Demon Slayer Sets Box Office Record as Him, Big Bold Beautiful Journey Flop Overseas

Two new Hollywood releases, Universal’s sports thriller “Him” and Sony’s romantic drama “A Big Bold Beautiful Journey,” were outright rejected by overseas audiences.

“A Big Bold Beautiful Journey,” starring Margot Robbie and Colin Farrell as strangers whose meet-cute takes them on the journey of a lifetime, flopped at the international box office with $4.5 million from 45 markets. Meanwhile the Jordan Peele-produced “Him,” a disturbing mind-bender about a football player with aspirations to be the greatest of all time, fumbled even harder with $400,000 from 25 territories. Both films were saddled with terrible reviews and disappointing audience scores.

“Him” at least started stronger at the domestic box office with $13.5 million, boosting the film’s global tally to $13.86 million. It carries a modest $27 million production budget. Justin Tipping directed “Him,” which stars Marlon Wayans as an aging quarterback who trains a young up-and coming football player (Tyriq Withers) to chilling consequences.

“Sports themes do not travel well overseas, and the sport in this film — American football — is uniquely American in its popularity,” says analyst David A. Gross of Franchise Entertainment Research. “But the picture cost a reasonable $27 million to make, so it can cover its costs on domestic business alone.”

“A Big Bold Beautiful Journey,” however, crumbled in its North America debut as well with $3.5 million for a worldwide haul of $8 million. The film has yet to release in major markets like France, Italy and South Korea.

“The film should do better in foreign markets, but the production cost was high — that’s a big number to recoup,” Gross adds of “A Big Bold Beautiful Journey.”

Luckily Sony is riding high with “Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle,” which just became the highest-grossing anime film ever with $555 million globally. The film is…