Just like Van Helsing's debut of last weekend, Troy almost matched its domestic weekend gross with its international weekend gross.  The film grossed an estimated $54.7m overseas in its debut weekend.  The film opened in 47 markets, ranking No. 1 everywhere.  "We are pleased to start the summer season with this strong opening of Troy, and look forward to continued success as we expand into additional territories in the coming weeks," said Veronika Kwan-Rubinek, President International Distribution, Warner Bros. Pictures.

In Greece, the home of Homer, Troy dethroned The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King with the biggest three-day opening of all time (excluding previews), grossing an outstanding $1.7m (€1.5m).  In addition, Sunday's gross of $691k (€582k) was the biggest single day ever.  The film also resonated extremely well in Turkey, where Troy actually stood, with the second biggest bow ever and the best bow of the year.  The film grossed $1.4m (Lira 2.2trillion).

Troy was expectedly fantastic in Germany, Wolfgang Petersen's home, taking an estimated $8.5m (€7.2m) from 1,158 screens, making it the biggest industry opening for 2004.  The results outperformed last week's opening of Van Helsing by 27%, and were 87% better than The Last Samurai, 47% higher than Gladiator, and 80% ahead of Saving Private Ryan.

Despite beautiful weather, Troy opened with an excellent estimated gross of $5.1m (€4.3m) from 743 screens in France.  In terms of nationwide admissions, it was the biggest opening of a U.S. film this year, which, considering the film opened on a Thursday, rather than the traditional Wednesday, is extremely impressive.  It was 4% larger than Van Helsing's 5-day debut, 12% higher than The Last Samurai (5-day opening + previews), and better than The Perfect Storm, Pearl Harbor, and Gladiator.

Spain seemed to be buoyed by Van Helsing's Universal record debut  there last weekend as Troy grossed an estimated $6.3m (€5.3m) from 464 screens, which was the fourth biggest opening of all-time (excluding sneaks).  It was also WB's third biggest start (excluding previews) ever behind Harry Potter & the Chamber of Secrets and The Matrix Reloaded.  The results were 7% better than Van Helsing, 24% better than The Last Samurai, and over 110% better than Gladiator, The Perfect Storm, Saving Private Ryan, and Pearl Harbor.

Australia's debut of $4.7m (AU$6,641,426) from 416 screens was fantastic. It was the eighth biggest debut ever (in Australian dollars). The debut surpassed the openings of Gladiator by 12%, Van Helsing by 43%, and The Last Samurai by 95%.

Latin America was not less successful.  Mexico recorded an outstanding $3.5m (Peso 40.3m) debut from 730 screens for Troy, which was the fourth biggest opening ever for a WB film behind The Matrix Reloaded and both Harry Potters.  Brazil grossed an excellent $1.7m (Real 5.4m) from 451 screens outperforming all of Troy's target films.

Troy also crossed $1m mark from debuts in Austria ($1.3m or €1.1k), the Netherlands ($1.2m or €984k), Switzerland ($1.1m or CHF 1.5m), Thailand ($1.1m or Baht 44.3m), and Sweden ($1m or Krona 7.8m).

Had Troy opened in the territories Van Helsing opened in last weekend it would probably have grossed upwards of $70m.  Despite opening without the U.K. or Italy, however,  it managed to have almost the same weekend gross.  This means that $200m is almost guaranteed now and $300m is not a far reach.  Warner Brothers is already used to selling this type of movie as The Last Samurai grossed $343.55m in all (despite only taking in $111..1m in the U.S./Canada) making it the 20th highest grossing movie ever in the international marketplace.  Next weekend Troy debuts in Italy, South Korea, Russia, and the U.K. on the 21st and Taiwan and Japan on the 22nd.

Van Helsing grossed an estimated $24.5m at 5,200 dates in 41 territories this weekend ($23m from 4,900 dates in the 38 UIP territories and $1.5m from 300 dates in the non-UIP territories - Russia, Philippines and Iceland).  The international cume is $95m ($90m for UIP). 

Troy opened this weekend in most territories (except U.K., Italy and some smaller markets) and took over the top spot so Van Helsing was the No. 2 film in those markets with an average 20% market share.

In the U.K., Van Helsing held strong at No. 1 on Saturday ahead of the Troy previews.  Van Helsing grossed $2m at 458 dates and had a 39% market share.  Troy grossed $1.9m at 465 dates.  Troy will have more previews today and Thursday before the official opening on Friday.  Van Helsing's weekend gross was $4,356,938 from 455, off 52% and the 10-day cume is $17,533,492.  It is outpacing The Mummy by 28% and The Mummy Returns by 13%. 

France grossed $2,052,536 at 640 dates, off 58% and raised the 12-day cume to $7,664,491.  It was 9% below The Mummy and 23% ahead of The Mummy Returns.

Germany's weekend gross was $3,030,218 at 748 dates, off 56%.  It was No. 2 behind Troy.  Van Helsing's 11-day cume is $12,137,116.  It was 16% below The Mummy and 15% ahead of The Mummy Returns. 

Van Helsing was No. 1 in Italy.  The weekend gross was $1,760,802 at 264 dates, off 54% and the 10-day cume is $6,850,668.  It was 23% behind The Mummy, but 70% ahead of The Mummy Returns and will pass that films final gross of $7.7m this week.

Van Helsing was No. 2 in Spain with $2,066,576 at 400 dates, off 58% from last weekend's record-breaking opening.  The 10-day cume is $8,111,557, which was 38% bigger than The Mummy and 44% bigger than The Mummy Returns.

In Australia, Van Helsing was No. 2 with a weekend gross of $1,619,298 at 229 dates, off 54%.  The 11-day cume is $6,158,187.  It is at the same level as The Mummy and 20% bigger than The Mummy Returns.  New Zealand grossed $226,412 at 52 dates, off 47% and raised the 11-day cume to $780,463, which was 8% below The Mummy and 43% ahead of The Mummy Returns. 

Van Helsing held strong in Latin America.  Mexico grossed $1,217,782 at 346 dates, off 40%.  It was No. 2 behind Troy and the 10-day gross is $5,428,082, which was 5% ahead of The Mummy and 19% below The Mummy Returns.  Van Helsing slipped to No. 2 in Brazil with an estimated $550k at 238 dates, off 42% and raised the 10-day cume to $2.1m.  Argentina grossed $117,093 at 58 dates, off 48% and raised the 11-day cume to $411,587.

In Southeast Asia, Van Helsing had an excellent hold in Taiwan, grossing $1,066,388 at 62 dates, off only 19%.  Singapore and Thailand were off around 60%, while Hong Kong (no Troy) and Malaysia (Troy not performing well there) were off by 40%. 

Kill Bill: Vol. 2 continued to tumble from huge competition in Troy and Van Helsing.  The film grossed $3.6m from 2,285 screens in 32 territories - a drop of 33%.  The film had South Korea to thank for its relatively modest drop as it opened there, grossing $620,465 from 90 screens. However, it was Dawn of the Dead that was the most successful there. The zombie flick grossed a surprising $671,188 from 90 screens in its opening weekend. It was in its fourth weekend in Europe's major territories, including the U.K. ($14,528,618 total gross), Australia ($5,339,874), Italy ($5,721,058), and Germany ($6,463,779) and continued to grab solid business in Japan with a $482,551 weekend off 280 screens for a $8,900,964 total.  The film opens in France today and Mexico and Thailand on the 21st.

Pedro Almodóvar's Bad Education had a solid debut in France where its release coincided with its premiere at the Cannes Film Festival.  The film grossed $1.8m on 297 screens in its debut.

Big Fish made one of its final stops in Japan last weekend, grossing a modest $1.3m on 238 screens, trailing the sophomore session of Crying Out for Love.  Tim Burton's fantasy has grossed $48.3m overseas.

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King plunged 50% last weekend due to direct competition from Troy and Van Helsing.  The film, nearing DVD/Video release in most countries, grossed $270,692 from 880 screens in 37 territories pushing its international total to $740,111,678 and its worldwide cume-to-date to $1,116,964,680.  Japan lost another 35 screens for a total of 74 on Saturday and made $183,379 from the two-day weekend.  Its total there climbed to $94,252,605.  The film was No. 10 in the nine key cities box office chart.  The Return of the King was still among the weekend's top 20 films in Denmark (No. 10), Japan, New Zealand (No. 20), and Sweden (No. 18).

Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters unleashed had a solid $1.5m weekend from 2,773 screens in 52 territories, upping its cume to $89.3m.  Fellow WB film Taking Lives grossed $1.3m on the weekend from 1,140 screens in 44 territories for a $29.8m while Something's Gotta Give pushed its total to $140.2m.