International Top Five - 300 is #1

March 21, 2007

It was a good week for international releases with a dozen of them charting, although none made it into the top five. The number one film was 300 as the film expanded into its first major market, scoring first place with $6.3 million on 353 screens over a 5-day period. The film was also a massive hit in Turkey with $1.5 million on 115 screens while just missing the $1 million mark in Thailand with $917,000 on 120 screens. Other openings include $730,000 on 33 screens in Hong Kong, $582,000 on 161 screens in India and $546,000 on 73 in Puerto Rico. Even more impressive were its holdovers, with it remaining in first place in all three, including a record-setting pace in Greece ($2.5 million for the weekend and $7.2 million in total). Overall, the film made $14.17 million on 1,262 screens in 12 markets for a very early international total of $25.23 screens. It's too early to tell if the film will be as big a hit internationally as it is domestically, but it is off to a great start.

Music and Lyrics slipped to second place with $9.50 million on 2,889 screens in 38 markets for a total of $57.52 million internationally. This is more than the film has earned domestically and more than enough to push its worldwide total over $100 million. The film's best opening of the weekend was France where it opened in second place with $1.8 million on 350 screens, while its best market overall was Germany at $2.11 million on 621 screens for a two-week total of $6.09 million. Other openings this week included Sweden, with $240,000 on 50 screens, and Argentina, with $163,000 on 30. Next week the film opens in Russia and it still has a few more major markets left to open in.

Norbit was flat this week, down a mere 3% to $9.49 million on 2,431 screens in 30 markets for a total of $31.84 million. Its biggest opening was Spain, where the film had to settle for second place with $1.24 million on 248 screens, while it took top spot in Holland with $669,000 on 84 screens over the weekend and $727,000 in total. However, its best market overall was the U.K. where it remained in first place, down 46% to $2.08 million on 371 screens over the weekend for a two-week total of $6.99 million. The film had an even better hold in Germany, off just 23% to $1.85 million on 546 screens for a total of $4.67 million.

Ghost Rider slipped a spot to fourth with $7.16 million on 3,691 screens in 57 markets for an international total of $87.02 million. The film had to settle for second place during its openings in Italy ($1.76 million on 302 screens), and in Sweden ($217,000). However, the film topped the charts in Argentina with $205,000. Even if the film had no new openings left in its international run it would be a lock to score $100 million and with South Korea and some other, smaller markets left, it could come close to matching its domestic total.

Night at the Museum returned to the top five thanks to a number one opening in Japan. In that market, it scored $5.11 million on 575 screens, which was the vast majority of the film's weekend haul of $6.83 million on 2,122 screens in 15 markets. As for its running tallies, the film has made $292.80 million internationally and $538.90 million worldwide. At this rate, the film should reach $300 million internationally without a problem, but unless it becomes a massive hit in Japan, that's the last milestone it will reach.

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Filed under: International Box Office, Night at the Museum, Ghost Rider, Norbit, Music and Lyrics, 300