International Top Five - New Moon Ages Well

December 2, 2009

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The Twilight Saga - New Moon remained in the top spot on the international chart with $82.38 million on 8,292 screens in 52 markets for a total of $251.33 million internationally and $482.28 million worldwide. This includes a number of new markets for the film, but most were of the smaller variety. It did place first in Germany with $16.95 million on 703 screens, but that includes previews. On the other hand, it bombed in Japan, opening in fifth place with just $792,000 on 197 screens and was even worse in South Korea, debuting in eighth place with $129,000 on 47 screens over the weekend and $166,000 in total. As far as holdovers go, the film was surprisingly consistent at roughly 60% down in most major markets. This includes the U.K. where it was down 63% to $7.11 million on 504 screens; however, it still managed first place in that market, while it now has $33.57 million after just two weeks of release compared to the lifetime total of $16.31 million for its predecessor. It is important to note that Twilight was surprisingly weak in the U.K. compared to its box office performance in most major markets. That said, New Moon has topped the lifetime total of the earlier film in every single major market it opened in last weekend, which is an amazing feat. It has yet to open in only a few other markets, but unless the film cost a lot more to make than has been reported, it has already shown a sizeable profit.

2012 added $61.83 million on 12,126 screens in 75 markets to take its running tally to $456.63 million internationally and $595.08 million worldwide. It is very likely that the film has become the 47th $600 million hit of all time, while at this pace it should have little trouble becoming the 35th $700 million hit on the worldwide stage, despite a lack of major markets left to open in. Its best market of the weekend was Germany, where it slipped to second place with just over $4.42 million on 751 screens for a total of $30.26 million after three weeks of release. It remained in first place in Japan with a nearly identical weekend total of just under $4.42 million on 610 screens over the weekend for a total of $18.79 million after two.

Disney's A Christmas Carol again saw growth, increasing 7% to $22.13 million on 4,989 screens in 44 markets for a total of $93.92 million internationally and $198.85 million worldwide. It was aided by a third place opening in France where it made $3.2 million on 321 screens. On the other hand, it struggled in South Korea with $795,000 on 209 screens over the weekend and $895,000 in total. The film was down just 12% in Russia, which is a market known for its steep declines, so this is an amazing result. It added $3.36 million on 344 screens over the weekend for a total of $8.56 million after two. It was also down 12% in the U.K., earning $3.20 million on 589 screens over the weekend for a total of $18.72 million after four. At this pace, topping its domestic total internationally seems very likely, something The Polar Express couldn't do.

Planet 51 more than tripled its opening weekend and climbed into fourth place with $9.79 million on 2,527 screens in 13 markets for an early total of $14.05 million. New openings were led by Spain where the film managed second place with $4.42 million on 509 screens, while it placed third in Mexico with $1.42 million on 452 screens. We will need a bit more data to judge its international legs, but it seems likely that the movie will perform better internationally than it did domestically.

Paranormal Activity climbed into the top five for the first time in its short run with $8.77 million on 1,356 screens in 21 markets for a hair shy of $15.00 million after three weeks of release. In the U.K., it had its best opening of its international run so far, earning second place with $5.94 million on 394 screens. On the other hand, it missed the top five in Spain with $1.01 million on 205 screens, which is surprising since that market tends to reward horror movies. Up next for the film is Australia and France this coming weekend, while it has plenty more markets left to go.

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Filed under: International Box Office, The Twilight Saga: New Moon, Paranormal Activity, Disney’s A Christmas Carol, Planet 51, 2012