January 25-27,
2002
Around
the World Round Up
by Kenan
Bresnan
Vanilla
Sky unleashed itself in Europe
as The Lord of the Rings: The
Fellowship of the Ring cruised
at the top again. The regulars, Ocean's
Eleven, Spy Game,
Monsters, Inc., The
Princess Diaries, and Harry
Potter & the Sorcerer's Stone,
also managed some fantastic numbers.
The
remake of the Spanish hit Open
Your Eyes wooed $14.3 million
from 21 markets hoisting its total to
$50.1 million. Vanilla Sky proved
it could mimic the results it had in
Japan ($23 million and climbing) rather
than fall steeply ever week such as in
Australia ($3.7 million in five weeks).
Last
weekend the UIP release took a fantastic
$4.2 million on 425 screens in the United
Kingdom, unseating The Lord of
the Rings from the top spot. The
Cameron Crowe directed film also managed
good numbers elsewhere: France ($2.6
million on 614), Germany ($2.4 million on
507), Belgium ($440,000 on 71), The
Netherlands ($347,000 on 77), Sweden,
Greece, Hungary, Portugal, and South
Africa.
Continuing
its streak, Spy Game debuted
in Australia at the third spot with a
decent $1.2 million in five days on 219.
Beacon estimates its foreign cume at a
handy $52.6 million.
The cast
of Ocean's Eleven can
breath easy as their paychecks should
keep rising and rising since the film has
cruised to $62.3 million, propelled by an
estimated $10.4 million on 2,139 screens
in 17 territories last weekend. The
casino caper's only significant opener
was in The Philippines, where it grabbed
the top spot in Manila fetching $324,000
on 30. The Warner Brothers/Village
Roadshow picture retained pole position
in Spain, easing a great 26% for $5.5
million to date. Its stellar cumes
include Germany's $15.3 million,
Australia's $8.2 million, and Sweden's
$1.5 million.
The
Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the
Ring again commanded the top
spot for the weekend overall with an
estimated $23 million from 6,538
engagements, elevating its total to
$364.3 million. Two weekends ago its
Italy preem captured on all time high
opening passing Harry Potter
& the Sorcerer's Stone with
$5 million on 503. Through its second
weekend there it now has $11.3 million
and $3.7 million in Taiwan in the same
frame.
Harry
Potter & the Sorcerer's Stone scored
another $9.7 million on 5,161 screens,
for a dazzling $578.6 million total
thanks to Japan's $140.8 million, the
U.K.'s $89 million, Germany's $65.1
million, France's $43.3 million, and
Italy's $25.4 million.
Monsters,
Inc. wouldn't let Rings and
Potter take over every
territory. In Mexico the Pixar flick has
grossed a humongous $18 million through
its seventh weekend to rank as the
markets second-highest grosser of all
time, trailing Titanic.
The film has $50.3 million to date.
On its
last stop, The Princess Diaries
whistled up $650,000 on 170 in Japan, a
fair result for a film whose genre
doesn't play well almost everywhere.
$45.5 million is its foreign tally.
One of
the U.S.'s openers this weekend has
already celebrated a good debut in
Mexico. Birthday Girl took
a surprisingly good $933,000 on 232 in
Italy, coming in at second next to Rings.
That shaded Amelie, the
French import whose opening was an
estimated $800,000 on 133.
Oscar
contender, In the Bedroom collected
a promising $123,000 on 16 in the United
Kingdom at the 15th spot on the chart. It
expands to the rest of the nation on the
15th of February.
Next
weekend, the mega-budget ($50 million)
sequel Asterix et Obelix: Mission
Cleopatre debuts on an
austounding 950 screens in France, its
home territory. The original (Asterix
et Obelix vs. Ceaser) remains as
the third highest grossing movie ever in
France with $59.2 million. Joining Asterix
et Obelix will be From
Hell, which launches on 298
screens. Donnie Darko gets
a surprising amount of screens (107) for
its French debut. Behind Enemy
Lines, Heist,
and Monsters, Inc. should
all make decent to great debuts in
Germany. And Training Day,
Shallow Hal, and Gosford
Park make their openings in the
United Kingdom
Don't
expect the sequel to fail, Asterix
et Obelix is one of the most
profitable movies in France aside from
the Taxi movies. The
film should tally around $12-15 million
for its opening weekend. From
Hell should also make itself
heard with around $3 million. In Germany Monsters,
Inc. should easily overthrow Ocean's
Eleven with about $5 million.
And in the United Kingdom Training
Day should come in with around
$2 million, Shallow Hal with
about $1.9 million, and with Gosford
Park it depends on how many
screens it receives.
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:
$611 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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