‘Terminator: Genisys,’ ‘Minions’ boost foreign box office with solid performances

Terminator: Genisys cast members (from L) Jason Clarke, Jai Courtney, Emilia Clarke, Byung-hun Lee and Arnold Schwarzenegger pose – REUTERS

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com): Launches of Paramount’s “Terminator: Genisys” and Universal’s “Minions” lifted the international box office this weekend as the tentpoles pulled in sturdy performances.

Paramount saw $74 million from international markets for the weekend – led by Russia at $12.5 million, South Korea at $11.1 million and Mexico at $6.6 million – for a foreign cume of $85.5 million from 60% of all overseas markets.

Paramount Pictures Vice Chairman Rob Moore told Variety that “Terminator: Genisys” should have enough firepower internationally to finish in the $300 million to $400 million range in foreign grosses -- three to four times the expected U.S. final total. The film opens next week in Germany, Italy, Germany and Spain; it has not yet been dated for the booming Chinese market.

The international performance is crucial for “Terminator: Genisys.” Paramount and Skydance spent $155 million on the fifth “Terminator” and have two more entries in the franchise coming in 2016 and 2017.

The fourth film, “Terminator: Salvation,” took in $125 million domestically and another $246 million internationally in 2009.

“Minions,” which has a reported $85 million budget, opens July 10 in North America. As is often the case with animated titles, Universal has opted to launch overseas prior to U.S. opening, taking in $54.3 million from 26 markets for an international total of $124.2 million in advance of the domestic release.

The comedy opened in first in all 15 new markets and set records as the biggest opening day for an animated film in Germany, Spain, Argentina and Colombia.

Greenlighting “Minions” – a “Despicable Me” spinoff – was a no-brainer for Universal and Illumination Entertainment, given the popularity of the franchise. “Despicable Me 2” grossed nearly $1 billion worldwide with $368 million domestically and another $602 million internationally.

Australia has been the top “Minions” market so far with $15.1 million in two weeks.