Box Office: ‘Gladiator II’ Opens With $87M, Dwayne Johnson’s ‘Red One’ Falters With $34M.

“Gladiator II” is set to become Ridley Scott’s best overseas box-office debut with $87 million earned so far from 63 markets. The film also marks the biggest R-rated international opening for Paramount Pictures. It is yet to open in China, which is a big market for Hollywood action movies, and could add a lot to the total opening week box-office return, when it opens on November 22 in the country.

‘Gladiator II’ also scored in IMAX with $7 million from 453 screens, standing among the company’s top three international debuts of the year.

The sequel carries a $250 million plus budget, so it needs to continue being a big hit at the global box-office to be deemed a success.

“Red One”, a Christmas-set action comedy starring Dwayne Johnson, Chris Evans and J.K Simmons opened to a soft $34.1 million in it’s North American debut from 4,032 screens.

The budget for the original Christmas movie is $250 million, plus you have to add $100 million in marketing costs. It’s crazy to think that Amazon MGM had initially commissioned this movie for streaming. The film needs to earn a total of somewhere around $450 - $500 million for it to be successful financially.

“Red One” will need to play in theatres through the holiday season to justify it’s massive price tag. It currently holds 33% “rotten” average on Rotten Tomatoes.

The studio is hoping and waiting for families to show up during the holidays to bolster the box-office. And luckily for Amazon MGM, the audiences liked the story about the kidnapping of Santa. The film landed an “A-” grade on CinemaScore during it’s opening weekend.