International Box Office: Another Week, Another Potter Milestone

August 10, 2011

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2 became just the third film in history to reach $800 million internationally, and that wasn't the only big news of the week. Over the weekend, the film pulled in $62.43 million on 14,316 screens in 62 markets for totals of $801.32 million internationally and $1.14 billion worldwide. It is now the highest grossing non-James Cameron film of all time. The film opened with just shy of $30 million in China, which is more than twice the previous film's debut there. In fact, it is about 10% less than the previous film's final box office there. There is a chance Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2 will break the century mark in this market. Other big news of the weekend came from the U.K. where it earned $4.61 million on 525 screens for a total of $102.39 million. It's still very rare for films to earn $100 million or more in any individual box office, so this is good news. Its next biggest individual market is Japan at $82.19 million, including $4.76 million on 822 screens this past weekend. Looking forward, the film should have no trouble reaching $900 million internationally and it should top Titanic's international number worldwide.

The Smurfs expanded significantly reaching second place with $48.70 million on 5,992 screens in 30 markets for a two-week total of $56.35 million. Its biggest market of the weekend was Brazil with $6.94 million on 585 screens. It's a sign that Brazil's importance as an international market is growing. The film also opened in first place in Germany ($6.34 million on 575 screens); in France ($5.71 million on 519); and in Mexico ($5.60 million on 1,300). The film was pushed into third place in Spain, but still added $2.08 million on 395 screens over the weekend for a total of $8.63 million after two.

Captain America: The First Avenger hit the century mark internationally with $26.19 million on 5,765 screens in 38 markets for a total of $102.94 million. The film's only major market opening came in Spain where it had to settle for second place with $2.54 million on 383 screens. On the other hand, it added $3.25 million on 1,383 screens during its second weekend in Mexico for a total of $15.35 million. At the moment, the film is on pace to reach $400 million worldwide, or at least come very close, which is a good total for a film that cost $140 million make.

Rise of the Planet of the Apes opened in fourth place with $23.85 million on 3,454 screens in 25 markets. The biggest debut came from Russia where it made $5.15 million on 1,012 screens, but Spain ($5.02 million on 392) and Australia ($4.84 million on 359) were very close behind. With most major markets still ahead (including France, Germany, and the U.K. this weekend) it's still far too early to tell where it will end up, but this is a good start.

Cars 2 added $23.38 million on 6,570 screens in 40 markets over the weekend for a total of $265.10 million internationally and $449.91 million worldwide. It has just about caught up to Cars' original worldwide total. It had no major market openings this past weekend, unless you count opening in three of the four Scandinavian markets as one market. It earned $1.99 million on 128 screens in Norway, $1.97 on 162 in Sweden, and $1.70 million on 181 in Denmark, earning first place in all three markets.

Transformers: Dark of the Moon was right behind with $21.31 million on 8,229 screens in 56 markets for a total of $697.81 million internationally and $1.04 billion worldwide. This is the third film released in 2011 to hit that milestone, which is more impressive when you consider that before 2010, no year had more than one $1 billion movie. In China, the film added $7 million over the weekend for a total of $137 million after three.


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Filed under: International Box Office, The Smurfs, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part II, Transformers: Dark of the Moon, Cars 2, Captain America: The First Avenger, Rise of the Planet of the Apes