January 18-20,
2002
Around
the World Round Up
by Kenan
Bresnan
Last
weekend was a memorable one on the home
front and offshore. Harry Potter
& the Sorcerer's Stone
clipped Jurassic Park to
become the second-biggest earner of all
time in the international market, while Black
Hawk Down wooed the United
Kingdom, and The Lord of the
Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring continues
its dominance abroad.
Ever
since Harry Potter's amazingly
huge debuts in both Taiwan and the United
Kingdom, the boy wizard has scored on all
ten weeks of its release. The film hit
$563.2 million and with a couple of
Eastern European countries, India, and
China in the till, Potter should
fly right past $600 million, but come
nowhere near Titanic's titanic
$1.2 billion. Last weekend it continued
its impressive numbers with $12.7 million
on more than 5,000 screens in 52 markets.
Its stellar cumes include Japan's $134.5
million (where it is still number one),
the U.K.'s $87.6 million, Germany's $64.2
million, France's $42.5 million, and
Australia's $21 million (making it the
tenth highest grosser to date in that
country).
Don't be
fooled, however, as The Lord of
the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
is nipping at Potter's heels
with $337 million. Those elves and
hobbits still have Japan up their sleeve
along with Hong Kong, India, and Russia.
The fellowship just kicked off in Taiwan
with a fantastic $1 million on 18
screens. There's no telling where it
could end up.
Opening
day and date with the U.S.'s nationwide
preem Black Hawk Down couldn't
quite conquer Blightly, but still managed
a good $2.5 million from 460 screens. The
Fellowship of the Ring still led
with $4.5 million in its fifth lap. Like Gladiator,
Black Hawk Down should
manage some pretty strong legs. (Gladiator
debuted with about $5 million,
but ended up with $47.5 million) The film
about the battle in Mogadishu, Somalia
landed with a hefty $454,000 on 37 in
Hong Kong, $375,000 on 45 in Singapore,
and a mediocre $135,000 on 34 in
Malaysia.
Ocean's
Eleven reflected its domestic
performance by steeling $13.7 million
from 2,219 screens in 14 countries for
the weekend, hoisting its foreign total
to $45.5 million. The casino-heist
picture led the field in Spain with $2.7
million on 362, Sweden with $659,000 on
80, and Greece with $596,000 on 49. The
star-packed feature dropped a trifling 6%
in Germany with $4.6 million on 663
pushing its territory cume to $10.9
million.
The
United Kingdom had more news to talk
about with its local horror-thriller Long
Time Dead opening on 233 screens
with $836,000. Iris had
a much better opening with a great
$537,000 on 83 in its native U.K.
Jet Li's
The One rode its martial
arts genre to the limit in South Korea,
nabbing $913,000 on 84, still trailing Rings'
fourth lap and The
Others' second.
Spy
Game had something to talk about
with a decent $46.5 million total
reported earlier by Beacon, spurred by
France's awesome $4.2 million, Mexico's
$1.8 million, and Japan's excellent $17.8
million.
John
Cusack couldn't stir anything up in
Australia, however, with a poor $618,000
opening on 185 screens. Serendipity
has only managed $14.4 million
from 21 territories thus far, but it
could mimic Sweet November's $11
million in Japan in months to come.
These are my predicted
foreign totals for the selected films:
Black Hawk Down:
$141 million
Spy Game:
$112 million
Ocean's Eleven:
$205 million
The Lord of the
Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring:
$578 million
Harry Potter &
the Sorcerer's Stone: $577
million (I'm going out on a limb!)
Atlantis: The Lost
Empire: $78 million
The Princess
Diaries: $71 million
Shrek: $259
million
American Pie 2:
$161 million
The Others:
$126 million
*Numbers are changed
whenever a market produces unexpected
numbers.
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