Paramount’s Bob Marley: One Love had offshore audiences getting together and feeling more than alright in Wednesday international box office play. Beginning overseas release yesterday, the Reinaldo Marcus Green-directed biopic grossed $4.9M across 10 markets, several of them giving the story of the reggae icon No. 1 status and the biggest or second-biggest launch day ever for a music biopic — in Jamaica, it scored the biggest opening day of all time.
The running international cume is $5.4M including previews. A further 26 markets open today; and through Friday, the Kingsley Ben-Adir-starrer will be out in a total 47.
Significant starts include the UK at No. 1 on Wednesday, grossing $2.3M at 687 locations. This is the biggest opening day for a music biopic ever. France also debuted at the top of the chart with $1.3M at 590 sites for a cume (including previews) of $1.7M through yesterday. This marks the second biggest music biopic opening day ever only behind La Vie en Rose — similar to domestic, the audience there is far higher on the film than critics.
Australia launched to No. 1 on Wednesday with $615K from 260 cinemas and good for the second biggest music biopic opening day ever, only behind Bohemian Rhapsody.
Spain had a No. 3 start with $185K from 314 theaters; second best only to Bohemian Rhapsody among biopic opening days.
Elsewhere, New Zealand opened at No. 1 with $175K from 103 locations. This is the biggest music biopic opening day ever and the biggest Valentine’s Day opening. Sweden scored a further No. 1 of $155K at 150 cinemas for the second best music biopic opening day, behind Bo Rhap. Belgium, with a No. 2 Wednesday debut, now has $130K including previews and the best start for a music biopic. Norway launched at No. 1 and $90K from 77 cinemas, another second-best start behind Bo Rhap.
In Jamaica, Bob Marley felt all the love at No. 1 with an 89% share and a record-breaking $100K for the island country’s biggest opening day ever.
A series of international premieres appears to have paid off with the cast and filmmakers participating in a three-week-long tour kicking off on January 23 in Kingston, Jamaica. The evening featured a fan event which included performances from Mystic and Yohan Marley, along with DJ Zuri Marley, and hosted over 900 local cast, crew and dignitaries including the Jamaican Prime Minister and the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. Rita Marley, Ben-Adir, James Norton, Ziggy Marley, Jeremy Kleiner, Robert Teitel and Green were in attendance.
On January 30, the BFI IMAX Waterloo held a starry London premiere with DJ Zuri Marley spinning hits for over 900 attendees in two packed houses. Then at Paris’ Grand Rex on February 1, a premiere audience of 2,600 saw performances by popular recording artist Loreen and a custom choreographed moment by Sadeck Waff. Further screenings were held in Berlin, Perth and Melbourne.
We’ll have more updates throughout the weekend.