Local Flicks Compete for International Crown

December 29, 2004

Note: Several markets were closed over Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Also, due to the holidays, full figures for several of these markets are unavailable making this week's column shorter than usual.

Ocean's Twelve opening in another two markets, (Mexico and Belgium) helped the heist film finish first on the international charts with $22.6 million on 5,183 screens in 46 markets. The film opened well in Belgium where it easily took first place with $1.2 million on just 75 screens. That's up nearly 40% compared to the the original, but down nearly 10% in Euros. In Mexico the film could only manage $1.8 million on 550 screens for a rather limp per screen average. However, in most markets the film is not holding up as well as the studio would have liked. For instance, in Germany the film dropped by more than 50%, in France the decline was 44%. The only exception appears to be Italy where holidays and a serious boost to screen count helped the film climb 33% to $2.9 million over the weekend.

The Incredibles were just $1.5 million of the leading pace with $21.1 million on 6,273 screens in 49 markets, and now sits at $228.3 million after crossing $200 million mid-week. All this despite having two of its biggest markets closed both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. In Australia the Pixar smash-hit earned $1.4 million on 286 screens on Boxing Day alone, setting a single-day Animated record. In the U.K. the film captured $1.1 million on Boxing day and now has $46 million in that market alone.

The first of two non-Hollywood films in the top five is Kung Fu Hustle, which debuted in 5 markets over the weekend breaking records in three of them. In its home market of China, the film took in an amazing $7.8 million on 492 screen beating the old record set by House of Flying Daggers. The film also broke records in Hong Kong with $3.2 million on 92 screens and Taiwan with $1.9 million on 45. In the other two markets the film also performed amazingly as its earned the second largest opening in Malaysia with $952,000 on 52 screens and the fifth largest in Singapore with $1.15 million on 46 screens. All in all the film made $15 million since it opened on Thursday.

Aided by a trio of east Asian openings, Polar Express was nearly flat with last weekend taking in $10.5 million on 6000 screens in 59 markets pushing its international tally to $83.8 million so far. Its best opening came in South Korea where the film opened with $1.3 million on 118 screens. In Hong Kong the film finished a distant second to Kung Fu Hustle with $381,900 on 31 screens and in Thailand it took in $199,000 on 46 screens.

Rounding out the top five for the second weekend in a row was Howl's Moving Castle. The film crossed $100 million in Japan during the mid week and after taking in another $5.6 million over the weekend it now sits at $108.8 million in its home market. The film also opened in South Korea earning $3.8 million on 243 screens there.

Other highlights on the international scene include:

• National Treasure had a Boxing Day opening in the U.K., but could only manage $620,000 in 340 theatres, while over the weekend it took in $515,000 in Turkey. Overall the film made $7.9 million on 2295 screens in 20 markets for a $52 million running tally.
• Shrek 2 saw its second session in Italy climb to $5.0 million and the film has now earned $13.0 million in the market and $460.9 million internationally.
• Bridget Jones: Edge of Reason plummeted out of the top five landing at just $4.0 million on 2260 screens in 21 markets. The film did cross $200 million worldwide and now sits at $162.4 million internationally.
• Good news, Alexander's international box office is just a weekend away from topping its domestic run. Bad news, its run so far is still considered a disaster. This week the film earned $3.8 million on 1300 screens in 25 markets for an international box office of just $32.7 million. The highlight of the weekend was a decidedly soft $1.96 million, second place finish in Germany, where the movie played on nearly 500 screens. The film did roughly the same level of business in Austria where it took home $311,582 on 76 screens for third place.
• Meet the Fockers opened on Boxing Day in Australia with $1.8 million on 236 screens.
• SpongeBob Squarepants opened in Germany with $1.5 million in 404 theatres, strong enough for fourth place.
• Christmas with the Kranks continues to slump internationally adding just $1.4 million to its $18.5 million international box office after opening in 27 markets so far.
• Data for most markets was unavailable for Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events, but it did bring in $1.3 million from 445 theatres in its debut in France. That was only good enough for ninth place and that's bad news for the studio.
• We have some partial data for Andrew Lloyd-Webber's The Phantom of the Opera. In its single day debuts in Australia, New Zealand and Latin American the film took it $363,015 on 196 screens. In Italy the film improved to $300,000 thanks to the holidays, however, in Germany the film's fortune was cut in half to just $400,000.
• Around the World in 80 Days finished in fifth place in Germany with $1 million on 388 screens. While the film has topped its domestic box office internationally, it is still a financial failure.
• The Clearing took home $600,000 from 77 theatres in Germany over the weekend and now sits at $7 million internationally.
• House of Flying Daggers opened on Boxing Day in the U.K. earning just shy of $500,000 on that single day.
• The Grudge opened in South Africa with $300,000 in 49 theatres. The film has earned an estimated $22 million internationally, most of that coming from its successful run in the U.K.
• The Princess Diaries 2 opened in Sweden in sixth place with $200,000 in 40 theatres. Films aimed at the same demographic generally don't do well internationally, so bringing in $28.3 million is not a bad run.
• The Aviator opened in the U.K. on Sunday and earned $90,000 in its lone theatre.

Source: Variety

Filed under: International Box Office, Shrek 2, Meet the Fockers, The Incredibles, The Polar Express, National Treasure, Ocean's Twelve, Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events, The Grudge, The Aviator, The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement, SpongeBob SquarePants: The Movie, Christmas with the Kranks, The Phantom of the Opera, Bridget Jones: The Edge Of Reason, Alexander, Around the World in 80 Days, Kung Fu Hustle, House of Flying Daggers, The Clearing