• The Amityville Horror opened in Germany but really failed to live up to expectations with just $676,000 on 343 screens; a per screen average of less than $2,000 and an opening place of just fourth is not what the studio was hoping for and will likely lead to a very short run there. In the film's two holdovers the film dropped 34% to $1.7 million and in Australia it dropped 24% to $600,000.
• Just behind was Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous with $2.94 million on 2,500 screens in 58 markets for a total of $44.3 million. The film opened in Greece with $210,000 but just $55,000 in Argentina, and with Italy and Japan still ahead the film will easily finish above its domestic total and eventually hit $100 million worldwide, which will save someone's job.
• By adding $2.8 million, Guess Who more than doubled its international box office to $5.3 million this week with openings in the Brazil, U.K., Mexico and New Zealand. The film debuted in first place with $596,000 on 152 screens in Brazil, third place in the U.K. with $1.4 million but only fifth place in both Mexico ($480,000 on 275 screens) and New Zealand ($140,000 on 35). In its only holdover the film dropped to 8th place with $320,000 on 193 screens.
• Be Cool added $2.5 million to its international box office thanks in part to a $188,000, first place opening in Norway. On the other hand, the film fell 40% during its sophomore stint in Italy landing at $725,000.
• Hide & Seek made its debut in its final market bringing in $1,395,137 on 278 screens in Japan. That is just above the magical $5,000 per screen average that usually separates the big hits from those films that fall quickly out of the charts. Add in the handful of holdovers and the film made $2.2 million lifting its total to $60.6 million internationally.
• Shall We Dance? opened in its final market and like so many Hollywood films that final market was Japan. The film, which was a remake of a Japanese film, finished in second place with $1,892,631 on 319 screens. The film currently has $84.8 million internationally and should make it to $150 million worldwide.
• For the second week in a row Valiant's box office grew in France. This weekend it added $1,193,449 to its $6,357,182 total, up 7% from last weekend. It will still need to show very strong legs in the market to top its performance in the U.K.; this weekend the film dropped a mild 36% to $640,000 for a $13.8 million total there. The film has so far earned $20 million in just those two markets alone.
• Million Dollar Baby is still doing strong business in France bringing in $1,792,793 for a $16,906,526 total. The film now has $91 million internationally which is making $200 million worldwide more and more a likelihood.
• The Wedding Date had its first big opening when it placed third in the U.K. with $1.55 million on 300, which is a good start but probably too little too late to save the film's worldwide run.
• I've never seen a film live up to its name like Cursed has. The film did have its best opening of its international run finishing fourth in Spain with $1.125 million on 342 screens, which is a terrible performance for a horror film in that market. It was even worse in the U.K. where the film missed the top ten with just $397,000 on 298 screens.
• Robots is cruising towards $100 million internationally adding $1.5 million this weekend, including $480,000 from the U.K.
• After the Sunset managed a very close second in its debut in Spain with $1.21 million on 250 screens, but just fourth in its debut in Turkey with $100,000. Those two premieres, plus its $30,000 sophomore session in Holland, were the vast majority of its $1.37 million weekend total and helped lift its international box office to $25.8 million.
• Son of the Mask dropped just 15% to $1,163,358 during its second weekend in Japan, which is a much better result that its opening would have suggested. On the other hand, the film flopped in the Netherlands, opening with just $52,000 on 70 screens for an overall box office of $1.35 million for the weekend and $22 million internationally.
• In Good Company finally had some really good news when it opened in third place in Australia with $775,000 on 125 screens, which gave it the best per screen average in the top ten. On the other hand, the film fell 55% in Spain to just $250,000 and just shy of $1 million during its run. Overall, the film is really struggling during its international run, but this is fairly common for talky dramas.
• The Truth About Love, starring Jennifer Love Hewitt, opened in first place in South Korea with $891,217 on 136 screens (or $1,042,933 if you include sneak peaks).
• Pooh's Heffalump Movie fell just 4% during its second weekend in France landing at $890,845; that gives it $2,185,209 in the market and $26 million internationally.
• White Noise opened in Australia with a disappointing $525,000 on 172 screens and did even worse in Norway where it missed the top ten with just $12,000 on 6 screens. On the other hand, the film opened with $120,000 in Argentina (placing unknown), and held up well during its second weekend in the Netherlands dropping 30% to $160,000 for $500,000 during its run. The film was a bit of a surprise hit during its domestic run, but hasn't been able to replicate that success internationally.
• Garden State had its best opening of its short international run with $758,660 on 109 screens, good enough for ninth place and the best per screen average in the top ten. So far the film has earned $6.1 million internationally but it is unlikely that it will top its domestic total.
• Flight of the Phoenix opened in Mexico the week before last and managed $507,561 on 150 screens, one of its better openings.
• WAQT opened in the U.K. and did even better than it did here, which is not surprising as Bollywood films are a very popular niche market in the U.K.. The film managed tenth place with $400,000 despite playing on only 34 screens for the best per screen average in the market.
• Meet the Fockers fell 36% during its second weekend in South Korea, the second worst week-to-week drop-off in the top ten. That gave the film $389,871 this weekend and $1,376,430 during its run there. The film still needs to open in Japan and should add to its $232.4 million international box office.
• The Final Cut opened in Mexico the week before last with $304,284 on 60 screens and should easily beat its domestic total in that market alone.
• Hostage's international run is going about as well as it domestic run did. This week it fell 39% in Australia to $290,000 for a two week total of $980,000 in the market.
• The Merchant of Venice opened in Germany but just missed the top ten with $220,000 on 100 screens. The film did better in Hong Kong with $40,000 and seventh place.
• Seed of Chucky made its debut in Russia with $270,000 and fourth place. That's one of its better starts, but that's not saying much.
• Beauty Shop's international run got off to an ugly start with a $250,000, 13th place start in the U.K.. Using Barbershop as a guide, this film will have trouble making just a few million internationally.
• Boogeyman made its debut in Holland with a fourth place, $120,000 opening ($150,000 including sneak peaks). The film dropped 35% in Norway to $52,000 and 66% to $25,000 in Taiwan. Add in a few other holdovers and you have $240,000 this week and $7.6 million internationally.
• Downfall opening in Australia just missing the top ten with $200,000 on 22 screens (including sneak peaks).
• The Jacket had a bit of good news over the weekend opening in second place in Taiwan with $210,000, including sneak peaks.
• Harold & Kumar get the Munchies opened in Italy but did not do better there than elsewhere with just $150,000 on 70 screens missing the top ten by quite a margin.
• Fat Albert had a scrawny debut in Australia missing the top ten with just $144,000 on 121 screens.
• Millions opened in Spain with just $100,000 on 75 screens, not a good start.
• Bride and Prejudice fell 40% to $90,000 in Spain, which is very good for the market. Its two week total of $290,000 is reasonable for such a niche market film, so is the $13 million international box office.
• Alone in the Dark started its Russian run slowly with just $80,000.
• Raise Your Voice rose 24% during its second weekend of release in New Zealand landing at $70,000 for the weekend and $200,000 during its run.
• Tarnation opened in limited release in the U.K. with $70,000 on 9 screens.
• Code 46 entered the Spanish market with $65,000 on 28 screens. That per screen average would be mediocre for a wide release and is very disappointing for a semi-limited release.
• The Sea Inside debuted in limited release in Australia with $60,000 on 24 screens. Outside of its native Spain, the film has only done minor business.
• XXX: State of the Union opened early in Finland and has brought in $60,000 since Wednesday.
• Paparazzi 's slow start in Mexico was accompanied by a very fast fall, plummeting 72% during its second week of release to just $38,209.
• Coach Carter held on reasonably well in its second week in Mexico dropping 30% to $32,000.
• Ong-Bak opened in New Zealand taking in $27,500 on 5 screens. Like its performance elsewhere, this is not a strong result, but not bad considering its production budget.
• Spring, Summer, Autum, Winter... and Spring opened in Chile the week before last bringing in $15,065 on just 4 screens.
• Kinsey also opened in Chile the week before last bringing in $12,597 on 4 screens.

Submitted by: C.S.Strowbridge

Date posted: 2005-05-01