Batman Stays Strong after Slow Start

June 29, 2005

Batman Begins didn't see the sharp drop-off many had feared after its soft opening last weekend slipping by a reasonable 36%. Its best market continued to be the U.K. where the film added $5.1 million on 516 screens to its $16.7 million running tally. Other strong holdovers include Australia at $2.1 million, France at $1.96 million, and Mexico with $1.94 million. The film had a few openings over the weekend managing second place in South Korea with $2.1 million on 201 screens, $430,000 in Indonesia, and $388,000 in Portugal. Overall Batman Begins made $26.7 million on 8,350 screens in 85 markets for an international tally of $83.4 million, while its worldwide box office climbed above $200 million. That's not up to initial expectations, but still impressive.

Madagascar rose to second place with $18.1 million on 3006 screens in 23 markets, this thanks to solid openings and amazing holdovers. The film's best performance came in France where the film easily took top spot with $3.75 million in 735 theatre and the film remained in first place in Spain, ($3 million in 364 theatres); Mexico, ($3 million in 366) and Australia, ($2.75 million on 364 screens.) It's still early in the film's run, but the film has already earned $54.1 million internationally and should easily surpass its domestic total.

Mr. and Mrs. Smith slipped to third place earning $12.7 million on 3379 screens in 32 markets for an estimated $100 million international total. South Korea and the U.K. were the film's two biggest markets, both at roughly $2.7 million. In the former the film dropped 40% during its second weekend of release while the latter say a mere 9% drop-off after a 60% plummet the week before.

Revenge of the Sith saw its screen could crumble from nearly 7000 to just 2,452 this weekend, but despite this the film held up quite well adding $5.9 million to its $368.3 million international total. Film dropped a mere 15% in the U.K. landing at $1.096 million for the weekend and $61.9 million in total. In Australia the film fell just 29% to $530,000 for the weekend and $25.9 million for its run. The film is now in 18th place on in the international charts just ahead of The Sixth Sense, but it has a while to go before it reaches Lost World: Jurassic Park. Worldwide the final film of the Star Wars saga now has $726.8 million, which still places it in 19th place.

For the second weekend in a row, Sin City rounded out the top five bringing in $2.4 million and now has $31.1 million internationally and $104.8 million worldwide. Its best market was the U.K. where it slipped by a mere 10% to $610,000 while lifting its total to $11.54 million in the market.


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Filed under: International Box Office, Star Wars Ep. III: Revenge of the Sith, Batman Begins, Madagascar, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, Sin City