Surprise! Celine Song’s ‘Materialists’ Hits $100M Worldwide

Absolutely no one predicted this.

Celine Song’s “Materialists” has crossed the $100M mark worldwide, grossing $101.3M to date, including $64.8M from international markets. This one has become a sleeper hit, especially due to its international success.

Those international numbers are incredible, nearly doubling the domestic total ($35M). When the film wrapped its domestic run a month ago, it was nothing more than a moderate success for A24, but its expansion into other countries has turned it into a flat-out hit.

Sony Pictures Worldwide executed a meticulously planned summer release across multiple territories from June through September, and the numbers have been very strong. They conducted the same box office magic with two other recent romance-based films: “Anybody But You” and “It Ends With Us.”

The film, which stars Dakota Johnson, Chris Evans, and Pedro Pascal, and was made for only $20M, follows Lucy (Johnson), a New York City matchmaker torn between the perfect match John (Pascal) and her imperfect ex Harry (Evans). The reviews paled in comparison to Song’s debut, “Past Lives,” but its success shows how some audiences do crave original stories.

Sony’s international rollout began in early June in Australia, New Zealand, the Netherlands, and Poland, aligning with A24’s domestic release. July saw expansions into France, Brazil, and Mexico, with August adding Korea, the UK, Spain, and Germany, and Italy rounding out the overseas footprint earlier this month.

The film’s top five international markets to date are Germany ($5.4M), the UK ($5.2M), Mexico ($5M), Australia ($4.7M), and Spain ($4.1M).