The Omen took a huge risk opening on 6/6/06, granted, that date helped the film a lot, but opening the same weekend as the World Cup was suicide. Overall the film made $31.46 million on 4840 screens in 67 markets from Tuesday through Sunday, but only $18.58 million of that came from the weekend putting it into second place. This does mean the film was not quite as front-loaded as the film was domestically, but it still indicates pretty weak legs. It did open first in a couple of markets like The U.K. with $1.73 million on 347 screens over the weekend and $3.86 million in total and Russia with $1.51 million on 335 screens over the weekend and $2.96 million in total. But its best first place debut came in Mexico at $2.20 million on 580 screens over the weekend and $3.91 million in total. It did have to settle for second place in a couple of surprising places like Spain where a high Catholic population and a love of horror films should have made it a slam dunk for first place, but it only managed second place with $1.48 million on 280 screens over the weekend and $2.02 million in total.

X-Men: The Last Stand took the biggest hit in the top five down 61% to $13.27 million on 7001 screens in 59 markets for a three-week total of $160.61 million, which if you ignore the decimal point and the dollar sign, is a palindrome. (I bet you don't get that kind of insight on other movie sites.) The film topped $1 million in a few markets including the U.K. at $1.62 million on 470 screens over the weekend and $29.66 million in total, as well as Mexico with $1.21 million on 802 screens over the weekend and $13.83 million in total. After all is said and done, the film should top $200 million internationally and $400 million worldwide, but that's the last two major milestones in its future.

Poseidon is less than a week from topping its domestic run on the international stage after taking in $10.34 million on 3326 screens in 24 markets for a running tally of $54.90 million. At this pace it could break $200 million worldwide, which won't be enough for a profit, but might save someone's job. More good news, the film remained in first place in South Korea with $2.19 million on 285 screens over the weekend and $11.06 million in total and in China with $1.1 million on 369 screens over the weekend and $5.3 million in total. On the other hand, it was down 64% in the U.K. to $891,000 on 445 screens for a total of $4.37 million while it plummeted 66% in Italy to just $618,000 on 328 screens over the weekend and $3.16 million in total.

Cars started its international run in just six markets, but finished first in all of them earning a combined $5.37 million on 508 screens. That was enough to capture fifth place and give the film the best per screen average in the top five. Its biggest market was Australia at $3.23 million on 370 screens while it took in $452,000 on 81 screens in New Zealand. Elsewhere it made $510,000 on 50 screens in Singapore, $420,000 on 50 in Malaysia, $400,000 on 16 in Taiwan, and $325,000 on 40 in the Philippines. In all of those markets the film was below both The Incredibles and Finding Nemo, except in Malaysia where it set a record for a Pixar opening.

- C.S.Strowbridge

Date posted: 2006-06-14