International Top Five - Pirates Propelled to the Top

September 20, 2006

A record-breaking opening in Italy pushed Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest into first place for the tenth time in 11 weeks. The film easily finished first with $9.49 million on 877 screens over the weekend and $12.13 million in total, which was more than six times what its nearest competition earned. That was the majority of the film's $18.39 million weekend haul, a haul that was earned on 4361 screens in 42 markets and that pushed its international total to $613.26 million. This made Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest just the sixth film to cross the $600 million mark internationally and by the end of the weekend put it ahead of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire for fifth place on the all-time chart.

Second place went to the first of three new releases in the top five, Perfume: The Story of a Murderer. That film debuted in first place in Germany with a $9.70 million on 700 screens over the weekend, nearly four times what its nearest competition earned. The film also topped the charts in Switzerland with $733,000 on 45 screens, and that was just in the German-speaking region of that country. Overall it managed second place with $15.21 million on 1180 screens in 5 markets and opens in Italy next weekend and France at the beginning of October, which will be major tests of the film's crossover appeal.

In third place was Ye Yan, a.k.a., The Banquet. The Chinese film opened in 5 markets, including its native one where it brought in an estimated $7.5 million. Other estimates include $423,000 on 28 screens in Hong Kong, $296,000 in Taiwan, $235,000 in Singapore and $87,000 in Malaysia. Overall it made $8.38 million on 454 screens, which is an excellent start given its $15 million production budget.

Cars fell from first to fourth despite remaining flat with $8.01 million on 3376 screens in 32 markets for a total of $192.78 million internationally. This weekend the film opened in first place in both Greece, ($510,000 on 90 screens), and in Turkey, ($450,00 on 80). However, its best market continued to be Germany at $2.49 million on 814 screens for a total of $6.37 million and also cracked $1 million in Italy with $1.51 million on 354 screens for a total of $14.17 million.

The final film in the top five comes to us from South Korea. Maundy Thursday dominated the market there taking in $6.12 million on 520 screens over the weekend and $7.58 million in total, which was five times its nearest competition, Puzzle, another local film.


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Filed under: International Box Office, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest, Cars, Perfume: The Story of a Murderer