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Nice weather shrunk the European box office, but Latin America, Australia, and Asia continued with some of the year's best numbers. Lara Croft: Tomb Raider and Shrek both produced record numbers in Australia while Shrek also smashed records in Turkey. Pearl Harbor exploded into Hong Kong and Taiwan. Evolution looks to a Hollow Man-type international run as it grabbed the number one spot in the United Kingdom, and the Philippines and Malaysia. Dr. Dolittle 2 opened day-to-day with several Latin American countries to spectacular numbers. Atlantis: The Lost Empire debuted to mediocre results in Asia, and A.I.: Artificial Intelligence almost beat The Mummy Returns for the top spot in Japan just on sneak previews!

Let's start with Australia. Lara Croft: Tomb Raider pulled in $2,641,975 on just 330 for a huge $8,006 (which is a lot in Australia) for the market's 11th-best opening and UIP's sixth best. Shrek took the second spot with an all time-toon record $1,835,398 on 325 which beats South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut. It increased 76 percent from previews which isn't spectacular, but expect this films to fall slightly if not improve in its second week. Recess: School's Out bombed on 59 screens with a $24,803 opening. It will be rushed to video. And The Limey reentered the Top 20 chart. It now has a good $121,073 in seven weeks.

Back to Lara Croft: Tomb Raider also opened in Israel, Portugal, and Spain. In Israel it took a fantastic $230,000 on 30 screens, in Portugal it grabbed an impressive $271,000 on 57, and in Spain the Playstation-babe-flik took $1.7 million on 316 in Spain.

Shrek also grabbed the biggest animation opening in History, dethroning Dinosaur, in Turkey with $118,000 on 54. It outran The Lion King by 48%, but railed four other Disney bows in Thailand where it grabbed a good $282,000 on 45. Shrek seems to have shaky legs in Italy, dropping 41%, which is not a good omen, but the same thing happened to Miss Congeniality. It bombed in three major countries, but still pulled in domestic-par numbers.

Pearl Harbor captured $12.8 million from a massive 5,146 screens in 28 territories, propelling its foreign cume to $93.8 million. The WWII epic fetched $835,000 just 40 screens in Hong Kong which defeats Armageddon as BVI's best live-action opening record. And in Taiwan on 18 screens it recorded a massive $778,000, which is under Armageddon. Michael Bay's blockbuster eased an excellent 25% in Mexico, cumeing a good $5.8 million in 10 days. In Europe it fell by 50% in many countries, but South Korea is still going strong in its fourth round where its set another record for BVI at $9.4 million.

It looks like there's still hope for domestic dud Evolution. In one of the worst weeks in the United Kingdom this year, Evolution commanded the top spot with $2,697,754 on 435. That's 55% of the Top 15. With good weather and the bulk of the films dropping over 50%, expect Evolution to fall slightly or increase. More good news for the Sony picture, which looks to be a Hollow Man-type international run. Hollow Man $73.2 million domestically, but $118 million internationally. The David Duchovny starrer opened better than the X-Files in The Philippines and Malaysia where it took $226,000 on 51 and $161,000 on 34 respectively. Not all theaters are in English in those countries, so it looks like Evolution will break the language barrier, unlike Joe Dirt.

Dr. Dolittle 2 checked into Mexico just below Pearl Harbor, ringing up $1.3 million on 349 -- Fox's seventh-highest debut, outperforming the original by 37%. The Eddie Murphy starrer notched Fox's fourth-best bows in Venezuela and Colombia where it took $181,000 on 34 and $162,000 on 44 respectively, but was less impressive in Singapore where it only took $220,000 on 25. Dr. Dolittle 2 could turn into 102 Dalmatians as 102 only took $67 domestic and $115.5 internationally.

Atlantis: The Lost Empire's initial foreign tryouts in Singapore ($256,000 on 27 pluse $129,000 on previews) and Malaysia ($108,000 on 29) weren't to great, but Disney animation has never done to well there. The real test is Latin America where it opens next week.

Knocking off Star Wars: Episode I -- The Phantom Menace, Steven Spielberg's A.I: Artificial Intelligence clocked $2.6 million 284 from previews in Japan on Saturday alone. The film set not fewer than 106 house records, including a Tokyo theater where another abbreviational title held the crown since 1982, E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial. It was just under The Mummy Returns, which fell just 16%, racking up a socko $19 million in 16 days. A.I. launches on 540 screens this Saturday. In total for the weekend, The Mummy Returns unearthed $8 million on 3,100 screens in 29 territories, catapulting its cume to $168.8 million. The action/adventure film brought in a potent $348,000 on 60 in Poland and $330,000 on 42 in New Zealand.

Miss Congeniality did cross the millennium mark with a total of $100.2 million, helped by Japan's $4.5 million in 16 days falling just 16%. Pokemon 3: The Movie took a very good $1 million, but a not so good screen average of $2,227 in Germany, where Crocodile Dundee in Los Angeles took an even worse $729,000 on 480.

Next week Lara Croft: Tomb Raider unleashes in France on 703 screens, where it competes with Crocodile Dundee in Los Angeles (262 screens), Valentine (266 screens), and AntiTrust (200 screens). Swordfish look for $1.5 million in Australia. Tomb Raider and AntiTrust also duel in Germany alone with Turn It Up, Love & Basketball, Monkeybone, and Price of Glory. Boys & Girls and Town & Country battle for the 15th spot in the United Kingdom, where Shrek should swipe the top spot away from Evolution. A.I: Artificial Intelligence takes on 540 screens in Japan along with All the Pretty Horses and Crocodile Dundee in Los Angeles.

Lara Croft: Tomb Raider will headline France. Shrek could headline Australia, but that is up for grabs with Swordfish. Tomb Raider should fall over 35% there. Tomb Raider will also headline Germany with at least $5 million. Shrek could have a $7 million+ opening in the United Kingdom. And obviously A.I: Artificial Intelligence will lead Japan, and I suspect perhaps the second highest opening there ever.

It looks like we could have this year's international winner. I'm guessing at least $50 million from Japan and suspecting a lot more for A.I.: Artificial Intelligence. So it could do beyond $300 million. These are my predicted foreign totals for the selected films:

Pearl Harbor: $201 million

The Mummy Returns: $205 million

Lara Croft: Tomb Raider: $141 million

Swordfish: $85 million

Shrek: $259 million

Miss Congeniality: $110 million

Bridget Jones's Diary: $103 million

Moulin Rouge: $82 million

A.I.: Artificial Intelligence: $311 million

*Numbers are changed whenever a market produces unexpected numbers.

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