April 9-11, 2004

Around the World Round Up
by Kenan Bresnan

Early Edition-

Note:  Due to the Easter holidays (which includes Monday in some markets), final figures will not be available until Tuesday, April 13. 

Audiences around the world decided to see Mel Gibson's interpretation of The Passion of the Christ during the Easter holiday frame.  Although final figures aren't due until Tuesday, the film looks like it grossed $25m in 44 markets for a $131m total.  Highlighting the weekend was Italy's phenomenal five-day take of roughly $8m.  The extra Monday could add $1.3m or so.

Most other territories were holdovers, but had numbers just as good as openers.  It remained No. 1 in all Fox-distributed territories except Taiwan, Singapore, and Uruguay.  In Brazil the film climbed 17%, grossing $2m from 511 screens in its fourth weekend for $10.8m to become Fox's second biggest release of all time behind Titanic.  In South Korea the film slipped just 7% in its second weekend on $1.7m from 186 for $7.4m.  Mexico secured $1.2m from 653 screens after falling 33% for $17,309,163 after four weekends.  In Argentina The Passion of the Christ increased 8% on $908,000 from 122 screens in its third weekend for a $3.7m running total.    In the U.K. The Passion recorded an estimated $2.4m in its fifth stanza for a $14.2m territory cume.  It grossed an estimated $3.1m in Spain (down just 5%) for $8.9m and took $1.4m in its fourth in Germany (up 23%) for $8.5m.  However, no holdover compared to Australia's 53% jump for the previous weekend for a $10.1m total through its sixth sojourn.

The Passion of the Christ also broke several records last weekend.  In Jamaica the film become the industry's biggest release of all time in just its fourth weekend as it climbed 287% on $71,000 to raise its total to $457,156.  The passion also became the industry's biggest release of all time in Venezuela, where it reached $1.7m after 17 days.  Much more coming on Tuesday...

Last weekend, Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed grossed an estimated $15m, for a cume to date of $44.2m. 

Europe/Eastern Europe/Africa's weekend total was $10.2m for a cume to date of $28m.  Highlights include:

In France Scooby- Doo 2 is expected to gross an excellent estimated $2.7m (€2.2m) from 583 screens nationwide – 22% below the very strong opening of the original.

The U.K. continued to record outstanding results for Scooby-Doo 2.  In its second weekend the film remained a strong No. 1 with an estimated $4.2m (£2.3m) from 492 situations.  Results were on par with the opening weekend without sneaks.  The estimated cume to date is $16.5m (£9.1m).  Second weekend results also compared as follows:

o        91% of SCOOBY-DOO

o        +20 NUTTY PROFESSOR

o        +39% PETER PAN

o        +46% HAUNTED MANSION

o        +53% DR. DOLITTLE

o        +63.6 STUART LITTLE

o        +76.3% CHEAPER BY THE DOZEN

o        +139 102 DALMATIANS

o        +162 Dr. DOLITTLE 2

o        +127% NUTTY PROFESSOR 2

o        +181 STUART LITTLE 2

Spain's second weekend was a pleasant one with a drop of only 12% from the opening weekend thanks to a gross of $954k (€785.5k).  The estimated cume is $2.8m (€2.3m).  Second weekend results compared as follows:

o        +20% SCOOBY-DOO

o        +11% STUART LITTLE 2

o        +51% DR. DOLITTLE 2,

o        +61% NUTTY PROFESSOR 2

o        +130 CATS & DOGS

Latin America recorded a weekend total of $3.1m; cume to date $10.9m

Mexico's' sophomore session was No. 1 again despite two opening films, including 50 First Dates. Scooby-Doo 2 gross an estimated $1.2m (Pesos 13.5m) from 621 screens.  Second weekend results were 89% of Scooby-Doo, 318% ahead of Cats and Dogs, 84% better than Stuart Little and 22% ahead of The Grinch.  The estimated cume to date for Scooby-Doo 2 is $5.6m (Pesos 62.3m).

Scooby-Doo 2's second weekend in Brazil was good enough to remain No. 2 with a gross of $736.6k (Real 2.2m) from 275 screens – a decrease of only 22% from the opening weekend.  Results were 75% of Scooby-Doo, 21% ahead of Stuart Little and 70% ahead of Cats and Dogs. The estimated cume to date is $2.1m (Real 6.1m).

Argentina's second week was also solid with an estimated take of $279k (Peso 806k) from 60 screens, increasing by 35%.  However, the film remained No. 2 behind The Passion of the Christ.  The film is tracking 142% ahead of Scooby-Doo.  The estimated cume-to-date is $629k (Peso 1.8m).

In Asia/Pacific the weekend total was $1.6m for a cume-to-date $5.1m.

Most notable was Australia's $906.6k (AU$1.2m) sophomore weekend - a drop of just 12%, which put it ahead of The Cat in the Hat.  The estimated total to date is $2.5m (AU$3.341m).

Starsky & Hutch secured a $5m weekend thanks to 1,300 screens in nine territories pushing its total total $31.16m.  It grabbed Miramax's best opening of all time in Australia with a No. 1 debut of $2,617,517!  The film also debuted in Argentina grossing a dandy $213,375 in three days.  Germany's drop of just 29% was good enough to keep it above the million dollar mark with $1,048,096 from 602 screens in its third weekend for a $5,644,873 total.  In the U.K. it also was above the million dollar mark, grossing $1,091,310 from 418 locations for a three-weekend total of $21,137,499.

Scary Movie 3 ascended to $102.48m from 44 territories off a $3.8m weekend from 893 screens.  The big news came from Spain, where the film opened on Thursday, grossing a Miramax opening day record of $768,726 on 424 screens.  Final figures for the weekend were not yet available.

Shaun of the Dead had a great opening in the U.K.  The weekend gross was $2,970,068 (£1,603,410) at 366 dates, which was the same as the opening weekend of Dawn of the Dead, excluding previews.  It was No. 3 behind Scooby-Doo 2 and 50 First Dates.  With Easter school holidays continuing through the week, Shaun is off to a great start.   The No. 2 spot was contested, however, by 50 First Dates, which grossed a $3,030,578 (£1,651,544) on 395 in the U.K.  The Adam Sandler starrer took in $6.3m over the weekend in 12 markets from 1,261 screens for a $16.1m total.  The film scored a solid $1.6m in five days on 330 in Mexico and has $6.8m through its third in Australia.

Dawn of the Dead had a good first week in Mexico thanks to school holidays.  The film grossed just $232,398 over the weekend from 199 screens, off 50% from last week's opening.  The 10-day cume is $1,253,341.  Compared to similar films, Dawn is 7% bigger than 28 Days Later and 29% bigger than Freddy vs. Jason.  In the U.K., where Dawn is being released by Entertainment, the weekend gross was $774,503 (£422,073) at 311 dates, off 61% in its third week and the 17-day cume is $9,358,239.  It opens in Germany, Austria and Russia next weekend.  The rest of the international dates will roll out over the next few months.

Jean-Jacques Annaud proved his box office appeal in France with the impressive launch of his newest film Two Brothers, which will be released by Universal in the summer domestically).  The film took an estimated $5m.

Along Came Polly had an excellent No. 1 opening in New Zealand last weekend ahead of the openings of The Cat in the Hat and Secret Window, grossing $201,416 at 39 dates, which was 49% bigger than Meet the Parents, excluding previews.  Polly is off to a great start. 

Polly grossed $441,712 at 361 dates in Germany, off 45% in its sixth week.  Polly was No. 9 and the 39-day cume is $11,778,730. 

In Spain, the market was off 23% from Good Friday.  Polly's weekend gross was $504,338 at 225 dates, off 27% in its fifth week.  It was also No. 9 and the 29-day cume is $5,947,779. 

Polly's weekend estimate is $3.1m at 2,100 dates in 33 countries, which raised the international cume to $75,783,160. There are seven more countries left to open in.

Hellboy had anticipated, but nonetheless impressive, bows in Asia last weekend.  In Singapore the film grossed $560,000 on 38 screens.  The film also opened in Taiwan, grossing $225,000 from 17 screens in Taipei, the capital.

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King remained the No.1 film for the ninth weekend in a row in the nine key cities.  The film lost 25 screens and 26.7% of its audience from last weekend, but still managed to gross $1.6m on 589 screens for an $86,167,830 total.  Few territories reported in due to the Easter Holiday, however, the reported total is at $729,474,470 for a $1,105,141,703 worldwide total.

Something's Gotta Give had an excellent third weekend in Japan, thanks to a 22% decrease last weekend for an estimated total of $6m (¥643.5m).  Overall the film grossed an estimated $2.3m in 53 territories for a $130m total to date.

The Alamo opened day-and-date with the U.S., grossing a mediocre $690,000 on 400, which was on par with The Patriot.

Intolerable Cruelty finally ended its international run with a stop in Japan.  The film grossed a good $394,253 on 162 screens in its opening weekend.  The gross helped move its total to $83,275,442.