvel,” to hit that benchmark in 2019. It’s already the eighth-biggest movie of the year globally.

Overseas, “Frozen 2” is on its way to pass “Shrek 2” ($923 million) and become the 12th highest-grossing animated movie ever. Outside of North America, China has powered the largest ticket sales with $104.4 million, followed by Korea with $75.5 million, Japan with $55 million and the United Kingdom with $43.1 million.

Ahead of its domestic debut, Sony’s “Jumanji: The Next Level” ignited abroad with $52.5 million from 18 international markets. The sequel nabbed $25.3 million in China, well behind the $39 million start of its 2017 predecessor. “Jumanji 2” also opened in Taiwan ($2.3 million), Malaysia ($4.6 million) and Indonesia ($6.4 million).

The tentpole — starring Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Hart, Jack Black and Nick Jonas — again follows the adventures of friends who inadvertently get sucked into a video game. Awkwafina, Danny Glover and Danny DeVito joined the cast for the new installment, directed by Jake Kasdan. The sequel launches next weekend in North America, where it’s on pace to debut to $40 million to $50 million . The first film, based on Robin Williams’ 1995 adventure, became a surprise hit for Sony and ended its box office run with a mighty $962 million.

Among holdovers, Universal’s holiday rom-com “Last Christmas” posted $10.9 million from 63 foreign markets, taking the Emilia Clarke and Henry Golding-led film to $51.3 million overseas. Globally, “Last Christmas” has picked up $84.8 million. The movie bowed in 22 new territories this weekend including Russia ($1.5 million), Korea ($1 million) and Mexico ($900,000).