International Top Five - Moon Rises and Other Milestones
December 9, 2009
A trio of films hit major milestones at the international box office this weekend, starting with The Twilight Saga - New Moon.
That film remained in first place with $41.83 million on 8,144 screens in 61 markets for a total of $320.04 million internationally and $575.40 million worldwide.
This week, it opened in South Korea with $4.07 million on 622 screens over the weekend and $5.68 million in total.
This is not a lot for the market compared to other Hollywood blockbusters, but it is almost as much as the original made during its entire run and it will surpass the earlier film by next week.
Meanwhile in Germany, the film did just that with $5.76 million on 703 screens over the weekend and $25.39 million after two, which is significantly more than the $22.65 million the original made there.
At this pace, New Moon will have little trouble earning more internationally than Twilight made worldwide, while it will crack $600 million worldwide by the weekend.
2012 earned the next major milestone of the weekend, adding $37.08 million on 10,829 screens in 76 markets over the weekend for a total of $519.28 million internationally and $668.24 million worldwide. More than half a billion dollars internationally is huge in the grand scheme of things, and absolutely amazing since it has "only" made $150 million domestically so far.
The film has no major markets left to open in and it will likely slide down the chart rather fast from now on.
That said, it should have no trouble hitting $700 million worldwide, perhaps as early as the weekend, while $600 million internationally is within reach.
The third major milestone in the top three belonged to Disney's A Christmas Carol, which reached $100 million since this time last week.
Over the weekend it pulled in $18.31 million on 5,459 screens in 47 markets for a total of $120.59 million internationally and $235.84 million worldwide.
The film was aided by a first place opening in Italy where it made $4.61 million on 493 screens over the weekend and $4.98 million in total.
It also climbed to second place in the U.K. with $2.73 million on 486 screens over the weekend for a total of $22.51 million after a month of release.
A Christmas Carol has no major markets left to open in, but at least it has matched its rather hefty production budget worldwide.
If it can become an annual event like The Polar Express was, then maybe it will show a profit.
Eventually.
Paranormal Activity climbed a spot to fourth with $13.59 million on 1,984 screens in 25 markets for a total of $32.14 million internationally.
This includes a first place opening in France with an estimated $4 million.
It also opened in Australia with $2.46 million on 265 screens over the weekend and $2.57 million in total.
In Brazil it had to settle for third place, but still managed an impressive $1.04 million on 249 screens over the weekend and $1.33 million in total.
It climbed into first place in the U.K. with $3.01 million on 398 screens to give it $11.62 million in total, which is more than a third of its international figure so far.
The film is arguably the most profitable movie of all time, on a percent basis, and that's before you take into account its international run, so everything it earns now is gravy. And everything it earns in the future includes openings in Japan and Italy, as well as other, smaller markets.
Arthur And The Revenge of Maltazard started its run in fifth place with $13.28 million on 2,067 screens in 15 markets over the weekend and $14.28 million in total.
Of this total, nearly $9 million came from France, where it placed first with ease.
On the other hand, it only managed third place in Russia with $1.14 million on 400 screens, while it has made just $1.04 million in two weeks of release in Germany, including $373,000 on 311 screens this past weekend.
The original made close to $100 million internationally, but went nowhere here, so if this film doesn't perform overseas, it is in trouble.
Filed under: International Box Office, The Twilight Saga: New Moon, Paranormal Activity, Disney’s A Christmas Carol, Arthur et la vengeance de Maltazard, 2012