Our daily "Year in Review" lists have begun!
Even before the pandemic, box office reporting was becoming more secretive. Netflix was the chief disruptor since their Oscar hopefuls got theatrical releases but numbers were never reported. Other streaming distributors followed and once you added in the increasing regularity of movies simultaneously doing theatrical (generally reported) and VOD (generally not reported) it was chaos. The COVID-19 pandemic was the ultimate disruptor of course, changing global viewing habits, by virtue of Father Time. International cinema in the US has been increasingly demoted to streaming-only since adult audiences have been the toughest to lure back to the theaters. That said there are subtitled pictures that played theatrically this year and we wanted to honor them by noting the success stories...
Curiously the only foreign country that habitually reports big box office numbers in the US is India but those numbers are often reported as "estimates" in the way, say, European titles didn't tend to be. Furthermore Indian pictures, RRR being an obvious exception, don't tend to get much US media coverage even though they sell tickets, at least in specific areas of the country which makes it all kind of confusing in terms of "what is a success?". But here are the numbers that were reported, some surely more accurately than others. The numbers are primarily drawn from two sites (box office mojo and the numbers). Titles with up arrows are still in theaters
TOP 33 SUBTITLED HITS OF 2022 AT THE US BOX OFFICE
EVERYTHING THAT GROSSED OVER $200,000 IN US THEATERS
Rank for the calendar year / Movie Title / $ Estimate Domestic Gross / $ Global Gross
Figures updated as of 04/23/23
RRR
01 RRR (India) $15.5/ $161+
GOLDEN GLOBE NOMINEE / CRITICS CHOICE NOMINEE / OSCAR NOMINEE BEST SONG
RRR which tells the story of enemies who become friends and revolutionaries in 1920s India was obviously very successful, the rare Indian picture to actually get attention from the mainstream media and not just the people who make a habit of catching Bollywood (Hindi), Kollywood (Tamil), or Tollywood (Telugu) pictures. (RRR is from Tollywood). Numbers have often been a little inconsistent with Indian pictures at the US box office and in this case the box office sites did a very strange thing of dividing RRR's numbers into two sets by way of a "rerelease" in the same calendar year as its original release; that is not traditionally what "rerelease" means. Returning to theaters the same year is just an encore presentation; It used to happen frequently with Oscar-hopefuls. The numbers used to just be added into the original set (as they should be), rather than behaving as if the film was a restored classic back in theaters after years away. Anyway, we love RRR, which is tons of fun, but who knows exactly how much it earned !?! STREAMING ON NETFLIX / ALSO IN & OUT OF THEATERS
02 Brahmastra Part One: Shiva (India) $7.8 /$50.1
Ranbir Kapoor stars in this action adventure hit as Shiva, a man who learns he can control fire. No word yet on when a sequel is coming. STREAMING ON DISNEY+
03 Ponniyin Selvan: Part 1 (India) $4.2 / $21.8
Single name stars Vikram and Karthi and Bollywood/Kollywood queen Aishwarya Rai Bachchan headline this period action epic about a man delivering a message to the Crown Prince. The sequel opens in India in April 2023. STREAMING ON AMAZON PRIME
04 Laal Singh Chaddha (India) $3.4 / $11.2
Aamir Khan (Lagaan) stars as the titular character in this dramedy. STREAMING ON NETFLIX
WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD
05 The Worst Person in the World (Norway) $3.0 / $12.6
OSCAR NOMINEE Though it received a one week qualifying release in 2021, this twice Oscar-nominated romantic dramedy got its proper theatrical release on February 4th, 2022. It became the most successful Norwegian-language film ever at the US box office, made a star of leading lady Renata Reinsve, and finally won Norway's greatest director Joachim Trier and his muse, the actor Anders Danielsen Lie, the kind of international attention they've deserved since their amazing debut* Reprise (2006). Worst Person... took our Silver Medal for Best Picture of 2021. STREAMING ON HULU.
*technically Anders Danielsen Lie made one picture before Reprise but that was when he was an 11 year old boy.
06 KGF Chapter Two (India) $2.8 / $89.1
Another single named actor, Yash, returns to his superstar making role in this sequel to a 2018 film which did not receive a US release. STREAMING ON AMAZON PRIME.
DECISION TO LEAVE
07 Decision to Leave (South Korea) $2.1 / $23
OSCAR FINALIST While the global success of Parasite, won't be easy to replicate, South Korea has done an inarguably amazing job of promoting their film and television industries globally in the past decade. The latest beneficiary is this acclaimed thriller from Park Chan-wook which is also hoping to become South Korea's second Oscar nominee in Best International Feature Film. Park's films have largely been successful with audiences so this isn't his first time drawing crowds. Decision to Leave is his third most successful film in global release having surpassed Oldboy and just two million behind Lady Vengeance. His top grosser globally will remain 2016's The Handmaiden ($37 million). STREAMING ON MUBI
08 Radhe Shyam (India) $1.8 /$15.9
A romantic drama between a palmist and a doctor. STREAMING ON AMAZON PRIME
VIKRAM VEHDA
09 Vikram (India) $1.7 / $29.8
10 Vikram Vedha (India) $1.5 / $8.2
These two films sound like they're part of the same franchise but they're unrelated. Kamal Haasan stars as the titular character in the former about an investigator and serial killing while its Saif Ali Khan vs Bollywood icon Hrithik Roshan as the titular characters in the latter, a cop vs gangster drama. VIKRAM STREAMING ON AHA / VIKRAM VEDHA STREAMING ON AMAZON PRIME
Y CÓMO ES ÉL?
11 Y cómo es él? (Mexico) $1.5 / $4.6
A comedy about a man on the verge of a nervous breakdown confronting a man who is sleeping with his wife. STREAMING ON FUBO / PANTAYA
12 The Kashmir Files (India) $1.4 / $24.8
A conspiracy thriller from Bollywood.
13 F3: Fun & Frustration (India) $1.1 / $9.8
From a comedy franchise. STREAMING ON NETFLIX
BROKER
14 Broker (Japan/South Korea) $1.0 / $18.7
Song Kang Ho won Best Actor at Cannes for this drama from acclaimed Japanese director Hirokazu Koreeda (Shoplifters). Now it's an unexpected hit in arthouses despite the publicity for it being so very long ago. AVAILABLE TO RENT ON MOST SERVICES
EO
15 EO (Poland) $1.0 / $2.3
OSCAR NOMINEE A donkey wanders contemporary Europe in this wildly acclaimed art film from Jerzy Skoliomowski. It's just transporting. Go see it! CURRENTLY IN THEATERS
16 Jug Jugg Jeeyo (India) $1.0 / $11.4
A romantic family dramedy STREAMING ON AMAZON PRIME.
17 Hansan: Rising Dragon (South Korea) $865k / $1.2
Park Hae-il is having a good year, headlining the two biggest South Korean grossers in the US this year, this 16th century naval war drama and the Oscar buzzing Decision to Leave. STREAMING ON AMAZON PRIME.
18 Acharya (India) $832k / $8
An action drama. STREAMING ON AMAZON PRIME
19 Petite Maman (France) $829k / $1.9
Another ostensible 2021 picture (qualifying release) that didn't begin its theatrical run in the US until 2022. The tiny miracle art film (just 73 minutes long) was buoyed by ecstatic reviews and the new fervor for its long excellent director Céline Sciamma after the international success of her film Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019). Petite Maman made our top ten list last year. AVAILABLE TO RENT ON MOST SERVICES
20 The Roundup (South Korea) $812k / $101.1
The very reliable international star Ma Dong-seok (also known as Don Lee) of Eternals, Train to Busan, and The Gangster The Cop The Devil fame, headlines this action/crime drama. It was a big hit overseas but didn't quite crack a million in the US. It's about a man tasked with extraditing a suspect in a killing in Korea from a foreign country. AVAILABLE TO RENT ON MOST SERVICES
CORSAGE
21 Corsage (Austria) $705k / $3
OSCAR FINALIST. This deliciously anachronistic fictionalized biopic about Hungarian Empress Sissi turning 40 features amazing costumes and a confrontational star turn from Vicky Krieps. It's doing well in platform releasing and could soar even higher IF it's Oscar nominated soon. STREAMING ON AMC+
22 Ante Sundharaniki (India) $620k / $3
A romantic comedy about an interfaith couple. STREAMING ON NETFLIX
OFFICIAL COMPETITION
23 Official Competition (Spain) $593k / $4.8
The hilarious Penélope Cruz / Antonio Banderas comedy about the making of a prestige art film did steady business at US arthouses and would surely have cracked $1 million pre-pandemic when arthouses had bigger crowds. Antonio plays a pompous actor and Penelope a much-lauded eccentric auteur. Perhaps its inside showbiz jokes were too niche for non-festival crowds in a time when people are going to the movies less often? STREAMING ON AMC+
24 Gangubai Kathiawadi (India) $592k / $3.2
Alia Bhatt stars in this critically acclaimed biopic. STREAMING ON NETFLIX
25 Cuando Sea Joven (Mexico) $588k / $2
A 70 year old woman (Verónica Castro) gets a second chance at life when she magically transforms into her 20something self (Natasha Dupeyron) in this comedy. STREAMING ON FUBO & PANTAYA
26 Eiffel (France) $444k / $13.6
Romain Duris (Heartbreaker, The Beat That My Heart Skipped) stars in a fictionalized biopic about the architect behind the Eiffel Tower. AVAILABLE TO RENT ON MOST SERVICES
EMERGENCY DECLARATION
27 Emergency Declaration (South Korea) $412k / $20.8
Song Kang-ho (Parasite), Lee Byung-hun (Squid Game, The Magnificent Seven), and Jeon Do-yeon (Secret Sunshine, The Housemaid) board a passenger jet in this all-star action thriller. AVAILABLE TO RENT ON MOST SERVICES
28 The Good Boss (Spain) $363k / $7.3
While this Javier Bardem business comedy (nominated for Best Comedy at the EFAs and a finalist for the Oscars last year) didn't quite breakout at US arthouses, it was a success overseas. AVAILABLE TO RENT ON MOST SERVICES
HOLY SPIDER
29 Holy Spider (Denmark) $306k / $1.6
OSCAR FINALIST. Denmark's beautifully crafted but very disturbing Oscar submission is about a female reporter (Cannes Best Actress winner Zar Amir-Ebrahimi) investing the serial killings of sex workers in the holy city of Masshad. From Ali Abbasi of Border fame. It's on its way out of theaters but if it's Oscar nominated perhaps it will find a second wind. CURRENTLY IN THEATERS
YOU WON'T BE ALONE
30 You Won't Be Alone (Australia) $264k / $335k
This Macedonian-language folk horror picture and Oscar submission for Australia received strong reviews. It will likely collect more fans over the years once it's more widely seen. AVAILABLE TO RENT ON MOST SERVICES
31 The Sparring Partner (Hong Kong) $210k / $5.5
Courtroom drama based on a real life case about a man who murdered and dismembered his parents
COMPARTMENT NO. 6
32 Compartment No 6 (Finland) $205k / $2.6
Finland's Oscar entry last season made the extremely common mistake of banking on an Oscar nomination that did not ultimately come to pass in terms of the timing of its US release. It seems likely it would have caught on had it not opened exactly between the two Oscar finalists which became the frontrunners in that category, Japan's Drive My Car and Norway's Worst Person in the World. Both of them became major arthouse sensations, too. The truth is that late January (at least in the big cities) is always awash in too many options for sophisticated moviegoers. Still, Compartment No 6 managed to do okay in US release. AVAILABLE TO RENT ON MOST SERVICES.
BOTH SIDES OF THE BLADE
33 Both Sides of the Blade (France) $201k / $1.6
It was so hard to keep track of Claire Denis' romantic drama starring the iconic Juliette Binoche torn between Vincent Lindon (Titane), and Grégoire Colon (Beau Travail, Olivier Olivier) since it seemed to flip titles more than once between this and Fire. Juliette Binoche has a fairly loyal moviegoing fanbases and her films usually do at least this well and sometimes a lot better in the US. STREAMING ON AMC+
No other live action foreign titles hit the $200k mark in the US.
OUTSIDE THE LIST
HAPPENING
Outside the top 30 (among other films) were Hatching a horror flick from Finland (now streaming on Hulu), Jafar Panahi's No Bears, Gotham/ Venice winner and DGA nominee Happening from France (now streaming on AMC+), and costume drama and César winner Lost Illusions (streaming on MUBI) also from France. They were all stronger performers overseas, but they grossed over $100k in US release which in this very difficult theatrical climate is a solid response.
THE INNOCENTS
Few people in the US bought tickets to the following titles but we here at TFE liked them: the thriller Piggy from Spain (available to rent in the US), Bolivia's Oscar submission Utama, the espionage drama Hunt from South Korea, and the eery supernatural children drama The Innocents, an Amanda nominee in Norway (now streaming on Shudder / AMC+ in the US). The Innocents is directed by the Oscar-nominated co-writer of Worst Person in the World and if you like it, please check out his earlier unnerving drama Blind which stars Ellen Dorrit Petersen (who plays the mother of the two main little girls in The Innocents) and Henrik Rafaelsen (who you might recognize from Scandinavian Oscar submissions like Thelma, Tigers, and Happy Happy). Trigger warning: The Innnocents contains a very disturbing moment of violence against a cat... but the cat is actually the director's cat and was not harmed in the filming.
Two notable international titles that were theatrically released in US theaters but did not report grosses at all were Finland's wonderful Oscar submission Girl Picture (available to rent in the US) and Alejandro G Inarittu's personal epic and Oscar finalist Bardo (streaming on Netflix).
P.S. We opted not to include animated titles in the list as they often come in dubbed versions so it's hard to know if people are seeing them as intended but two more adult skewing options, Japan's Inu-Oh and The Deer King both did solid business in arthouses. Enough to put them toward the bottom of the list above.
Inu-Oh is eligible for Best Animated Feature at the Oscars. BOTH ARE AVAILABLE TO RENT OR BUY ON MOST SERVICES.