The Angry Birds Movie is breaking box office records after its international debut, a week before it releases in major film markets such as China and the United States.
It's no secret that, for the most part, video game movies tend to be poorly received from video game fans and moviegoers alike. However, The Angry Birds Movie has surprisingly bucked that trend, releasing to a generally positive critical reception, and earning big bucks at the box office, breaking records before it has even enjoyed its United States release.
This past weekend, The Angry Birds Movie released in some European, Middle Eastern, African, and South American territories, grossing $43 million in the process. Sporting a budget of just $80 million, The Angry Birds Movie is well on its way to becoming a box office success, and if audiences have a similar positive reaction as the critics have, good word of mouth could help it earn much more in its United States debut.
While it has yet to release in two of the biggest film markets in the world - the United States and China - The Angry Birds Movie has already broken records. According to Angry Bird series developer Rovio, The Angry Birds Movie has broken the record for biggest May opening for an original animated feature film with its $43 million haul.
The film's success can be measured in other ways as well. For example, out of all the territories it released in, The Angry Birds Movie topped the charts as the highest grossing film of the weekend in 37 of them. This is in spite of stiff competition from Captain America: Civil War and other blockbuster releases.
The success of The Angry Birds Movie could mean big things for future game to film adaptations. Even though the Ratchet & Clank movie bombed, The Angry Birds Movie proves that with a strong enough brand name, and some positive reviews, video game movies can be successful.
It will be interesting to see if this momentum continues for other upcoming game to film adaptations, such as the Sly Cooper movie or the Assassin's Creed film. To that end, the success of The Angry Birds Movie could convince studios to invest more in video game film projects, which in turn could result in higher quality video game films in general.
The success of The Angry Birds Movie should also be encouraging for the various other game studios that are starting to look into film development, like Activision, Ubisoft, and Nintendo. Time will tell if The Angry Birds Movie is a sign of things to come for game to film adaptations, or if it is just a flash in the pan.
The Angry Birds Movie will premiere in the United States on May 20th.