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. |