'The Tourist,' third 'Chronicles of Narnia' film pass major box-office milestones overseas

Two films that fared poorly at the domestic box office are finding success overseas.

"The Tourist," starring Angelina Jolie and Johnny Depp," and the 3-D "Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader," the third film based on a popular series of children's novels, both passed major box-office milestones abroad this weekend. "The Tourist" surpassed the $200-million mark, while "Dawn Treader" exceeded $300 million.

The two movies both opened domestically on the same weekend in early December. But "The Tourist" has grossed only a weak $67.6 million, causing some in the industry to question the star power of the film's lead actors stateside. Fortunately for financier GK Films and distributor Sony Pictures, however, it appears the A-list movie stars haven't lost as much clout abroad.

This weekend, "The Tourist" added $1.8 million to its $201.9 million international total, according to a studio estimate. That's about three times as much as the movie made domestically.

The film, which was financed for about $100 million by producer Graham King's GK Films, hit the $100-million mark overseas in early January. It has performed best in China, where it opened in mid-February and has since grossed an estimated $20.8 million in the country. The movie has also done well in Russia and in Italy, where much of the European-set movie's plot takes place. The film will continue to play abroad for a few more weeks, but it has already opened in all its major foreign countries.

While "The Tourist" has performed well overseas, its international tally still falls far behind other films starring Jolie or Depp. The actress' 2005 film "Mr. & Mrs. Smith" brought in $291.8 million overseas in 2005, while Depp's "Alice in Wonderland" made a staggering $690.1 million internationally last year.

"Dawn Treader," meanwhile, was also expensive to make: It cost 20th Century Fox and co-financier Walden Media $155 million to produce.

But the movie has only grossed $107.3 million in the U.S. and Canada. That's less than the last two "Narnia" movies, 2005's "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" and 2008's "Prince Caspian," which collected $291.7 million and $141.6 million domestically, respectively.

The first film did fantastically overseas, ending up with $453.3 million. But the third film has already exceeded the international total of "Prince Caspian," which only took in $278 million in the foreign markets where it played.

"Dawn Treader" has performed well in France, Russia, the United Kingdom and Japan, where despite local tragedy the film grossed $1.4 million this weekend.

Photos (from top): Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie star in "The Tourist." Credit: Sony Pictures. Georgie Henley stars in "Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader." Credit: 20th Century Fox.

Source: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com