Far from a Global Disaster

June 2, 2004

It was a massive worldwide opening for The Day After Tomorrow, which debuted in 9,276 theatres in 110 markets. It's $85.0 million over three days was almost the same has its four day domestic take. And with more than $150 million, it became the biggest worldwide debut this year. This is a great start, but the real test is yet to come. What will determine if this film is a blockbuster verses it being an elite film is how well it holds up to competition next weekend.

The The Day After Tomorrow onslaught proved too much for Troy, which saw its international box drop by 40% to $40.3 million. Still, the news is good as the film is now probably just one weekend shy from becoming the biggest international hit of the year … so far.

While it didn't technically open last weekend, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban opened on Monday in the U.K. And on that one day and in that one market it earned enough to finished third on the international charts this weekend. It's take of $9.2 million was more than a million dollars above the previous best single day box office in Britain of $8 million, held by Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. With an equally impressive Tuesday haul of $6.4 million, this film looks set to break even more records. And becoming only the third film to reach $1 billion worldwide could be in its future.

Given the previous film's performance the rest of the chart looks rather meager. Van Helsing was hurt even more by The Day After Tomorrow and it plummeted to just $7.3 million. That puts its ability to hit $300 million worldwide a little more in doubt.

Rounding out the top five was the Japanese film, Crying Out for Love in the Center of the World, which took in $4.6 million in its home nation. This film is showing very good legs, even compared to the usually leggy Japanese market.


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Source: Variety

Filed under: International Box Office, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, The Day After Tomorrow, Troy, Van Helsing