Ridley Scott’s Napoleon has crossed the $200M mark globally, getting to the milestone with Tuesday’s numbers included. The worldwide tally for the biographical epic is $200.7M, of which $141.1M is from the international box office. Through yesterday, the domestic cume is $59.6M.
The Joaquin Phoenix-starrer produced by Apple Original Films and distributed by Sony Pictures originally debuted during the Thanksgiving stretch, exceeding expectations at the time with a $78.8M global opening.
Overseas, which was always the key play for this movie and where it has topped the lifetimes of Elvis, Killers of the Flower Moon and Scott’s own House of Gucci, is led by the European majors. The UK is the top market at $16.7M, followed by France ($14.4M), Germany ($10.9M), Spain ($10.1M) and Italy ($8.4M). Rounding out the Top 10 are Mexico ($7.5M), Australia ($7.3M), Netherlands ($5.5M), China ($3.9M) and Brazil ($3.9M).
Vanessa Kirby and Tahar Rahim also star in the story of the titular military leader’s origins and swift, ruthless climb to Emperor as viewed through the prism of his addictive and often volatile relationship with his wife and one true love, Josephine.
Sony spread the word globally with a world premiere in Paris, then premieres in the UK and Madrid (the latter at the Prado museum, which was a first). Having the stars out on red carpets helped, and even some harsh reviews didn’t stop people, including the mature audience, getting out to see it.
After its run in cinemas, Napoleon will stream globally on Apple TV+.
As Anthony reported when the movie released, Sony’s distribution deal is believed to be around 8% of the box office, with Apple backstopping marketing costs. Sony recoups its marketing costs before monies go to Apple. If box office falls short of marketing costs, then Apple covers that gap. However, that’s not expected, given that ticket sales have been solid abroad.
Sony earlier this month won global theatrical distribution deals for two mega upcoming Apple Original Films movies – the George Clooney and Brad Pitt feature Wolfs and the Scarlett Johansson and Channing Tatum title Project Artemis.
