June 20-22, 2003

Around the World Round Up
by Kenan Bresnan

Full Edition-

The Hulk is off to a great start with blockbuster No. 1 openings in Hong
Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Philippines and Thailand.  In Hong Kong, it
grossed $639,000 at 39 playdates, which is double Gladiator and just ahead of
X2.  In Singapore, the opening day is Universal's 4th biggest opening ever
in that country and the weekend gross of $592,000 at 28 playdates is
Universal's 7th biggest opening.  Malaysia grossed $122k at 38 playdates on
opening day, which is Universal's 2nd biggest opening ever behind The Lost
World: Jurassic Park.  The film grossed $542,000 on 38 screens over the weekend, which is our 4th biggest opening weekend ahead of The Mummy.  In Philippines, it grossed $138k at 66 playdates, which is our 6th biggest opening day ever in that
country.  The film went on to gross $656,000 at 43 playdates, which is Universal's 2nd
biggest opening ever in that market.

Thailand opened No. 1 with an estimated $560,000 at 182 playdates, which is
Universal's 7th biggest opening weekend and ahead of Jurassic Park and Jurassic Park
3. We also opened in Russia on Friday and will have the weekend information
on Monday.

The Hulk started off with a fantastic sum of $3,548,233 from 376 screens in 7 territories.  The Hulk will expand into 12 more countries next weekend including Australia, Taiwan and Latin America.

2 Fast 2 Furious was the No. 1 film in the U.K. with an opening weekend
gross of $4.4M at 424 playdates.  It has 38% market share and the opening
is 76% ahead of The Fast and the Furious ($2.5M).  It is Universal's 15th
biggest opening weekend ever in the U.K.

In France, it was No. 1 with a weekend gross of $2.6M at 453
playdates, which is 57% ahead of F&F.

Germany had a great No. 1 opening, grossing $4.9M at 517 playdates and
34% market share.  It is Universal's 8th biggest opening weekend ever in
Germany.  It is twice as big as the opening of The Fast & the Furious ($2.6M).

2 Fast had a great No. 1 opening in Italy with $1.1M at 158 playdates.
It is 65% bigger than F&F ($678k).

Netherlands had an amazing No. 1 opening day.  It grossed $167,000 at 83
playdates and it is Universal's No. 1 opening day ever in Netherlands!  The
weekend gross is $858,000 at 83 playdates, which is 2.5 times bigger than
F&F ($363k) and Universal's 5th biggest opening weekend ever in this market.

2 FAST was the No. 1 movie in Spain this weekend.  It grossed an
estimated $1.2M at 281 playdates and has 35% market share.  It is 75% ahead
of F&F and the opening day gross of $575k is Universal's 6th biggest opening
day ever in Spain.

Austria opened the film at No. 1 and grossed an estimated $850,000 at 73
playdates.  It has 42% market share and is twice as big as F&F ($402k).  It
is Universal's 5th biggest opening ever in this market.

Belgium had a great No. 1 opening with a weekend gross of
$706,000 at 43 playdates, which is more than double F&F ($370k).

In Australia, it was No. 2 in its third week.  The film grossed $732,947 on 275 screens, off 53%.  In 18 days, it has grossed $7,526,276.

In Mexico, it was No. 1 for the second consecutive week and ahead of the
openings of Daddy Day Care and Phone Booth.  The weekend estimate was $1.2M
at 285 playdates, off 40% and in 10 days has grossed $4.3M.  It passed the
total box office for F&F after only 8 days.

In Brazil, the weekend estimate is $500k at 160 playdates, off only 20%.
It is No. 2 in the marketplace behind week 3 of Bruce Almighty and after 10
days has grossed $1.4M, which is bigger than the total box office of The
Fast and the Furious ($1.37M).

New Zealand grossed $252k at 44 playdates, off 54% from opening.  It is
No. 2 behind the opening of Bruce Almighty.  The 11-day cume is $925k and it
has already passed the total box office of The Fast and the Furious ($898k).

2 Fast 2 Furious to a handsome $21.7M at 3,050 playdates in 21
territories over the weekend.  The international cume is $34,095,520 with 70% of international territories still to open.  Next weekend we the film moves into Israel, Norway and Portugal.

The Matrix Reloaded continued to pack a punch delivering an estimated $14.7m from 6,700 screens over the weekend.  The sci-fi sequel's international running total is now $377m.  At the end of its run The Matrix Reloaded is receiving impressive returns from Japan where in its third consecutive week it is in pole position, grossing $6.4m (¥763m) from 630 screens for a total of $52.9m (¥6.3bn).  It was just a 28% drop from the previous weekend.

Bruce Almighty continued to set personal bests for Jim Carrey openings conjuring up $3,429,413 on 322 screens (for a total of $3,434,107), $586,000 on 15 in Taiwan, and $417,000 on 54 in New Zealand.

In second, third, and fourth sessions Bruce Almighty held well.  In Germany the picture minted $4.1m, slipping just 17%, bringing the 11-day total to a fantastic $11m.  It has grossed $12.7m through its fourth sojourn in Italy and $5.8m after its third in Brazil (still No. 1, off just 11%).  All told, the Jim Carrey laffer commanded $11.7m on more than 2,000 screens in 14 markets, spurring the estimated cume to $43.7m.

Eddie Murphy starrer Daddy Day Care was a strong No. 2 behind 2 Fast 2 Furious in Mexico, picking up $1.2m on 404, and it brought in $537,000 on 213 in Brazil.  These numbers predict that Daddy Day Care should do well in Latin America, but I think outside the English/Spanish markets this film may bomb.

In its first major market, The Italian Job had an O.K. debut in Japan, stealing an estimated $850,000 on 215 screens, just behind the third weekend of The Core.

Dumb & Dumberer: When Harry Met Lloyd had a successful debut in Iceland where it grossed $24,431 on 4 screens, but fell by 46% in the U.K. grossing $593,973 on 348 screens for a mediocre cume of $2,082,741.

New information from China helped push The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers to $577,382,917.  In its eight week in China the film grossed $135,121 for a total of $2,148,996.  That number is far less than the $6,792,473 from Fellowship, but it took 35 1/2 weeks to get there.

Next weekend The Hulk moves into 12 more territories including Australia, Brazil, and Mexico.   2 Fast 2 Furious moves into Scandinavia, Israel, and South Korea.  Finding Nemo opens in Uruguay.  Bruce Almighty debuts in Spain, the U.K., the Netherlands, and the Czech Republic.  Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle hits Japan, South Korea, the rest of the Asian markets, and Scandinavia.  In Australia  Daddy Day Care, Piglet's Big Movie, and The Lizzie McGuire Movie open against The Hulk.  Bulletproof Monk, What a Girl Wants, and A Guy Thing join several limited release films in Germany. 7 ans de mariage leads the screen count in France with 400 followed by A la Petite semaine (300), Les Enfants de la Pluie (200), and FearDotCom (200).  Bruce Almighty grabs 460 screens in the U.K. against Nicholas Nickleby (350) and Biker Boyz (240).
 

These are my predicted foreign totals for the selected films. (Red is the predicted total while blue is the current gross).

The Hulk: Impressive debuts still leave the question: can it perform as well in Europe?  Methinks yes.  I predict this film will go the way of Planet of the Apes (which took in $179.3m) and finish with around $185m. $3,549,210

2 Fast 2 Furious:  This film is poised to outdo the original's $ total and should be a surefire hit abroad based on its original markets.  Look for $92m. $32,261,991

The Matrix Reloaded: Outstanding numbers across the board.  It has $300 already and just entered Japan.  With late bloomers possibly in India (June 13) and China (TBD) this movie has a good chance at $429m. $377m

Finding Nemo: Watch out The Matrix Reloaded!  The U.S. success of not only box office, but word-of-mouth should be translated into gold overseas.  Family films always to well and the lack of the genre lately should equal outstanding success for this little fish.  Japan especially should bring in the numbers.  Look for a total of $357 or more!  $11m

Bruce Almighty: Looking at is early Asian debuts and stunning success in Italy, Jim Carrey's latest comedy looks to not only have domestic success, but also wow the international markets.  The film's comedic appeal seems to be resonating overseas and the result should be spectacular.  Due to Italian success, Germany should been one of Bruce Almighty's standout markets along with the usual U.K. and Australia.  The film has the chance to break out in Japan, but that will have to wait until after August.  A total of $200m could be accumulated.  $43.7m

Johnny English:  Look for a final total of $136.8m when all is said and down.  Its best performances will be in Asia, Australia, Germany, and the United Kingdom. $112,386,861

X-Men 2:  When the original came out, it wasn't that big of a success.  It grossed $137.6m in international sales, which is worthy of a sequel, but doesn't seem to equate to $200m+ business, which would be a mega-blockbuster.  However, Fox has pushed this film outstandingly hard and with the lack of really impressive business in the last month X-Men 2 looks to secure outstanding business.  Until The Matrix Reloaded debuts X-Men 2 should control almost every single territory for two weeks in a row.  Now that equates to big business.  Look for an opening weekend gross (internationally) of $57m and a week total of around $85m.  In two weeks it should be pressing $200m with $175m and will likely cross $200m the week The Matrix Reloaded debuts.  Look for a final total of $195m when all is said and down.  Its best performances will be in Asia, Australia, Germany, and the United Kingdom. $185.1m

Catch Me If You Can: $174,689,863

Gangs of New York: $114,785,061

The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers: $577,382,917

Harry Potter & the Chamber of Secrets: $604,608,624

My Big Fat Greek Wedding: Still has Japan to go on July 19, 2003. $115,482,163

*Numbers are changed whenever a market produces unexpected numbers.