'Araceli' Debuts with A Record-Breaking $123 Million Domestically, Tops $227M Worldwide

Box Office Mojo March 4, 2019

Sony's release of the Sony Pictures/Frenzy co-production, Araceli gave the domestic box office a much needed jolt after the first two months of the year struggled to compete with 2018. The thirteenth film released by Frenzy, twentieth film released by SPA, and their second collaborative project following 2014's The Chadina Islands delivered the former studio's second largest opening weekend of all time and the largest opening weekend of all time for the latter studio while also grossing more over its first three days than the combined totals of any previous three-day weekend so far this year.

With an estimated $123.4 million, Sony's newest animated release Araceli blasted away all it's competition and proved it to be successful, as it became the new record holder for the biggest opening for an animated film released in March while also bringing in the fourth highest March opening of all-time, with a record.

GET MORE: Take a look at Addie's opening compared to similar debuts!

On average, the 18 previous releases by delivered a 2.56x multiplier, which would suggest Araceli 's run would finish around $315 million based on the film's domestic opening weekend. That said, in terms of animated competition, it has a a whole month to itself as Paramount's Wonder Park will not harm Araceli.

It is interesting to note exits, which show the film playing to an opening weekend crowd that was 55% male and 45% female, which, along with Plucky Chicken and Lily & Lester, is the smallest gender divide among films by Frenzy, but nowhere near the 52% female crowd Birdz played to back in August 2018. Additionally, 64% of the film's opening weekend crowd was aged 17 or younger, which ranks as one of the youngest audiences for a Frenzy/SPA film, while it earned an "A-" CinemaScore.

Internationally, Araceli brought in an estimated $73.9 million as its international cume now stands at $103.9 million after 10 days. The biggest market so far in release is the United Kingdom as it has grossed $28 million since it's release on February 22 as it's in its second weekend with $5.5 million while also serving as the only market this weekend that the film isn't #1 in. Additionally, the film was released in 42 additional territories with the biggest opening coming from Japan, which is estimated at $11.1 million, which ranks as the largest Frenzy opening weekend ever in the market. Behind Japan is Brazil with a $9.8 million debut followed by Australia ($7.7m), Indonesia ($7.1m), Russia ($6.8m), France ($6.2m), Germany ($4.8m), India ($3.1m), Thailand ($2.6m), Taiwan ($1.4m), Philippines ($1.3m), Malaysia ($1.2m), Italy ($1.2m) and Hong Kong ($1.1m). Next weekend the film will open in Japan serving as the second to last market where the film has yet to be released with a Chinese release coming in April.

With an estimated $30 million, Universal's How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World finished in the runner-up position as it dipped -45% in its second weekend, pushing the film's domestic cume to $97.6 million after ten days in release. The film dipped a little more than we expected heading into the weekend, but still managed to hold on better than the second film in the franchise over its sophomore frame as it is still outpacing its predecessors at the same point in the release cycle, though it's looking less and less likely it can maintain that momentum. Internationally, Hidden World added $52 million this weekend, the bulk of which came from its debut in China where it racked up an estimated $33.4 million with a current international cume at $277.7 million. This pushes the worldwide cume to $375 million. The film still has eight markets left to release, the last of which being Japan on August 23.

In third place is Tyler Perry 's ninth film in the Madea film franchise and the multi-hyphenate is reportedly making this his final Madea feature. If that holds true and Lionsgate can't talk him into a tenth pic, the titular character is going out with a bang, delivering an estimated $27 million debut, the fourth largest in the franchise. The film also received an "A-" CinemaScore from opening weekend audiences and if past performances from Madea titles means anything, look for the film to finish right around $60 million if not a bit higher. The film's opening weekend audience was 67% female and 78% of the crowd was age 25 and over, lining up with previous releases.

Fox's Alita: Battle Angel finished with an estimated $7 million in third place, pushing the film's domestic cume over $72 million as it begins its third week in release. The film also added another $40.4 million internationally this weekend from 81 markets for an overseas cume that now totals $278.2 million, giving the $170 million production a global tally that now tops $350 million.

WB's The LEGO Movie 2 took fourth place with an estimated $6.6 million as its domestic cume now stands at $91.6 million. The film also added another $6.1 million internationally this weekend for an international cume that now over $61 million and a worldwide tally that stands at $152.8 million.

Rounding out the top five is last weekend's winner of Oscar's Best Picture, Universal's Green Book, which saw a +121% jump and brought in an estimated $4.7 million, pushing the film's domestic cume over $75 million. Additionally, Lionsgate and Amblin's release of the film overseas delivered $31.9 million from 63 markets this weekend, for an international cume that now totals $112.1 million and a worldwide total over $188 million.

Outside the top five, in something of a log jam from spots five thru eight, is where we find Focus Features's release of Greta, which debuted with an estimated $4.58 million. The performance is within Mojo's expectations, but with 2,411 locations in play that's only $1,902 per location. The film received a "C-" CinemaScore from opening day audiences and played to a crowd that was 55% female with 29% of the overall audience coming in aged 35 and older. The film also opened in Australia and New Zealand this weekend, bringing in an estimated $400,000.

In limited release, Neon's documentary Apollo 11 led the way, debuting exclusively on 120 IMAX screens with an estimated $1.65 million for a per screen average of $13,750. The film will expand everywhere next weekend.

Additional limited releases include Well Go's Furie, which brought in $145,400 from 14 locations ($10,386 PTA); A24's Climax brought in $121,655 from five screens for a chart-topping $24,331 per theater average; Music Box's Transit delivered $35,368 from two theaters; Vertical's Giant Little Ones opened in one location with an estimated $13,500; IFC's The Wedding Guest debuted in four theaters with $20,156 ($5,039 PTA); Ammo's Chokehold brought in $3,900 from three theaters ($1,300 PTA); Oscilloscope's re-release of The Hours and Times opened with an estimated $2,250 from one theaters; and Blue Fox's Saint Judy debuted with $41,234 from 55 theaters ($750 PTA).

Lastly, Disney's Ralph Breaks the Internet finally topped $200 million domestically this weekend after having already outperformed the first film, which reached $189.4 million domestically back in 2012. Internationally, the Ralph sequel is now just shy of $320 million for a global cume totaling $520 million. The first film finished with over $471 million globally.

All that being said, 2019 is starting to reverse it's drought, as it is currently pacing -16% behind 2018 and is actually pacing behind each of the last five years at the domestic box office. As a result, next weekend's release of Marvel's Captain Marvel will be watched closely as it is set to debut in 4,100+ locations with tracking as of last week targeting as much as $140 million for the three-day. Will it officially start a major turnaround?

You can check out all of this weekend's estimated results right here and we'll be updating our charts with weekend actuals on Monday afternoon.