August 1-3, 2003
Around the World
Round Up
by
Kenan Bresnan
Full Edition-
Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines dominated the
international markets over the weekend as it maintained
its perfect record of opening No. 1 in every territory
and added an estimated $40m on 5,800 prints for a $141m
running total.
In the U.K. the sci-fi sequel grossed a mighty $9.6m
(including Thursday night late shows) from 762 prints
for the 17th biggest opening every in the
territory. In Germany the film produced $7m from
1,062 screens for the second biggest opening of the year in
that market. Spain's $6.1m on 598 screens was the
seventh-highest opening weekend of all time. In
Brazil the Arnold Schwarzenegger-starrer grossed $1.8m
from 499 screens for the fifth biggest opening there,
while $1.28m from 109 in Sweden was the 13th biggest bow,
and $1.07m from 113 in Austria was the 13th biggest ever
opening. The film was less a success, but still
No. 1, in Finland ($366,566 on 58 prints), South Africa
($375,000 on 101), and Israel ($275,000 on 34).
After six weeks T3 has grossed $44.2m in Japan
and $9.7m after its third in Australia, still No. 1.
Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black
Pearl had a promising start in Japan with a debut of
$4.6m on 369 screens. Not too impressive, the
debut was still BVI's third-highest live-action debut
behind Armageddon and Pearl Harbor.
Should the film catch on as it did in the states it
could easily have outstanding legs and rack up north of
$50m. Mexico's $2.4m on 547 was also nothing
to brag about, but leaves room for legs. In holdovers,
Pirates has earned $1.7m through its third
sojourn in Argentina (down just 7%).
In Japan, The Hulk grossed $1,113,206 over its
opening weekend on 531 screens.
"The Hulk is a character that doesn't blend in
and unleashes his anger when pushed too far -- the
antithesis of the culture in Japan," said Randy
Greenberg, SVP Int'l Marketing and Distribution for
Universal Pictures. "Our campaign was tailored to
address these issues, clearly though, we are all
disappointed in this result." For its story this
debut is about as good as it could have done.
The Hulk was No. 6 in its third weekend in the
U.K. It grossed $566,755 on 416 screens, down a
massive 75%, but that was due to three new films, which
opened in the U.K. last
weekend: T3, Legally Blonde 2 and Spy
Kids 3. The Hulk's cume after 17 days
is $13,012,922.
It was No. 9 in Spain with a weekend gross of $164,766
on 235 screens, off 63% in its fifth week. It has
grossed $7,393,517 in 31 days.
The Hulk's international weekend total was $2.6M
from 2,180 playdates in 25 countries, which raised the
international cume to $87,146,352. There are 16 more
countries to open in, including Italy on August 29.
Still the champion in Japan, however, is Bayside
Shakedown 2, which rang up $6.1m in its third
weekend for a massive $50.7m total.
Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life opened
in Hong Kong last weekend grossing $826,168 on 34
screens. That opening was 13% off the original's
opening of $954,699 on 32 screens. The original
went on to gross $2,116,358, which would put Cradle's
final tally at around $1.9m.
In holdovers Tomb Raider had high, but expected
drop-offs. It held best in Thailand, grossing
$327,181 on 60 screens, down 46% for a 10-day total of
$1,159,147. The film was worse in Malaysia (down
55% to an 11-day total of $792,305), the Philippines
(down 55% to an 11-day total of $1,234,610), and in
Singapore (off 63% for an 11-day take of $812,369.
Malaysia's $792,305 already passed the original's
$722,893 cumulative gross. Over the weekend
Tomb Raider grossed $1,857,595 on 236 screens for a
two-week total of $4,824,599.
Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle should
pass the original's $138.8m total this week after adding
$5.2m from 4,000 screens to raise its total to $136.2m.
In its initial wave of international releases Bad
Boys II grossed $1.2m from 137 screens in Taiwan,
$180,000 from 15 prints in Singapore, $170,000 in
Malaysia, which was expected considering the original
was banned, and $314,000 on 82 in the Philippines.
The Matrix Reloaded crossed the symbolic
¥10bn ($83.3m) mark at the
Japanese box office following its release on June 7 on
631 screens nationwide. Warner Brothers expects
the film to take $91.6m (¥11bn) during its first run,
which ends August 15.
Spy Kids 3D: Game Over
had a very good start in its offshore premiere.
The film grossed $1.6m on 377 screens in the U.K.,
placing third, and was 14% better than the original.
Legally Blonde 2: Red,
White, & Blonde debuted in the UK and several
smaller European territories last weekend, grossing $4m.
In the U.K. the Reese Witherspoon sequel grossed $2.5m
from 351 screens, placing second. In Belgium the
film scored a $178,000 opening from 40. In Sweden
the film produced $100,000 from 28 and in Norway it took
in $97,000 from 15. In its second weekend in
Germany the film slipped to second place and added
$727,000 from 552 screens for a $3m running total.
The film has grossed $8.5m in international markets to
date.
Finding Nemo
discovered $925,000 on 246 in China, a cartoon record
locally, outrunning Dinosaur. The Disney
picture cruised to $52.4m in 19 territories highlighted
by Mexico's $17m and Brazil's $7.2m.
Ned Kelly was No. 7 in its second weekend in New
Zealand. The film grossed $59,628 on 48 screens,
off just 22%. The 11-day cume is $166,623.
Australia is the only other territory where the film has
been released. The total for Australia and New
Zealand is $5182,207.
2 Fast 2 Furious opened in Romania and Venezuela
this weekend. Those results will be available tomorrow.
2 Fast 2 Furious' international weekend gross was
$660,000 from holdovers on 661 screens in 18 countries.
That does not include results from debuting countries
Romania and Venezuela and France and most of Latin
America.. There are 15 more
territories to open in, including Japan on August 23 and
Korea on September 5.
Bruce Almighty moved to $168.4m with France and
Japan and other markets ahead.
Veronica Guerin finally moved into the U.K. after
its three-week Irish run and didn't receive very good
attention. The film climbed 28%, but thanks to its
198 more screens the screen average plunged 70%.
The week was extremely full so perhaps the film will
grow.
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers received
the unique distinction of becoming the only film playing
solely in open air theaters to break into the Swiss top
five! The film grossed $64,672 on eight screens,
climbing 141% and raising from 16th place to fourth in
its 33rd week of release. It averaged $8,078 - the
highest of the top 20 - and raised its Swiss total to
$8.9m.
These
are my predicted foreign totals for the
selected films. (Red
is the predicted
total while
blue
is the current
gross).
Terminator 3: Rise of
the Machines: This film plays to all ethnicities and
will perform very well, as it already has. Nowhere
should this film falter and it will gross much more than
in the U.S. $301m.
$50m
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
$121m.
$72,256,492
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. $78,471,966
The Matrix Reloaded:
Outstanding numbers across the board. It has $300
already and just entered Japan. With late bloomers
possibly China (July 18) this movie
has a good chance at $441m.
$431m
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! $37.3m
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.
$132.2m
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.
$117.5m
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.
$189.4m
My Big Fat
Greek Wedding: Still has Japan to go on July
19, 2003.
$125.2m
*Numbers
are changed whenever a market produces
unexpected numbers.
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