International Box Office: Stranger Tides Sweeps Away More Records

June 8, 2011

I think it is not unfair to call Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides a disappointment domestically, as it seems very likely that it won't match its hefty production budget, while it is practically guaranteed it will be the weakest installment in the franchise. On the other hand, the film is breaking records internationally. This weekend it tied the record for the fastest film to reach $600 million internationally, which was previously set by Avatar at just 19 days. It also became the fastest to reach $700 million worldwide at 16 days. This weekend its haul was down to $70.78 million on 15,962 screens in 69 markets for a total of $601.58 million internationally and $791.78 million worldwide, but that was enough to earn first place for the third weekend in a row. The film's biggest market of the weekend was Japan where it made $8.63 million on 802 screens, giving it a total of $62.75 million after just three weeks of release.

X-Men: First Class opened in second place with $61.01 million on 8,900 screens in 55 markets. On the plus side, it did manage first place in the U.K. with $8.93 million on 507 screens, in France with $7.20 million on 687, in Mexico with $4.71 million on 1588, and in Brazil with $4.04 million on 534. On the down side, it only managed second place in South Korea with $5.40 million on 687 screens, in Australia with $5.14 million on 415, and in Spain with $3.36 million on 517. Additionally, it could do no better than fourth place in Russia with $3.58 million on 933 screens. With only a handful of major markets left to open in, and likely a strong Fanboy Effect, this film will hurt the franchise's averages in the end, but should still show a profit sometime during the film's home market run.

The Hangover 2 was right behind with $60.17 million on 6,772 screens in 52 markets for totals of $151.65 million internationally and $337.46 million worldwide. Since the original made just $192.23 million internationally and $469.55 million worldwide, it seems likely both those numbers will fall. The sequel took top spot in Germany with $11.52 million on 636 screens over the weekend for a total opening of $13.35 million, which was more than twice what the original made during its opening weekend. In Russia the film placed second with $5.08 million on 763 screens, which was almost as much as the original made in total in that market. As far as holdovers go, the film was down 63% in the U.K. landing in second place with $6.29 million on 475 screens over the weekend for a total of $34.59 million after two. Meanwhile in Australia it was down 50% to $6.12 million on 424 screens over the weekend for a total of $21.83 million after two. The film is less than $2 million from topping the original in the former, while it has already done so in the former.

Kung Fu Panda 2 slipped to fourth with $42.49 million on 9,347 screens in 28 markets for a still early total of $127.30 million and $227.33 million worldwide. While the film opened in more than a dozen markets, they were of the smaller variety, so the film had to mostly survive on holdovers. China led the way with $13.9 million on 5,500 screens over the weekend for a total of $48 million after two. It remained in top spot in both South Korea ($7.57 million on 884 screens over the weekend for a total of $24.35 million after two) and in Russia ($5.22 million on 1,337 for a two-week total of $24.28 million). With several major market openings next weekend, it should remain a powerhouse at the international box office, and while it may or may not match the original's worldwide total, it should still show a profit during its initial push into the home market.

Ready opened in fifth place with $14.87 million on 1,078 screens in 17 markets. This is a great result for an Indian film, especially considering it cost about 40 crore rupees to make, or about $9 million. In fact, it made more than that during its opening weekend in its native market.

Fast Five fell to fifth place with $10.75 million on 5,432 screens in 59 markets for a total of $367.44 million internationally and $569.42 million worldwide. It's going to be in free-fall soon; however, it still has a debut in Japan in the fall, so hitting another milestone or two is not out of the question.


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Filed under: International Box Office, The Hangover Part II, Kung Fu Panda 2, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, Fast Five, X-Men: First Class