Updated, after a massive $5.5m global wednesday its now broken $400m

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117991808.html?categoryid=19&cs=1
Variety: 'Mamma Mia!' still hitting high note

"Mamma Mia!" continued to do sensational biz overseas, warbling its way into the top weekend slot at the international box office with $15 million from 3,493 playdates in 39 markets.

Thanks to a socko Korean launch plus impressive holdover biz, "Mamma Mia!" has topped $280 million outside the U.S. -- more than double its domestic take.

With "Mamma Mia!" leading the way, summer hits dominated offshore biz. "The Dark Knight" stayed bright with $11.8 million off 5,100 to lift its foreign cume to $437 million, and "The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor" scared up $11.6 million from 5,265 -- mostly from its launch in China -- to surpass $255 million in international box office.

The trio has combined for nearly $1 billion in overseas gross, all exceeding studio forecasts. The performances have kept overall foreign biz for Hollywood majors on pace to match 2007's record of $9.5 billion -- and a tonic at a time when moviegoing's falling from red-hot summer levels.

"Mamma Mia!" has been the biggest surprise in foreign markets since French mega-hit "Bienvenue chez les Ch'tis" topped $200 million. Among 2008 releases, the feel-good musical trails only "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" at $466 million, "The Dark Knight," "Kung Fu Panda" at $397 million and "Hancock" at $362.6 million.

"Mamma Mia!" set a record in South Korea as the top musical launch with $5.5 million, finishing behind the opening of Kim Yoo-jin's war epic "Divine Weapon." And in a sign of the staying power of "Mamma Mia!," its ninth Brit frame was competing for first with the $2.9 million launches "RocknRolla" and "The Duchess" while its U.K. cume hit an astounding $112.1 million, going past "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers" as the fifth-highest grosser of all time in Blighty.

"Mamma Mia! continued to shine in other markets too: Germany at $1.3 million for $32.4 million in eight weeks and Australia at $27.8 million after nine frames. Spanish biz slid only 27% in its fifth frame to $1.1 million for a $14.1 million cume.

With solid holdover biz plus openings in 16 more markets, "Mamma" is on track to stay a player throughout the fall and top $500 million in combined international and U.S. grosses. It launches next week in Belgium, Brazil, France, India, Hong Kong and Mexico.

Poor exchange rates give confusing information, but i looked more into it and Mamma Mia has topped LOTR in GBP now. It has made £57.63M and that means it really is nearly £10m away from Titanic now. I expect it to finish #3 all time in the UK, beating all but Harry Potter and Titanic.

So essentially, its made $102m, not $112m or whatever Variety and Screen Daily are reporting.

Variety & Screen Daily (like BOM) seem to do the exchange rates weekly and totals them up that way. It's also probably the way UIP calculates and reports the totals. HR just does a total conversion with the current exchange rate which is less accurate and lower. When MM opened the rate was about 2-1 now it's about 1.75 to 1.

http://www.screenrush.co.uk/boxoffice/b ... =5004.html

2. Mamma Mia! £1,431,775 - £57,687,650

Only 7.5% percent down from last weekend.

This movie has unbelievable legs in UK

MM had a 31% drop in Poland in the second weekend. Very good number since it had to face great hot and sunny weather during the weekend.

It probably surpasses it. TDK is still a big blockbuster sequel starring probably the most popular fictional character in the country, like the old Batman movies or Spiderman, when used right these superheros tend to make runs like this. But movies like Mamma Mia do not... the UK's top 10 list is littered with the usual suspects... Titanic, HP, LOTR, etc. And Mamma Mia??? Can you imagine a movie of Mamma Mia's nature entering the top 5 domestic chart here? It's unthinkable. I mean it's gonna get damn close to Harry Potter in the UK... HP is the ultimate Brit blockbuster! Crazy.

I more or less agree, but do keep in mind that ABBA is absolutely fucking huge in Europe.

Maybe a couple of decades ago for sure. Now I think the American public as a whole is anti musicals... although Hairspray and Mamma Mia! are a nice boost for the genre.

ABBA are very popular in UK, but popular enough to merit this movie doing THIS well? No. Great word of mouth, reception and clever marketing combined to open up doors to new audiences here.

that explains y the Australian BO number has decreased the total somewhat.

Gross thru tuesday
$425.6m

looks like france is giving the movie the cold shoulder, could be its first disappointing territory

Legs can still make up for that.

Thats what i think, but the summer is over in europe now completely, so who knows.

Its not to say its down and out, it just didnt make the top 30 opening days of the year in france, which kind of sucks.

Hopefully it can recoup its stumble with longevity.

The DVD marketing has begun for Mamma Mia already on some levels, whilst theatrical ads are still running. Will be interesting to see if it can survive the next few weeks now summer is dead and the dvd isnt far off - just a month or so.

Universal films ruled the roost at the weekend led by an estimated $17.5m haul for Mamma Mia! from 4,296 sites in 44 territories through UPI that took the musical adaptation over $300m.

The film opened top in France on $2.4m and Belgium on $1m, as well as in French-speaking Switzerland on $300,000 and Hong Kong on $400,000. The film opened in second place in Mexico on $850,000, debuted in Brazil on $650,000 for a possible second place launch behind Blindness through Fox International.

South Korea led the holdover business with a number one hold in its second weekend on $3.4m for $9.5m. Mamma Mia! added $1.9m from 444 venues in its tenth weekend in the UK for a staggering $116m cumulative total. The musical has amassed $34.1m after nine in Germany, $16.1m after six in Spain and $28.2m after ten in Australia. There are 15 territories to go including Italy on October 3 and Japan on January 30 2009.

In Germany Mamma Mia! is #4 this weekend, down just around 15-16%. It's already #3 of 2007 here (behind Hancock and Earth) and should probably become #2 next weekend, beating Earth.

Mamma Mia did about $2m more this weekend and 25% better in France then first reported.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/con ... b35a148a7e

The beat goes on for 'Mamma Mia!' overseas; In mid-September, the big dogs of summer still barking

By Hy Hollinger

Sept 15, 2008, 08:01 PM ET


LOS ANGELES -- You can't keep 'em down. The blockbusters of summer, led by Universal's musical miracle "Mamma Mia!" persisted as the top draws at overseas multiplexes during a period without any semblance of new competition.

The stage-to-film adaptation featuring the music of '70s Swedish pop stars ABBA dominated the international market for a second weekend, pulling in $19.5 million from 4,434 locations in 43 markets for an eye-catching foreign gross of $309 million. At the same time, "Mamma Mia!" solidified its position as the top-grossing movie musical of all time in the overseas market and has more than doubled its domestic take of $139.2 million.

"Mamma Mia!'s" ascendancy to major international hit status, along with New Line's "Sex and the City" ($250. 6 million), may have the major studios rethinking the value of femme-appeal movies dur-ing summer seasons usually dominated by fanboy action-adventures and animated family fare.

Over the weekend, "Mamma Mia!" opened No. 1 in six markets -- France ($3 million), Belgium ($1 million), French-speaking Switzerland ($450,000), Hong Kong ($438,000), India ($97,000) and Brazil ($681,000). And holdovers have been especially strong. In the U.K., the Meryl Streep starrer holds the No. 2 spot after 10 weeks in the market, reaching a cume of $107.8 million. In Korea, it is No. 1 for a second weekend with $3.4 million from 427 screens for an 11-day take of $
9.8 million. Fifteen more territories are still set to open, including Italy on Oct. 3 and Japan on Jan. 30.

It broke 60 million puounds in UK this weekend (and it's still #2!!!)

I think it'll certainly become #2 all-time in UK now with a very slight chance at Titanic.

Last update for the week before next wednesday

INT $318,451,000
DOM: $139,947,000
WW: $458,398,000

By the end of the weekend mamma mia should be at $470-473m ww.

$500m will be reached within the month at this pace.