“Springsteen” sparkles abroad, “Black Phone 2” reaches $80 million

Bruce Springsteen is one of the biggest names in music, but his worldwide popularity hasn’t really translated at the box office.

“Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere,” a musical biopic about the making of his beloved 1982 acoustic solo album “Nebraska,” falls flat with $7 million at the international box office and $16.1 million worldwide. Analysts suggest the film is in trouble because unlike, say, “Bohemian Rhapsody” and “Rocketman,” which were enjoyable, comprehensive looks at Queen and Elton John, “Deliver Me From Nowhere” focuses on a less commercial chapter of Springsteen’s vast, decade-spanning career.

20th Century Disney Studios is backing the $55 million-budgeted film, which stars Jeremy Allen White as The Boss and was directed by Scott Cooper. Top markets for its debut include the United Kingdom with $1.6 million, Germany with $1 million, and Italy with $800,000. “Deliver Me From Nowhere” has yet to open in 20% of overseas territories like Brazil, Japan and Korea.

On the international charts, “Springsteen” came in behind Paramount’s romantic drama “Regretting You.” The PG-13 film, adapted from Colleen Hoover’s best-selling novel, opened with $10 million in 43 markets. The film outperformed in North America with $12.8 million, bringing its worldwide three-day total to $22.85 million. “Regretting You,” starring Allison Williams and Mckenna Grace as a mother and daughter dealing with the aftermath of a devastating accident, is Hoover’s second page-to-screen adaptation following the surprise 2024 hit “It Ends With Us.” Two of the author’s other books, “Verity” and “Reminders of Him,” are the subject of feature films at Amazon MGM and Universal.

Meanwhile, “Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc” continued to dominate the international box office, adding $14.7 million while expanding to 46 markets in total. The R-rated film, a sequel to the popular manga television series, has been screening in Japan and other Asian countries for weeks and has notably just surpassed the $100 million mark. “Chainsaw Man” topped the North American box office this weekend with $17.2 million and has so far earned $108 million worldwide. It’s the second straight win for Sony’s Crunchyroll following September’s hit “Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle,” which stands as the highest-grossing animated film of all time with $666.8 million worldwide.

In another milestone, “Black Phone 2” is a commercial winner for Blumhouse after a tough theatrical year for the low-budget horror empire. The spooky sequel added $10 million overseas in its second weekend of release, bringing ticket sales to $31.3 million internationally and $80.4 million worldwide. Universal distributed the film, which cost $30 million. “Black Phone 2” easily became Blumhouse’s highest-grossing release of the year, as its other recent releases — January’s “Wolf Man” ($34 million), March’s “The Woman in the Yard” ($23 million), April’s “Drop” ($28 million) and June’s “M3GAN 2.0” ($39 million) — have stagnated in theaters. 2,” should also help restore the company’s fortunes.

Elsewhere, Disney sci-fi film “Tron: Ares” collected $6.3 million from 52 territories in its third weekend in theaters. So far, the big-budget sequel has grossed $60 million overseas and $123.4 million worldwide, a disappointing number considering its whopping $180 million price tag.