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'Van Helsing' Has
Widest Ever Release for Universal
by
Kenan Bresnan
May 6, 2004
It's the first weekend of May and the newest sure-fire
blockbuster is set to release. Van Helsing
kicks off the Summer season with the widest release ever
for a Universal film. The Hugh Jackman starrer
debuts in 40 international territories this weekend.
The super-saturated release notably excludes Japan,
which is currently set for September 11.
On this same weekend last year X-Men 2 had an
unprecedented launch in 93 territories on 7,600 prints,
grossing $69,270,300 for a $154,829,031 worldwide
weekend total. At the time, the start was the second biggest
international opening weekend ever behind The
Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers' $87.9m weekend.
However, the record was later broken by The Matrix
Reloaded then The Matrix Revolutions then
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King at
$125.9m. "The one name they all fear" has three
behemoths to take down, ironically like the three main
villains in the film (Frankenstein, Dracula, and Wolf
Man). However, it isn't likely Van Helsing
will come too close. Its 40 territories will
hamper its success, at least on its opening weekend.
Without Japan and South Korea Van Helsing has
little shot at claiming any total international weekend
record.
The director, Stephen Sommers, has nonetheless already had excellent
success for Universal with The Mummy franchise.
Each movie had a much higher international gross than
domestically. Although The Mummy grossed $155.4m
in the States, it eclipsed that mark with a $260.5m
international haul. The sequel raked in $202m
domestically, but the international tally
was still high at $231m. The best market for the
two films was Germany, where the original took in $29,970,048
and the sequel $22,443,846.
Most assuredly Van Helsing will have a better
international haul than its domestic total as well as
have extremely high marks in Germany.
With the very kind currency exchange Van Helsing
shouldn't have a problem crossing $150m when all is said
and done and could easily gross north of $200m.
Here is the release dates for this upcoming weekend:
|
VAN HELSING |
|
TERRITORY |
RELEASE DATE |
|
U.S. |
7-May-04 |
|
AUSTRALIA |
5-May-04 |
|
BELGIUM |
5-May-04 |
|
FRANCE |
5-May-04 |
|
SWITZERLAND |
5-May-04 |
|
ARGENTINA |
6-May-04 |
|
AUSTRIA |
6-May-04 |
|
CHILE |
6-May-04 |
|
DENMARK |
6-May-04 |
|
GERMANY |
6-May-04 |
|
HUNGARY |
6-May-04 |
|
ISRAEL |
6-May-04 |
|
NETHERLANDS |
6-May-04 |
|
NEW ZEALAND |
6-May-04 |
|
PERU |
6-May-04 |
|
PORTUGAL |
6-May-04 |
|
BRAZIL |
7-May-04 |
|
COLOMBIA |
7-May-04 |
|
CYPRUS |
7-May-04 |
|
CZECH/SLOVAK |
7-May-04 |
|
FINLAND |
7-May-04 |
|
GREECE |
7-May-04 |
|
HONG KONG |
7-May-04 |
|
ITALY |
7-May-04 |
|
MALAYSIA |
7-May-04 |
|
MEXICO |
7-May-04 |
|
NORWAY |
7-May-04 |
|
PANAMA |
7-May-04 |
|
PHILIPPINES |
7-May-04 |
|
POLAND |
7-May-04 |
|
ROMANIA |
7-May-04 |
|
RUSSIA |
7-May-04 |
|
SINGAPORE |
7-May-04 |
|
SOUTH AFRICA |
7-May-04 |
|
SPAIN |
7-May-04 |
|
SWEDEN |
7-May-04 |
|
THAILAND |
7-May-04 |
|
THAILAND |
7-May-04 |
|
TURKEY |
7-May-04 |
|
U.K. |
7-May-04 |
|
TAIWAN |
8-May-04 |
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