The Timotheé Chalamet starrer made an early debut in its first 37 markets a week ahead of its North American launch.
That’s a promising start for the Christmas musical, which opens everywhere in North America on Dec. 16 as it continues to roll out across the globe. Tracking suggests the Warner Bros. movie will launch in the $40 million range domestically and then keep audiences entranced throughout the long holiday stretch.
Wonka is an origin tale about Willy Wonka, the iconic candy maker featured in Roald Dahl’s classic novel Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, which spawned at least two previous Hollywood movies.
In its early offshore debut, it outpaced a slew of recent family-friendly event pics, as well as musicals The Greatest Showman (2017) and Mary Poppins Returns (2018).
The Greatest Showman, starring Hugh Jackman, was the last Hollywood musical to work in a major way at the global box office with $434 million in tickets.
Wonka ranked No. 1 in 32 of the 37 markets where it debuted. Imax theaters contributed a sizeable $2.3 million of the total opening gross.
The U.K. — home of Dahl and Wonka director Paul King — led with $11.1 million to rank as Warners’ second-biggest opening of the year behind Barbie.
Wonka opened ahead of such films as Paddington, The Little Mermaid and Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny in the U.K.
Results were also strong elsewhere in Europe, including Spain ($3.6 million) and Germany ($4.4 million).
Wonka wasn’t the only Hollywood holiday event film debuting offshore.
Illumination and Universal’s original animated picture Migration opened to $6.5 million from its first 18 markets (it opens stateside on Nov. 22).
One market where both Wonka and Migration failed was China, where they bombed with $3.2 million and $1 million, respectively.
In the U.S., tracking has been soft for Migration amid an overall downturn at the box office in terms of animation family fare.
If Migration struggles to win over families, box office analysts say Wonka will certainly benefit.
