Ender's Game debuted at No. 2 of the official Nielsen VideoScan First Alert chart this week, a ranking which tracks overall disc sales, DVD and Blu-ray combined. And there wasn't really a fair chance for Ender to take the top spot, as that was set to be taken by Disney's classic The Jungle Book, which has never before been available on Blu-ray Disc.
Variety, a well-established authority in the movie industry, took the strong disc sales as a pretty solid reason to conclude that the Ender's Game franchise is still very much alive:
Gavin Hood's adaptation of Orson Scott Card's classic novel, wasn't quite the box office smash some had expected, but its theatrical performance was strong enough – and its disc debut, high enough – that the franchise will more than likely live on in some fashion.That's pretty good news for now, and we are trying our best here at Ender News to get you some information from the studio about the current status of Ender's Game.
Let me use this opportunity to give you an update about the movie's box office returns and how well it did in the various international markets. In North America (U.S. & Canada), Ender's Game earned $61.7 million and ranked No. 57 for 2013. That is probably not what the studio has hoped for, but it is also not as bad as some critics have suggested. As Variety puts it, "its theatrical performance was strong enough."
The film earned about that same amount of money in international markets, and it was a surprise success in mainland China where the film opened this January and earned more than $21 million so far.
Generally the story of Ender was especially popular in South-East Asia, and for all markets where the movie opened in 2013 it ranked highest in Thailand where it made No. 41 of the full year top list. Keep in mind that foreign markets are not just a carbon copy of the U.S.; there are many domestic movies ranking at the very top, so Ender's Game ending up higher than in its home market is even more positive.
Here is the full list for all international markets where the film opened in November or December, and the position of Ender's Game in the final 2013 box office list.
| Thailand | (2013 Rank) 41 |
| Ecuador | 47 |
| Singapore | 50 |
| Malaysia | 53 |
| USA & Canada | 57 |
| Philippines | 58 |
| New Zealand | 67 |
| South Korea | 68 |
| Spain | 70 |
| Brazil | 75 |
| Bulgaria | 81 |
| Ukraine | 81 |
| South Africa | 82 |
| Croatia | 84 |
| Poland | 84 |
| UK & Ireland | 84 |
| Iceland | 85 |
| Czech Republic | 86 |
| Hong Kong | 91 |
| Australia | 92 |
| Slovakia | 93 |
| Hungary | 95 |
| Egypt | 99 |
| France | 101 |
| Russia | 101 |
| Serbia & Montenegro | 104 |
| Sweden | 104 |
| Slovenia | 108 |
| Portugal | 111 |
| Germany | 118 |
| Italy | 119 |
| Finland | 123 |
| Turkey | 126 |
| Belgium | 128 |
| Norway | 129 |
| Denmark | 132 |
| Austria | 142 |
