Madagascar Makes a Comeback

September 7, 2005

Amazing openings in Italy and Scandinavia helped Madagascar jump back into the lead on the international charts with $11.6 million in 47 markets, which pushed its box office total to $291.5 million. Its biggest market was Italy, where the film benefited from the end of the slow summer session; with most theatres open again the film was able to grab $5.91 million over the weekend and $7.29 million if you include previews. Other first place openings included $1.45 million on 112 screens in Norway, $645,000 on 114 screens in Sweden, $600,000 on 82 screens in Denmark and $340,000 on 52 screens in Finland. The film has just a couple more markets left to open in, Thailand and the end of this month and Greece at the end of next month, but by then the film will have topped $300 million internationally and $500 million worldwide.

Thanks to a massive number one opening in Australia, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory saw significant growth at the box office this week taking in $10.1 million in 45 markets. However, it was still stuck in second place, a position the film has held for four weeks in a row. In Australia the film debuted with $5.3 million on 463 screens, the second biggest opening of the year behind only Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith's $10.4 million. The film also opened in first place in Thailand with $363,000 on 60 screens during a busy weekend. Overall the film has earned $141 million internationally, nearly $60 million of which coming from the U.K. alone, (including $1.2 million this weekend).

Bewitched rose another spot this week to third with $7.1 million on 2700 screens in 39 markets for a $32.7 million running tally. It still has not achieved breakout success, but first place finishes in Spain with $1.5 million on 300 screens and Germany with $1.4 million on 613 screens are not hurting the film. But its best opening was in Greece where the film made $655,000 on 88 screens, the best opening of the year topping Kingdom of Heaven in that regard. Other openings include first place finishes in Austria with $307,000, New Zealand with $198,000, and Portugal with $180,000.

The Island tumbled to fourth place this weekend with $5.8 million on 2,800 screens in 54 markets lifting its international total to $112 million. This total is either amazing if you compare it to its domestic box office of just $35.7 million, or very disappointing if you compare it to its $130 million production budget. The film had no major openings, and very few midlevel ones as well, the closest was a first place, $388,000 result from Turkey. Its best market was France where the film finished first for the third weekend in a row with $1.15 million on 622 screens, down nearly 50% from last weekend.

Rounding out the top five was The Skeleton Key with $3.8 million on 1650 screens in 29 markets for a running tally of $27.5 million. Its best market was Mexico where it launched with $1.3 million on 272 screens, easily enough for first place.


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Filed under: International Box Office, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Madagascar, Bewitched, The Skeleton Key, The Island