International Top Five - Marley Retrieves Top Spot

March 18, 2009

Marley & Me jumped to the top of the international box office pulling in $14.14 million on 2559 screens in 29 markets for a total of $49.01 million. Its best market was the U.K. where it opened in first place with $6.15 million on 467 screens, while it placed second in Russia $1.58 million on 517 screens over the weekend for a total of $2.04 million. As far as holdovers go, the film managed $2.04 million on 550 screens over the weekend for a total of $5.72 million after two. Meanwhile in France, it earned $1.29 million on 354 screens over the weekend for a total of $4.11 million, also after two. The film opens in Spain this weekend, Japan next weekend, and Italy the weekend after that.

Watchmen opened in a number of smaller markets, which mitigates some of the loses, but it still fell 50% to $13.42 million on 2601 screens in 51 markets over the weekend for a total $49.36 million. As far as individual markets go, the film was down 57% in the U.K. to $1.95 million on 420 screens over the weekend for a total of $8.62 million, while it was also down more than 50% in Australia with $1.09 million on 355 screens over the weekend and $4.21 million in total. The film was down nearly 60% in Russia; however, that is normal for the market and it still added $1.09 million on 554 screens for a total of $4.88 million. This film isn't completely out of major markets for it to open in, but it's close. Also, $100 million internationally is still obtainable, but it could be close.

Gran Torino remained in third place for the third week in a row with $11.68 million on 2144 screens in 25 markets for a total of $49.87 million. In Italy, the film opened in second place with $2.20 million on 318 screens, which is Clint Eastwood's biggest opening ever in that market. Its best market of the weekend was France where it was down 39% to $2.70 million on 461 screens over the weekend for a total of $14.70 million, while it was down just 19% in Spain giving it $2.26 million on 263 screens over the weekend and $5.84 million after two.

Slumdog Millionaire fell to fourth with $10.84 million on 3040 screens in 46 markets for a total of $137.50 million. The film did open in a few smaller markets, but its best market remained the U.K. where it made $1.05 million on 435 screens over the weekend for a total of $41.28 million after more than two months of release.

Fox is trying something different with Dragonball: Evolution. It's opening the movie in Asia before its North American release. So far it is hard to judge how well its have worked, but the movie did place fifth with $9.59 million on 2132 screens in 8 markets. This includes a first place, $3.07 million opening on 855 screens in China, but the film had to settle for third place in Japan with $2.56 million on 540 screens over the weekend and $3.19 million in total. Over in South Korea it placed second with $1.11 million on 343 screens over the weekend and $1.23 million in total. I'm not overly impressed by these numbers, especially with a reported $100 million production budget. However, I'm not willing to write it off at this point either.


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Filed under: International Box Office, Gran Torino, Marley & Me, Slumdog Millionaire, Watchmen, Dragonball Evolution