Bridget has 26 million Reasons to Celebrate

November 17, 2004

Bridget Jones: Edge of Reason opened in a mere half a dozen international markets over the weekend, but what an opening it was. Despite place on fewer than 1000 screens the film was able to pull in an amazing $26.7 million, the lion's share coming from the U.K. where the film took in $19.1 million on 496 screens, (including $5.9 million from sneak peaks.) That was the best opening for a Working Title film smashing the previous record of $11.1 million for Love Actually. In each market the film broke the record for Working Title films and more than doubled the original's debut. And even with legs that are expected to be much lower, it should be able to break $300 million internationally, although it may have trouble hitting $50 million domestically.

Even without any major openings, Shall We Dance? was able to climb into second place on the international charts with $8.3 million on 2200 screens in 17 markets. Its biggest opening was in Mexico where it brought in $530,000, good enough for a first place finish. Its biggest market last weekend was Germany, where it dropped just 26% to $2.3 million. So far the film has earned $33.3 million and is heading towards $100 million worldwide.

Seven Dwarfs continues to show long legs earning another $7.6 million over the weekend in the three German speaking markets. So far the film has pulled in an astounding $38.6 million, but is unlikely to earn much outside those markets, if it is released at all.

Without any major, or even mid-level openings, Shark Tale's weekend haul was down 35% to $6.7 million. With $296.3 million already in the bank, the film should hit $300 million worldwide sometime this week, or early next weekend at the latest.

The Incredibles started its international run with openings in seven mostly mid-level markets earning $5.8 million. The film beat records for biggest debut for an animated films in Taiwan ($1.3 million) and the Philippines ($500,000.) But it was second all time in a couple other markets behind fellow Pixar classic, Finding Nemo. The only major market the film opened in was France, where the film earned $330,000 at the Grand Rex in Paris, where it opened a week ahead of the national role out.

Other highlights on the international scene include:

  • After a steep post-holiday drop-off, A Very Long Engagement recovered with a mere 19% drop-off during its third weekend of release. Adding an additional $5.1 million pushed the film's box office in France to $25 million and $27 million overall.
  • Exorcist: The Beginning saw its best debut so far with a first place, $3.7 million debut in Italy. Add in its first place, $1.1 million opening in Brazil and the two markets account for nearly all of its $5.0 million weekend.
  • Thanks to openings in three major markets, The Manchurian Candidate saw its best performance in the international market so far, however, the results were not that great. The film's best resutl came in Italy where it finished third with $1.2 million. It was merely fare in Spain with $1.0 million and poor in Germany with $860,000. Overall, the film added $4.9 million to its international box office, which now sits at $11.9 million after opening in 21 markets.
  • Alien vs. Predator again plunged at the international box office dropping out of the top five. This week the filmed earned $4.9 million, including $1.7 million in its second weekend in Germany, (down nearly 60% from its debut.) Overall, the film has now brought in $60 million in 27 markets.
  • The Forgotten opened in a half a dozen, mostly smaller markets earning $4.4 million over the weekend. The largest opening came in Germany but was only $1.6 million, fourth place finish. So far the film has made only $17.8 million in 24 markets.
  • Collateral hit $100 million during the mid-week and thanks to a $3.4 million weekend as earned $104.6 million internationally.
  • The Grudge took in $2.9 million during its second weekend in the U.K., which was off only 15%, (not including previews.)
  • Resident Evil: Apocalypse continues to suffer from second weekend slumps and Italy was no different. The film lost half is opening box office to land at $800,000 in that market, $2.5 million for the weekend and $67 million internationally.
  • Anacondas: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid opened in two major markets over the weekend and had results ranging from poor in France, ($930,000 and seventh place) to abysmal in the U.K. ($357,000 and a tenth place finish.)
  • After opening poorly in the U.K. last weekend, the outlook for Bad Santa look, well, bad. However, this weekend saw a 16% increase in the films box office as the film earned $925,000, lifting its tally to $2.4 million in that market and approximately $4 million overall.
  • Veer-Zaara has already set the record for largest worldwide debut by a Bollywood film. And this weekend it earned a very impressive $903,000 on just 60 screens in the U.K, good enough for a fourth place finish in a crowded market.
  • Finding Neverland entered its third week in the U.K. with a $901,000 weekend, which was down just 15%. With $5 million in the market so far, the U.K. could turn out to be the film's single biggest market, depending on how well it can hold onto its per theatre count as it expands domestically.
  • The Village took top spot in its South African review with $300,000. But the film continues to plummet in Italy losing 60% of its box office during the third weekend.
  • Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow opened in Italy over the weekend in fourth place with just $900,000. That's on par with its performance in the U.K., the only other major international market the film has played in.
  • Taxi debuted in second place in Australia with $800,000 in just 160 theatres. So far the film has earned just over $5 million during its international run.
  • After starting strong, Hero saw its Australian box office slice in half to just $700,000. The film has earned $120 million internationally.
  • Last week Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story opened slowly in both Italy and Brazil, but is holding up better than expected taking in $400,000 and $200,000 respectively.
  • Vera Drake is holding up well in semi-limited release in Italy dropping just 25% to $300,000 this week.
  • Saved! opened with $100,000 in South Africa, good enough for sixth place.
  • During its second week of limited release in Australia, De-Lovely managed to place in the top ten with $100,000.
  • Van Helsing has long since dropped of the radar, but Universal recently reported that the film crossed $300 million worldwide.

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Source: Variety

Filed under: International Box Office, The Incredibles, Shark Tale, Van Helsing, Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story, The Village, The Grudge, Collateral, AVP: Alien Vs. Predator, The Forgotten, The Manchurian Candidate, Bad Santa, Shall We Dance?, Jet Li's Hero, Finding Neverland, Resident Evil: Apocalypse, Exorcist: The Beginning, Bridget Jones: The Edge Of Reason, Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, Taxi, Anacondas: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid, De-Lovely, Saved!, Vera Drake, Veer-Zaara