January 19-21, 2001
(Grosses in millions)

Around the World Round Up
by Kenan Bresnan

Cast Away sunk the competition this weekend by making $4 million more than last week. But Unbreakable was still hanging around with $9.5 million and Vertical Limit's latest opening helped raise its total to $54 million. Additionally, Meet the Parents, Bedazzled and 102 Dalmatians were still in the mix.

In a fantastic weekend of $20 million in 16 territories on 2,600 screens, the Tom Hanks drama Cast Away was the undeniable winner this weekend. In Australia it opened at the number one spot with $2,511,223. In Spain it took $1.6 million on 194 and in Belgium, $631,000 in five days. Also in The Netherlands, the Robert Zemeckis directed film grabbed $305,000 on its four-day launch on 69 and the same in Denmark $255,000 in three days, and Israel, Poland, and Slovenia

The United Kingdom was very responsive to the film where it dropped just 14%, raking in a fab $9.3 million in 10 days. It may not be able to hold on to the number one spot much longer when this weekend Almost Famous, Pay It Forward, and Traffic all open. Cast Away also only dropped by 17% in Germany, scoring $11.1 million in 11 days and in Italy where the 10-day tally is $5.8 million

Cast Away's foreign haul has already reached $38.4 million.

Unbreakable dug up $9.5 million last weekend, hoisting the foreign total past its domestic $93 million to $98 million. So it should be the first film to pass the $100 million in 2001. The M. Night Shyamalan thriller scared up the biggest non-summer opening in Brazil, beating the best grossing film ever, Titanic, at $1.7 million on 280 screens. It slid a heavy 42% in Spain, but held pole position, earning $1.7 million as well on 253, bringing its ten-day tally to $5.5 million.

Martin Campbell's K2 adventure Vertical Limit opened in several countries, raking in $9.2 million last weekend in the process. The biggest numbers came from the United Kingdom where it got $2.3 million. In Hong Kong, Jackie Chan's The Accidental Spy took pole position, but left plenty of room for the Chris O'Donnell starrer to land in second with $428,000 on 32 screens. The same charting occurred in Singapore where it gathered $378,000 from 36 screens and in Thailand where it took $170,000 on 41. It was tops in Taiwan with $366,000 on 16 screens, for a high $22,875 average. The picture also traversed new ground in South America, finding $289,000 from 57 screens in Colombia and $251,000 from 40 in Venezuela.

Pleasing international theater owners, Meet the Parents kept bringing in the money from 23 territories at $6.9 million, sending its international total to $81.9 million.

Harold Raimis' Bedazzled wooed a lively $2.2 million in Germany from 518 screens and $1.2 million from Spain. The devilish tale already has $6.8 million from Mexico and a decent $4.7 million from the United Kingdom. Japan was not happy with the film though. The foreign total is $29.5 million.

With an international haul of $41 million, Disney's 102 Dalmatians scurried into Italy with $1.7 million from 350 screens, besting the bows of How the Grinch Stole Christmas and last year's Stuart Little, but about 10% below its predecessor. It also fetched $200,000 on 65 screens in Poland with was even with 101.

In Japan, Bjork of all people dethroned the mighty Dinosaur, ending its six-week reign, as Dancer in the Dark showed astonishing legs in its fifth round. Still, Disney's CGI extravaganza has earned a very impressive $39 million so far there. In its final market Turkey, it even grabbed a solid $195,000 from 79 screens, passing the all-time animated record holder Tarzan. It's total reached $210.1 million.

Another Disney flick, The Emperor's New Groove opened in Argentina with $296,000 on 87, 9% below Mulan's.