Box Office: ‘Twisters’ Hits $123 Million Globally, ‘Despicable Me 4’ Surpasses $500 Million Mark

By Rebecca Rubin

According To The variety)  “Twisters” is taking the box office by storm, though it’s not resonating quite as strongly with international audiences.

The film, a standalone sequel to the 1996 disaster epic “Twister,” has whipped up $27.1 million from 76 foreign territories over the weekend and $42 million overseas in total. “Twisters” has been far more powerful at the domestic box office, though, where ticket sales ignited to $80.5 million. Globally, the movie has grossed $123.2 million to date.

Outside of the U.S. and Canada, this weekend’s biggest markets were the U.K. ($5.5 million), Mexico ($2.5 million), Australia ($2 million) and France ($1.9 million). “Twisters” misfired in China, earning a paltry $1.5 million in its debut. Imax screens contributed $2.2 million internationally and $11.2 million globally for the weekend.

“Twisters” cost $155 million to produce, not including the many millions in global marketing efforts. Universal Pictures backed the movie and released it domestically while Warner Bros. has international rights. The film has yet to open in Japan or Korea. Directed by “Minari” filmmaker Lee Isaac Chung, “Twisters” features Daisy Edgar-Jones, Glen Powell and Anthony Ramos as a new group of storm chasers, who find themselves in the fight of their lives as multiple tornadoes converge over central Oklahoma. The original “Twister,” starring Helen Hunt, Bill Paxton, Cary Elwes and Philip Seymour Hoffman as storm-chasing scientists trying to conquer the most powerful tornado in decades, became a massive hit with nearly $500 million globally. It was the second-highest grossing movie of 1996 and scored two Oscar nominations.

Elsewhere at the international box office, Universal and Illumination’s sequel “Despicable Me 4” added $52 million from 79 markets. The animated family film has generated $315 million overseas and $574 million globally. The franchise, which includes the popular “Minions” movies, recently became the first animated series to top $5 billion at the global box office.

Another animated juggernaut, Disney’s Pixar sequel “Inside Out 2,” collected $34.2 million from 51 territories over the weekend. After six weeks of release, the film has generated a massive $846.9 million overseas and $1.443 million worldwide. The second “Inside Out” is expected to soon surpass “Frozen 2” ($1.45 billion) as the highest grossing animated film in history. It’s also about to overtake “Barbie” ($1.446 billion) as the 14th biggest movie of all time.