‘Little Women’ Nears $100 Million Overseas as Theaters Reopen

“Little Women,” the coming-of-age period drama directed by Greta Gerwig, is nearing the $100 million mark at the international box office as movie theaters start to reopen.

Overseas, “Little Women” generated $760,000 this weekend from 13 markets. That takes its foreign haul to $99.5 million. A majority of those ticket sales came from Japan, where “Little Women” debuted to $495,000. The film brought in another $255,000 in Denmark, marking a 15% decline from the weekend prior in that country.

“Little Women,” which originally opened in late 2019, made $108 million at the domestic box office and $207 million worldwide. It was slated to bow in some international territories, including China, in early 2020. But plans were scrapped when cinemas were forced to close starting in January to help stop the spread of coronavirus.

Most studios aren’t reporting box office grosses since so few locations are open. The scant amount of movie theaters that were able to safely resume business have relied on past hits like “The Greatest Showman” and “Harry Potter” to draw audiences.

It’s still unclear when multiplexes will start to reopen to a significant degree. Movie theaters in Beijing were expected to reopen this week, but were forced to remain shuttered after three new cases of coronavirus were discovered there.

“Little Women” — starring Saoirse Ronan, Emma Watson, Timothée Chalamet, Florence Pugh and Eliza Scanlen — is based on Louisa May Alcott’s acclaimed novel and tells the story of the March sisters as they come of age in New England in the 1860s. The movie was nominated for six Oscars, winning one for costume design.

Another Sony movie, crime drama “Gyul-Baek,” launched in South Korea, pulling in $2.4 million from 985 screens over a five-day frame. Park Sang-Hyun wrote and directed the film, centering on a lawyer who uncovers the secrets of a small village while defending her estranged mother in a murder trial.