April 30-May 2, 2004

Around the World Round Up
by Kenan Bresnan

Early Edition-

On the eve of Van Helsing's worldwide takeover, Miramax films ruled the international box office.  The studio had the No. 1 and the No. 2 films in seven territories as well as having the top film in five.

Sweden - No. 1 Kill Bill: Vol. 2 and No. 2 Starsky & Hutch
Finland - ""
Norway - ""
Denmark - ""
New Zealand - ""
The Netherlands - No. 1 Starsky & Hutch and No. 2 Kill Bill: Vol. 2
Belgium - ""

Miramax was also strong in Australia with Kill Bill at No. 2 and Starsky & Hutch at No. 3.  Kill Bill also claimed the top spot in Portugal, Taiwan, Greece, the U.K., and the Czech Republic.

Kill Bill: Vol. 2 went on to gross $10m over the weekend on 2,562 screens in 27 territories for a $36.08m total.  Strong openings helped the film, while large drops, although expected, hurt it.  The film opened in five more countries last weekend faring best in Greece where it was No. 1 with a gross of $234,849 on 35 screens.  New Zealand ($226,336 on 32), Portugal ($214,152 on 45), and Taiwan ($177,390) followed suit (No. 1 openings).  Hong Kong had a solid debut of $214,592 on 25, but Vol. 2 heeded to the local film market, which has had a film at the top since Jan. 15 expect for The Passion of the Christ's one-week stay at the top.

In the U.K. Kill Bill: Vol. 2 fell 47% compared to Vol. 1's 34% drop for a weekend haul of $2,549,860 on 411 locations for a $9,901,589 total.  Australia plunged 56% to $975,921 on 201 screens for a $4,036,478 total.  Italy was similar with a 53% drop to $992,886 on 351 screens for a $4,105,415 cume-to-date.  Germany was worst, however, with a 59% drop to $1,130,712 on 490 for a $4,753,430 total.  Japan was kind to the film last weekend despite the low opening with a 33% drop to $1,154,805 on 319 for a $4,755,079 total.  Other impressive totals include Finland ($400,514), Norway ($850,792), Sweden ($564,019), the Czech Republic ($356,259), Denmark ($596,841), the Netherlands ($1,035,690), and Belgium ($667,854).  Next weekend the film debuts in Lebanon.

Starsky & Hutch, which has opted for a progressive rollout across the world saw excellent starts in Belgium and the Netherlands and mediocre results in Denmark.  In Belgium and the Netherlands the Ben Stiller/Owen Wilson headliner was No. 1 with $343,945 on 52 and $332,043 on 87 respectively.  The usually soft (for business) spring in Denmark wasn't kind to Starsky & Hutch as it grossed $139,416 on 35 in its first three days.  The surprise so far for this film has been France.  In its second weekend the film grossed $2,309,677 on 615 screens, down a reasonable 34% for a $6,479,356 total.

50 First Dates was closest to Kill Bill: Vol. 2 with a $7.1m weekend haul from 2,560 screens in 29 territories for a $46.1m total.  The film scored Adam Sandler biggest opening ever in Brazil thanks to a $705,000 start from 169 screens.  The film also debuted in Turkey, grossing a solid $216,000 on 75 screens.  50 First Dates was tops in Germany for the second weekend in a row by falling just 21% on $2m for $5.1m.  It dropped just 9% in its fourth week in the U.K. adding $1.1m for a $11.6m total and fell just 8% in Spain adding $900,000 for a $2.2m 10-day haul.

Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed grossed $4.1m from 3,998 screens in 58 territories for an estimate total of $81.9m.  With Japan still ahead $100m seems very likely.

Most impressive last weekend was France's 10% drop in its fourth weekend.  The film already has $8.5m (€7m) and will assuredly pass $10m.  Its current total is still 12% behind the original, which shows how well the original did there.  Scooby-Doo 2 debuted in Russia, but wasn't too successful.  The film managed to gross just $139k (Rubles 4m) from 108 screens.  Despite the huge increase in the Russian market Scooby-Doo 2's debut was 24% below Scooby-Doo.  The film had an O.K. start in South Korea where it grossed $47k (Won 53.2m) in Seoul and $118.4k (Won 134.5m) nationwide.

Monsters Unleashed has been most impressive in the U.K., Mexico, and Brazil.  The film has $25.9m (£25.9m), $8.9m (Peso 99.2m), and $3.8m (Real 11.1m) respectively.

Warner Brothers' stablement Taking Lives was just a bit better with an estimated $4.3m weekend take from 1,905 screens in 50 territories for a solid $23.7m cume.  In Italy the film opened in third place with an estimated gross of $814k (€685.5k) from 195 prints.  Results were 166% ahead of Murder by Numbers and 39% better than Kiss the Girls.  In France the film opened at No. 3 in Paris with a nationwide haul of $1.4m (€1.2m) from 250 screens.

Gothika finally landed in Australia, its last major market, and was most welcome.  Down Under the Halle Berry starrer grabbed the top spot with a $1.2m bow from 187 screens, which resulted in a $2m international weekend and a $75.7m running total.

While finding little business in the United States Godsend was able to find enthusiastic audiences in Spain.  The Horror/thriller genre proved once again its strength in Spain with a $1.17m debut on 281 screens for  the Robert De Niro headliner.

Fresh off its excellent start in Australia, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind surprised many with its excellent $1.8m debut on 343 screens in the U.K., good enough for second place.  However, Orlando Bloom starrer The Calcium Kid bombed in the U.K. with just $110,000 on 82 screens.

Secret Window is having solid business thanks only to high screen counts.  The film opened in second in Germany, grossing a mediocre $1.3m on 447 screens and was third in the U.K. with $1.4m on 370.  Overall the Johnny Depp thriller grossed $5.8m for a $23.6m international total.

Dawn of the Dead is in the early stages of release for Universal/UIP with openings in 15 countries to date.  The film opened in Netherlands last weekend, grossing $198,428 on 40 screens, excluding previews, good enough for third place.

In Spain, business was up 21% over last Saturday.  Dawn was No. 5 in its second weekend and grossed $513,082 at 175 dates, off only 19%.  The 10-day cume is $1,346,611.

Germany's business was about the same as last Saturday.  Dawn was No. 6 in its third week in Germany, grossing $359,802 on 345, off 33% and the 18-day cume is $2,418,336. 

The weekend gross for Dawn of the Dead was $2,219,377 at 1,082 dates in 15 countries.  The cume for the Universal/UIP territories is $11,881,810 (excluding the U.K., which has grossed an additional $10.1m through Entertainment).  Universal has 23 more countries to open including Australia on June 10. 

Along Came Polly just passed $80m at the international box office with a total of $80,437,790.  It is still in release in 28 countries and has 5 more countries still to open in. 

The Cat in the Hat had good matinees in the U.K. yesterday.  It grossed $210k at 296 dates, up 2% over last Saturday.  There will be more matinees today and the weekend estimate is $400k, which raises the 31-day cume to $12.9m.  The international cume for this DreamWorks release is $30m with four more countries to open. 

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King took in $921,212 worth of business last weekend from 1,226 screens in 39 territories with many European territories not reporting due to the May Day holiday.  It was Constitution Day in Japan, however, so final figures weren't ready.  Preliminary numbers indicate a drop of 46% to $694,596 in two days.  After its 12th weekend the film has $91,900,017.

Something's Gotta Give's total grew to $138.1m.