Around
the World Round Up
by Kenan
Bresnan
Moulin
Rouge, American Pie 2,
Rush Hour 2, and Amelie
all took control of the foreign BO last
weekend in France, Germany, and the
United Kingdom, and many of the smaller
markets where records were set
abundantly.
In
France, Moulin Rouge again
proved it should be a summer blockbuster.
All told, the film orchestrated a grand
$1,963,920 for the five-day weekend from
343 screens. That number more than
doubles the premiers of Romeo +
Juliet and Shakespeare
in Love. Elsewhere in France,
local pic Chaos faired
mediocre at the second spot with
$1,547,780 from 432 screens.
In
French-speaking Switzerland, the Nicole
Kidman/Ewan McGregor starrer conjured up
a grand $136,601 on 60. In Portugal it
placed first with $133,045 from 44, in
Poland it managed a sweet $133,969 on 35,
and in Egypt the film managed a meager
$27,353 from 4 screens. In 12 days in
Belgium, Baz Luhrmann's musical has
$641,000 and in Holland it has a so-so
$690,000 in 11 days. With Germany, Japan,
and Spain still ahead the tuner's cume
has hit $53.7 million to date.
Rush
Hour 2 keeps beating the
original; this week in Mexico, where it
nabbed $1.2 million on 350, and in Brazil
with $457,000 on 200. Getting caught in
rush hour, the Jackie Chan/Chris Tucker
starrer managed a measly fourth in Spain
with $836,000 on 273, outpaced by The
Fast & the Furious ($1.1
million 267), the second lap of America's
Sweethearts, and the fifth of The
Others. Expect that number to
increase by over 30% next weekend. It has
$58.4 million to date.
The
Fast & the Furious had fast
getaways in New Zealand ($323,000 on 43)
and Sweden ($180,000 on 41), but crashed
in Hong Kong. Mid-way through its foreign
campaign, the Rob-Cohen vehicle's total
reached $27.6 million from 21 markets.
Taking
US-like numbers, American Pie 2 once
again lead Germany and Austria and cooked
up $662,000 on 82 in The Netherlands
(125% bigger than the original). In
Germany, the laffer whipped up another
impressive $5.2 million on 810 (abating a
reasonable 37%), minting a humongous
$17.8 million in 11 days. In Austria, Pie
has devoured a tasty $1,971,592.
Continuing
its pattern of solid debuts, Steven
Spielberg's A.I.: Artificial
Intelligence climbed up the
totem pole in Italy with a smart $1.2
million on 277, Greece ($256,000 on 48),
and Turkey ($188,000 on 80). However, the
Kubrick-influenced film couldn't find
audiences in The Netherlands ($220,000 on
60) and Denmark; it has $132.1 million in
the bag.
In
Australia, school holidays lead the way
for Cats & Dogs to
crawl past Rush Hour 2 in
its third week of release. They have
$6,323,183 and $4,111,958 respectively.
Making a good debut, but not impressive, America's
Sweethearts gathered up
$1,104,877 on 263 for $1,850,398
including previews. Elsewhere the Julia
Roberts headliner smashed into Argentina
with $409,000 on 76, Singapore with
$290,000 on 29, and The Philippines
($241,000 on 49), but could only manage
fourth in New Zealand.
Aside
from Australia, Cats & Dogs top
the market in Thailand with a lively
$330,000. It opened in Brazil ($373,000
on 191) and Sweden ($166,000 on 80) as
well. It has $75.7 million.
Swordfish
ascended to $50.5 million,
spurred by Russia's $377,000 on 36 - an
all-time WB record in the market - and
Italy's good $2.2 million in 10 days, off
25%.
In the
UK, Amelie From Montmartre landed
at the fifth spot with $824,370 on 82 for
a huge screen average of $10,053 and the
highest debut by a French film in that
market. It was also the second-highest
debut by a foreign-language film behind Crouching
Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Next
weekend distributor Momentum will
increase the amount of theaters by 16 for
a large sum of 96 screens.
Next
weekend Moulin Rouge takes
off in Denmark, Finland, and South
Africa. In Germany America's
Sweethearts, The Pledge,
Osmosis Jones, and Sous
le Sable will compete with
several Germany films and AP2.
In France Bridget Jones's Diary receives
the most theaters with a massive 619,
while Thirteen Days, Va
Savoir, and Angel Eyes get
137, 124, and 120 respectively. In
Australia Kiss of the Dragon
and Legally Blonde will
try to top Cats & Dogs.
And in the UK American Pie 2 will
face The Pledge and Disco
Pigs for the top spot. Shouldn't
be too tough.
America's
Sweethearts should have the
highest gross of the openers while American
Pie 2 leads again, but expect a
high screen average from The
Pledge and a low average from Osmosis
Jones, which should finish
around the seventh spot. In France Bridget
will top Moulin Rouge,
while Thirteen Days and Va
Savoir raise high screen
averages and Angel Eyes falls
apart. In Australia Legally
Blonde should conjure up around
$1.6 million with Kiss of the
Dragon cumeing in about
$900,000. And in the UK AP2 will
lead with $7 million or so as The
Pledge comes in with around $1.2
million.
These are my predicted
foreign totals for the selected films:
Atlantis: The Lost
Empire: $78 million
The Princess
Diaries: $71 million
Lara Croft: Tomb
Raider: $141 million
Swordfish: $85
million
Shrek: $259
million
Bridget Jones's
Diary: $171 million
Moulin Rouge: $82
million
A.I.: Artificial
Intelligence: $181 million
Cats & Dogs:
$110 million
Final Fantasy: The
Spirits Within: $101 million
Planet of the Apes:
$210 million
Rush Hour 2:
$151 million
American Pie 2:
$161 million
The Others:
$126 million
*Numbers are changed
whenever a market produces unexpected
numbers.
Check out the FRANCE
FORECAST
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