Guillermo del Toro’s monsters vs. robot epic Pacific Rim hasn’t made any big waves domestically, having grossed just $84 million in three weekends but with a reported budget closer to $180 to 200 million due to the high cost of Industrial Light & Magic’s fantastic CGI action set pieces.
Even so, the international box office for the movie is really making up the difference with China’s Wednesday opening setting a record $9 million for Warner Bros., an amount that’s 23% higher than any of the “Harry Potter” movies as well as making up 70% of the box office market share.
At the same time, the movie was the #1 film internationally on July 19 – 21 as it rolled into half the territories and it was released today in Spain and Japan with Brazil getting the movie on August 9.
According to Deadline, the film’s international success, currently at $140 million grossed overseas in 52 territories, could help pave the way for the sequel planned by Del Toro and original screenwriter Travis Beacham. Worldwide, the movie has grossed $224 million and Legendary Pictures financier Thomas Tull could go ahead and try to milk that amount in order to create a franchise.
