Juan Antonio Bayona’s supernatural thriller A Monster Calls set a new high for a domestic title at the Spanish box office thus far in 2016, earning €11.4 million ($12.6 million) with more than 1.7 million tickets sold since its Oct. 7 premiere.
The film, which stars Felicity Jones, Sigourney Weaver, Lewis MacDougal and Liam Neeson, continued to gain steam in its second weekend, grossing $3.9 million from 629 screens — an average of $6,400 per screen.
Universal released Bayona’s follow-up to The Impossible, a co-production between Apaches Entertainment and Telecinco Cinema, with Peliculas La Trini and the participation of Participant Media, RiverRoad Entertainment and Lionsgate.
The all-time box-office record for a homegrown hit at the Spanish box office is A Spanish Affair, which displaced Bayona’s previous record-holder The Impossible in 2014. Monster fell short of Impossible‘s bow, which earned $9 million in its opening weekend.
Monster is based on Patrick Ness’ novel of the same name, which tells the story of 12-year-old Connor, who must face his mother’s illness with the help of a monster who comes to see him every night.
