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Before The Lion King came along in 2019, Frozen had held the all-time worldwide box office record for animated movies with $1.29 billion.
Which means Frozen 2 has its work cut out for it.
But have no fear: Disney is ready. Their marketing campaign for Frozen 2 has been on a completely different level from the original, and they’re eyeing to capture bigger numbers in both the States and foreign territories. While Frozen had a limited international release that slowly spread out between 2013 and 2014, Frozen 2 will hit most major film markets all at once this upcoming weekend.
So in which markets does Frozen 2 need to excel? And how much does it need to make in those markets? Let’s take a look.
United States
Obviously we’ll start in the U.S., where Frozen made $400.7 million back in 2013, which accounted for 31.4% of its international total. That’s good enough to rank No. 7 all-time at the domestic box office, behind Incredibles 2, The Lion King, Finding Dory, Shrek 2 and Toy Story 3 and 4.
When adjusted for ticket price inflation, that total jumps to $444.1 million.
On its opening weekend—which occurred between Nov. 27-Dec. 1, 2013 for Thanksgiving—Frozen raked in $93.6 million. The film screened in 3,742 theaters. Frozen would then remain in the top ten at the domestic box office for an astounding 17 weeks.
After inflation, that opening weekend total adjusts to $103.7 million.
This upcoming weekend, Frozen 2 will premiere in about 4,400 theaters, which will match the Incredibles 2 release. As reported earlier this month, Frozen 2 started breaking box office records well before its release, selling more tickets in the first 24 hours of pre-sale than any animated movie ever.
Because of those sales, Frozen 2 is already on track to eclipse $100 million this upcoming weekend, meaning the sequel only needs three days to outdo what the original did in five. Really, it’s not crazy to assume Frozen 2 will do much better than that and near the $120 million mark by Nov. 24.
China
Surprisingly, Frozen didn’t perform incredibly well in China. Turns out the market can be strangely tough to crack for animated films—although films like Zootopia ($236.1 million) and Coco ($189.2 million) have been exceptions since Frozen’s release.
In fact, after the wild success of Ne Zha—which pulled in $703.4 in China alone million earlier this year—it’s not crazy to think Frozen 2 could make a big break.
And Disney is banking on it. The studio made sure to secure a Nov. 22 release date in China, and began advertising in the territory much more aggressively than it did with the first film.
Turns out Frozen didn’t actually premiere in China until three months after its North American release date. During its first week in China, between Feb. 7-13, 2014, Frozen pulled in just $14.1 million. In total, the film would only accrue $48.2 million over the course of seven weeks.
But 2019 is a different time, and Disney’s films have performed incredibly well in the Chinese market. The studio’s last animated film, The Lion King, pulled in $54.2 million on opening weekend alone. If Frozen 2 can’t get anywhere near those numbers, then the animated film will easily top its entire 2014 gross in China in just three days.
Japan
This is probably the most important foreign territory for Frozen 2—and Disney knows it. The studio opened several “Frozen 2 cafes” in various cities across Japan as part of its international marketing campaign.
Much like it did in China, Frozen got a late start in Japan. The film debuted on March 15, 2014, and made just $7.5 million on opening weekend. But over the course of the next 25 weeks, Frozen would go on to accrue an astounding $249 million—easily the most of any non-U.S. market. That total accounted for nearly 30% of the film’s total in foreign territories.
And, once again, much like it did with China, Frozen 2 isn’t wasting anytime capturing the Japanese market immediately. Frozen’s weekend-by-weekend run in Japan was very consistent, earning between $6 million-$9 million for the first 11-or-so weeks. But you can expect Frozen 2 to immediately hit the ground running. While it took Frozen six weeks to hit $100 million, Frozen 2 could be there in just a couple weekends. So expect this upcoming weekend to be huge.
Other Territories
Outside of Japan, South Korea was the other big score for Frozen, which film made $7.6 million on opening weekend and $76.7 million over the course of its South Korean run.
It seems Frozen 2 is on an even more lucrative path this time around, according to Arirang News. The film premiered on Thursday and accounted for over 90% of the country’s movie seat reservations, adding up to $1.1 million in ticket sales. Seems as though it’ll easily outdo the $7.6 million from six years prior.
The United Kingdom was the other big winner for Frozen, which nabbed $7.7 million on opening weekend between Dec. 6-8, 2013, and $64.7 million over the course of its run.
Germany was the only one of these four markets where Frozen actually saw its release timed with the North American release. Between Nov. 28-Dec. 1, 2013, Frozen made $6.3 million in Germany. By the end of its run, the film had accrued $48.3 million.
And finally, in France Frozen made $9.2 million on opening weekend in 2013 and $46.9 million in total.
Conclusion
In total, Frozen pulled in $110.3 million internationally during its first five days of release in 2013. It seems as though Frozen 2 will blow that out of the water—which means it’ll need the staying power of the first film to win this race out.
