U.S. films dominated the overseas charts, with 'True Grit, 'No Strings Attached' and 'Yogi Bear' tied for No. 3 with $10 mil apiece, right behind $12.1 mil 'Tangled' at No. 2.
It's open season so far this year at the foreign box office.
Unlike the first two months of 2010 when Avatar monopolized overseas box office, 2011 on the foreign theatrical circuit remains fluid, allowing ample breathing room to a mix of Oscar nominated titles and local-language films.
Taking the weekend's No. 1 overseas spot for the second straight stanza was 20th Century Fox's, which collected $17.2 million from 3,735 locations in 39 markets, pushing the multiple-Academy Award contender to a $97.9 million foreign gross total.
Opening in six markets, Swan , starring best actress nominee Natalie Portman as a troubled ballet dancer, opened strongly in Spain ($3 million from 296 situations) and took the No. 2 France spot in its second round there ($3.8 million from 338 locales for a market cume of $9.75 million).
Homegrown films glittered at the box office over the weekend. The third biggest opening of 2011 in the U.K. was British-based Working Title Films' Paul , about British comic book geeks encountering an alien (voiced by Seth Rogan ) while on a road trip in the U.S. The title ranks No. 4 overall on the weekend.
Released by Universal in the U.K. and Ireland and co-scripted and costarring Simon Pegg and Nick Frost ,decisively claimed the market's No. 1 spot with 9.2 million (including previews) from some 430 locations. Paul is well positioned, said Universal, with a week of school holidays beginning Monday.
Opening No. 1 in South Korea was Lotte's release of director Kyoo-man Lee 's Children , a crime drama based on the actual 1991 murders of five grade school pupils, a case that created a national sandal and remains unsolved to this day. Debut round generated an estimated $4.8 million at some 520 screens.
In Italy, the top two titles in the market are local language productions with Medusa Film's Femmine Contro maschi ( Females Against Males ), director Fausto Brizzi 's battle of the sexes comedy taking the No. 1 spot with an estimated $3 million from some 400 locations.
Nabbing the top rank in its third France round was Rien a declarer ( Nothing to Declare ), the smash comedy from actor-director-scripter Danny Boon , which grossed an estimated $7.9 million from some 1,000 situations, a mild 32% drop from the prior weekend. Market cume for the Pathe release stands at $45.8 million.
In Russia, Sony teamed up with Disney to open Vikrutasy ( Tricksters ), a local-language romantic comedy produced by Timur Berkmambetov and costarring Konstantin Khabensky as a rural school teacher who falls for a worldly Moscow woman played by Milla Jovovich . The title took No. 1 in the market with $4.15 million drawn from 797 screens.
In Germany, Warner Bros. International's release of Kokowaah took the top spot for the third consecutive round, grossing $5.2 million at 762 locations for a market cume of $26 million. Overall on the weekend, the father-daughter comedy and vehicle for actor-director Til Schweiger grossed $6.1 million from Germany, Austria and German-speaking Swtizerland for a total gross of $30 million.
The good news is that the foreign circuit is more receptive this year to varied film genres. The bad news is that collective gross numbers for films from the major Hollywood studios have sharply dropped.
Complete January foreign gross returns -- including an estimate for Warner Bros.; the studio declined to disclose an aggregate figure for last month -- shows the big six Hollywood majors bagged $1,113.6 billion, down 33% from the $1,668.5 million grossed in January 2010 when Avatar was tearing up the foreign theatrical circuit. The studios finished January, in order: Fox ($278 million), Disney ($255.8 million), Sony ($206 million), Paramount ($187.7 million), Warner Bros. (estimated $155.8 million) and Universal ($30.3 million).
No. 2 overall on the weekend, Disney Animation's, claimed top spots in five territories (Denmark, Norway, South Africa, Spain and Sweden), generating $12.1 million overall on the weekend from 5,210 screens and pushing its foreign gross total to $328 million from 52 territories. Worldwide, the gross take stands at $522.1 million.
The 3D reworking of theRapunzel tale fromBrothers Grimmcontinues to draw especially well in Spain where the weekend provided $3.2 million from 612 venues for a market cume over three rounds of $14.2 million. In general, Tangle has out-grossed Pixar-Disney's 2008's Oscar winner WALL-E ($521.3) and ranks as the 18th largest-grossing animation title ever released.
Tied for the No. 3 weekend position with an estimated $10 million apiece were a trio of titles: multiple Oscar-contenderand, both from Paramount; andfrom Warner Bros.
The Coen brothers' Western update, played 2,534 situations in 37 markets (opening in 20) for a foreign cume so far of $29 million. Best of the fresh territories was Italy, where Grit generated $1.5 million from 287 spots, enough for a No. 4 market rank. Bear, an animation outing, played $4,300 screens in 44 markets, and pushed its overseas cume to $76 million.
No Strings Attached , costarring Oscar contender Natalie Portman and Ashton Kutcher , screened at 1,820 spots in 32 territories for a foreign cume of $21 million. It opened in nine territories, notably in France ($2.6 million from 292 spots) and enjoyed No. 1 debuts in the Netherlands and Austria. Openings in eight markets including the U.K. and Mexico are due this week.
Opening in 10 markets was Big Mommas: Like Father, Like Son , the latest in Fox's comedy franchise starring Martin Lawrence. Debut weekend produced $ 4.15 million from 727 screens, with a No. 5 U.K. bow providing most of the action. The No. 1 title in the U.S. and Canada, Warner's, opened at 1,000 screens in 11 foreign markets for a weekend gross of $4.7 million.
Also new to the foreign circuit on the weekend was r , the first overseas release by Disney of a DreamWorks title as per the companies' distribution arrangement. The sci-fi-thriller, which opened No. 2 domestically, drew 3.3 million from 527 locations – averaging $6,262 per screen – in eight overseas markets.
Paramount opened concert film Justin Bieber: Never Say Never in the U.K. for a No. 9 ranking and $1.5 million drawn from 387 locations. Also in the U.K., another Paramount multiple Oscar contender, The Fighter, drew $909,000 in its third round at 377 spots pushing its market cume to $8.3 million.
No. 1 in Australia was Gnomeo & Juliet, which generated $2 million in its market opener via Disney. In the U.K., via E1 Ent., the computer-animated comedy adventure based o n Shakespeare nabbed an estimated $5 million in its second weekend from about 450 locations, enough to qualify for the No. 2 spot right behind the home-grown Universal comedy Paul . Overall weekend take including Disney $3.9 gross from 675 screens comes to an estimated $8.9 million.
Opening in Scandinavian markets and also weighing in with $5 million, from 2,381 locations in 26 markets, was, the 3D comedy starring Jack Black . Total foreign gross stands at 157 million. In the U.K. (Via Momentum) and Australia plus New Zealand (via Paramount), Oscar contender T he King's Speech bagged an estimated $4.1 million. In the U.K. alone, the historical drama starring Colin Furth has generated an estimated $61 million.
Opening No. 1 in Brazil ($1.9 million drawn from 402 venues) -- and finishing No. 5 overall on the weekend -- was Sony's The Green Hornet , the Seth Rogan 3D vehicle based on the radio series about a masked vigilante and sidekick Kato, which has been playing overseas since Jan. 12. Total weekend take was $8.2 million from some 6,000 screens in 68 markets, pushing the film's foreign gross total so far to $122.1 million.
Sony and other distributors' The Tourist , playing offshore since Dec. 9, was bolstered by a robust second weekend in China ($4.5 million from some 2,000 screens, as per Sony), with an overall weekend gross registering $6.1 million from 3,200 screens in 56 territories. Foreign gross for the Johnny Depp-Angelina Jolie vehicle totals $178.9 million.
Just Go With It , the Adam Sandler comedy costarring Jennifer Anniston , pulled $4.6 million in its second weekend at 1,017 screens in 19 markets, elevating the Sony release's early foreign total to $13.4 million. Disney's Tron: Legacy pushed its foreign cume to $219.8 million thanks to a $4.4 million weekend at 1,958 spots. Globally, the 3D sequel to 1982's Tron has accumulated $390.2 million.
Other international cumes: Warner's The Rite , $10.7 million (after a $6.2 million weekend from 1,500 screens in 15 markets); Fox's The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader , $276.3 million; Paramount's Paranormal Activity 2 , $90.3 million; Fox's Love & Other Drugs , $63.5 million; Warner's Hereafter, $62.8 million (after a $4.5 million weekend at 1,800 sites in 34 markets including a $2 million Japan bow at 292 locations); Fox's Never Let Me Go , $2.3 million; and Fox's Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps , $84.9 million.
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