Gran Torino should march on towards the $70m mark this weekend through strong holdover business and a debut in Mexico on March 27 through Warner Bros Pictures International.

Clint Eastwood’s drama has reached $63.9m to date and crossed $210m
worldwide and its prospects are looking formidable with roughly
two-thirds of international markets yet to open.

Meanwhile The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button is believed to have
crossed $200m, while the Jim Carrey comedy Yes Man has grossed
$129.9m.

Fox International’s action title 12 Rounds opens day-and-date with
North America in six territories this weekend, including Singapore on
March 26.

The comedy Bride Wars has reached $53.7m and opens in the Netherlands on March 26. Action title Dragonball Evolution continues to tear through South-East Asia and will seek to boost the early $18.5m tally when it arrives in Indonesia on March 25.

The comedy Marley & Me on $63.3m opens in six including Japan, Denmark and Sweden on March 27. Rapper biopic Notorious opens in Germany on March 26 and the second world war thriller Valkyrie has amassed $106.1m through all distributors.

Sony Pictures Releasing International’s Paul Blart: Mall Cop has
grossed $5.6m from the early stages of release and opens this weekend
in Germany on March 26, followed a day later by Spain and Austria.

Action release Underworld: Rise of The Lycans has amassed $38m through all distributors and opens in Hong Kong on March 26 and Singapore and Turkey on March 27. Banking thriller The International on $20.6m debuts in Argentina on March 26 and The Pink Panther 2 stands at $33.3m and opens in Taiwan on March 28.

Universal/UPI’s crime caper Duplicity opens in ten including France,
Belgium, French-speaking Switzerland and Switzerland on March 25,
followed by Russia on March 26.

Horror release The Unborn on $23.7m opens in eight, among them the
Netherlands and Singapore on March 26 followed by Taiwan on March 28.
Dark comedy Burn After Reading opens in South Korea on March 26 and
has grossed $38.8m so far. The terrorism thriller Traitor opens in
Spain on March 27.

PPI’s Monsters Vs Aliens from DreamWorks Animation stands at $8.4m
from Russia and Ukraine and the film opens in North America this
weekend.

The action epic Watchmen on $59.8m is expected to surge towards the
$65m mark through decent holdovers in its territories as well as the
launch in Japan on March 28. Ghost story The Uninvited opens in
Australia and New Zealand on March 26.

Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures International’s romantic comedy
Confessions of A Shopaholic has grossed $38.2m and ventures into South Korea and Singapore on March 26 followed by Spain a day later.

Family title Race To Witch Mountain is in its early days on $3m and
debuts in Russia on March 26 and Mexico on March 27. The Adam Sandler comedy Bedtime Stories on $101.9m opens in Italy on March 27 and family release Beverly Hills Chihuahua on $46.9m debuts in France on March 25.

Latest figures put Bolt on $177.3m while Wall-E, which has virtually
finished its international run, has amassed $308.9m.

New Line International’s romantic comedy He’s Just Not That Into You
has grossed $54.3m.

'Knowing' top overseas boxoffice
$8.8 mil weekend tally smallest by No. 1 finisher this year

By Frank Segers

March 29, 2009, 03:50 PM ET
The year's first quarter on the international circuit ended with a whimper at the boxoffice as Summit Entertainment's "Knowing," a time-capsule sci-fi thriller with Nicolas Cage, grabbed the No. 1 spot with a relatively modest $8.8 million from 1,711 locations in 10 markets for an early overseas total of $14.7 million.

The biggest boosts to "Knowing" were first-place bows in the U.K. and Australia and an anticipated No. 2 placement in Mexico. Still, the weekend tally was the smallest so far this year registered by any No. 1 overseas finisher.

A very close No. 2 on the weekend was Warner Bros. International's "Gran Torino," which captured $8.4 million from 2,800 screens in 45 markets. A Mexico opening for the Clint Eastwood vehicle registered $287,000 from 200 screens. Much stronger grosses were recorded in holdover engagements in France, Italy and Spain. The overseas total for "Gran Torino" stands at $73.7 million.

Preliminary soundings of the Hollywood majors indicate at best a mixed first quarter at the international boxoffice.

20th Century Fox expects a 25% decline from last year's first quarter but projects that because of a strong future lineup, ensuing quarters will each beat 2008. Without offering specifics, Universal says that in general "business is up over last year."

Paramount reported "a pretty strong" first quarter, with English-speaking markets leading the way. The U.K., the largest foreign territory for the Hollywood majors, was up 16%. Australia was up 10%. But boxoffice in Italy, Korea, Mexico and Spain was flat, and Germany dropped 7% from a year ago. France was down 15%.

Disney cited the continued strength of the U.S. dollar as a key reason why it is tracking down 12% from first-quarter 2008. (When the value of the greenback is strong, foreign currencies shrink in dollar terms when repatriated to the U.S.) But measured in local currencies, many foreign markets showed growth in the quarter, Disney said.

The top major studio grosser in this year's first quarter was Warners' "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," which just crossed the $200 million mark at the overseas boxoffice with $201.3 million. In second was Disney Animation's "Bolt," with a foreign cume of $178.7 million.



Multi-Oscar winner "Slumdog Millionaire" is soon expected to surpass the $300 million worldwide boxoffice mark (global cume was $289 million as of Friday) with $152 million coming from foreign playdates. Top market by far is the U.K., where the cume stands at about $45 million since Jan. 9. In India, the market total is $7.2 million since Jan. 23.

Weekend action for director Danny Boyle's smash included a No. 3 rank in its second Germany weekend with $1.7 million for a market cume of $4.3 million. In France, "Slumdog" finished at No. 7 with $1.2 million at 344 sites for a market total of $18.5 million accumulated over 11 frames.

Sparked by No. 1 openings in Germany, Austria and German-speaking Switzerland, the Kevin James' comedy "Paul Blart: Mall Cop" finished third, drawing $8 million on the weekend from 1,610 screens in 14 territories, for an international cume of $14.3 million. Fox's family-oriented "Marley & Me" wound up fourth with $7.9 million from 3,064 screens in 41 markets for a cume of $72.7 million.

At No. 5 was Universal's "Duplicity," with Julia Roberts and Clive Owen, which bagged $6.9 million from 1,809 locations in 19 markets for an early cume of $12.7 million. Openings in eight territories were highlighted by a No. 3 debut in France with $2.5 million from 380 screens.

Aided by openings in Spain, Korea and Singapore, "Confessions of a Shopaholic," the Jerry Bruckheimer-produced comedy from Disney, registered a $4.9 million weekend from 2,017 sites in 31 markets for a cume of $44.7 million (vs. $33 million domestic).

Opening in six markets and finishing at No. 1 in the Philippines, Czech Republic and Israel, DreamWorks Animation/Paramount's 3-D outing "Monsters vs. Aliens" captured$ 4.6 million on the weekend from 830 sites in eight markets, hoisting its early overseas boxoffice total to $13 million. Playing at 3,727 locations in 60 territories was director Zack Snyder's 'Watchmen," from Paramount, which also collected $4.6 million for a cume of $68 million.

Disney's "Race to Witch Mountain," starring Dwayne Johnson, expanded its run into Russian and Mexico, cornering $2.6 million on the weekend overall from 1,026 screens in 14 territories for a cume of $6.3 million. Fox's "Dragonball Evolution" opened strongly in Indonesia (marking the distributor's all-time biggest in the market) and pulled $2.1 million overall from 1,726 screens in nine Asian markets for a cume of $21.4 million.



Director Renny Harlan's "12 Rounds," which made its Australia bow last weekend, opened in six small markets this round for a weekend total of $626,868 from 334 sites in all seven territories. Sony's "The Damned United" made its U.K. debut at No. 6, with $845,000 from an undisclosed number of locations.

France continues to generate hefty grosses for local-language titles. The market's No. 1 film for the second straight stanza was Studio Canal's "Coco," Morocco-born comedian Gad Elmaleh's "comedy about money," which generated $5.2 million from 871 situations for a market cume of $19.8 million.

No. 2 in France was director/co-scripter/co-star Lucien Jean-Baptiste's "La Premiere etoile," a comedy about a financially pressed father of three who overpromises a family ski vacation. The opening round for the Mars Distribution release took in $2.9 million from 290 screens.

Other international cumes: New Line's "He's Just Not That Into You," $54.3 million; Universal's "The Unborn," $26.4 million; Disney's "Bedtime Stories," $104.7 million (surpassing last year's "You Don't Mess With the Zohan" as Adam Sandler's biggest foreign grosser); Universal's "Changeling," $76.2 million; Disney's "Beverly Hills Chihuahua," $48.3 million; DreamWorks/Paramount's "Hotel for Dogs," $39.1 million; New Line's "Inkheart," $33.6 million; and DreamWorks Animation/Paramount's "Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa," $411.2 million.

More international cumes: Sony' s "The International," $22.5 million; New Line's "Four Christmases," $43 million; Sony's "Underworld: Rise of the Lycans," $39.8 million; Fox's "Bride Wars," $54 million; New Line's Pride and Glory," $14.4 million; MGM/Sony's "The Pink Panther 2," $34.1 million; Fox's "Notorious," $5.7 million; and New Line's Appaloosa," $7.3 million.

Fast' drives foreign box office
Universal pic takes $46.5 million overseas

Universal's actioner posted the top 2009 international weekend for any pic, taking in $13 million more than "Monsters Vs Aliens" scored last weekend. "Monsters" showed decent staying power in its soph sesh with $26.5 million at 7,400 in four dozen markets.

"Fast and Furious," which took in $30 million last weekend, scored an impressive $9,085 per location as it expanded into 18 more markets. Russia led the pack with $8.6 million in the ninth best launch in that market while holdovers declined 42%.

"Fast" debuted sharply in the U.K. with $7.5 million and 33% market share, including a Friday gross of $3.4 million that represented Uni's best Brit opening day ever. Belgium launched with $1.2 million, followed by Switzerland and the UAE with $1.1 million each, with the latter market seeing its biggest opening day of all time.

Germany led "Fast and Furious" holdovers with $3 million, off 49%, followed by Mexico with $2.3 million. "Fast and Furious" has already cumed $91 million outside the United States -- only $18 million shy of "2 Fast 2 Furious," the best foreign perfomer among the three previous entries -- and looks likely to remain a strong player in coming frames with openings next weekend in Australia, China and Italy.

With domestic take at $118 million, "Fast and Furious" has hit a total $209 million worldwide.

"Monsters Vs Aliens," which has cumed $92.7 million overseas, showed strong traction in the U.K. with a 13% hike to $4.4 million and in Spain with an 18% increase to $3.3 million. Australian coin declined only 15% to $2.1 million while French grosses edged down 4% to $1.9 million and Brazilian biz was off only 6% to $1.2 million.

With domestic "Monsters" biz at $141 million, the frame boosted the toon's worldwide gross to $233.7 million.

Disney held off foreign launches of domestic leader "Hannah Montana," opting to begin offshore openings in three weeks. Brit distrib Entertainment launched Zac Efron comedy "17 Again" in the U.K. in third with $3.75 million, a week ahead of its Stateside bow.

Summit's Nicolas Cage thriller "Knowing" scared up $11 million at 2,284 in 27 markets, including a $2.2 million Spanish launch and a $1.3 million German opening. "Knowing" has cumed $40.4 million overseas for a worldwide total of $108.4 million.

Fox's "Dragonball: Evolution" connected with $10.6 million at 4,500 in 35 markets, thanks mostly to openings in 28 territories with Spain at $2 million and Italy at $1.3 million. "Dragonball" has cumed $37 million overseas, led by China with $8.8 million after five weeks.

Disney's "Race to Witch Mountain" led the rest of the pack with $5.2 million at 2,075 in 23 markets, led by a $1.2 million Australian opening and a $1 million Brit debut. "Race," still early in its foreign run, has cumed $15 million overseas.

Clint Eastwood's "Gran Torino" took in $4 million at 2,300 to push the foreign total to $87.8 million and Fox's "Marley and Me" fetched $3.5 million at $3.5 million at 2,600 for an international cume of $90.1 million.

Five weeks after its launch, "Watchmen" nearly disappeared with $1 million at 986 for a foreign cume $73.5 million for Paramount.

Universal/UPI’s Fast & Furious maintained its devastating early pace as the action sequel delivered an estimated $46.5m weekend haul from 5,118 venues in 50 territories to race to an early $91m international running total.

In North America the film tore past $115m in its second weekend and remained the top selling release worldwide with more than $200m at the global box office.

Fast & Furious opened at number one in all of its 18 new territories over the holiday weekend, led by $8.6m from 545 in Russia as UPI executives hailed the ninth biggest opening weekend of all time.

The UK generated $7.5m (£5m) from 362 to claim 33% market share on the back of Friday’s $3.4m (£2.4m) haul that delivered Universal’s biggest UK opening day ever and the biggest of the year-to-date in the territory.

Fast & Furious grossed $6m in France from 485 sites, $1.2m in Belgium from 46, and $1.1m in Switzerland from 69. Vin Diesel and friends broke the industry opening day record in the U.A.E and grossed a staggering $1.1m from just 25 venues for the weekend, while Singapore produced $1m from 27.

In holdovers, Germany and Mexico both stayed top on $3m from 614 after a 49% drop for $10.7m and $2.3m from 458 following a 40% fall for $8.6m, respectively. Spain ranked third on $1.6m from 305 for $6.7m and South Korea placed second on $900,000 from 246 after a 25% slide for $2.4m.

Brazil also held on to the number one spot as $1.6m from 193 following a 25% drop raised the tally there to $4.7m. Fast & Furious moved up to number one in Argentina with $455,000 from 47 venues following a 17% slide for $1.1m. The film has already surpassed all three of the previous films in the franchise in six territories including South Korea and Mexico and ventures into six new markets next weekend, among them Australia, China and Italy.

Working Title’s The Boat That Rocked directed by Richard Curtis grossed $2.3m from 752 locations in Australia, New Zealand and the UK for an early $6.7m international running total. The drama inspired by the story of the 1960s pirate radio station Radio Caroline opened in third place in Australia on $1m from 240 and debuted in third place in New Zealand on $135,000 from 57. After two weekends in the UK it ranks fourth after adding $1.4m from 455 following a 28% fall for $5.8m.

The crime caper Duplicity grossed $2.5m from 1,925 venues in 20 territories for $21m and debuted in third place in Italy on $690,000 from 162 and fourth in Mexico on $490,000 from 259. There are 43 territories to go over the next three months.

In its second weekend of wide international release Monsters Vs Aliens grossed $26.5m through PPI from 7,400 sites, bringing the international running total to $92.7m. The two largest markets drove weekend business. Monsters Vs Aliens took $4.4m from 636 in the UK after climbing 13% for $16m, and $3.3m from 537 in Spain after an 18% rise for $7.5m, respectively.

The film’s weekend box office climbed 6% in Brazil on $1.2m for $3.2m, while Mexico added $1.8m for $6.9m and Australia produced $2.1m for $6.1m. The biggest of the five launches came from Hong Kong where Monsters Vs Aliens opened top on $573,000 from 38 locations.

Watchmen added $1m from 986 locations in 60 territories for an international running total of $73.5m. The graphic novel adaptation has amassed more than $179m worldwide and is released in North America through Warner Bros.

Summit International’s sci-fi thriller Knowing enjoyed another excellent weekend as $11m from 2,284 venues in 27 markets raised the running total to $40.4m. The worldwide tally stands at $108.4m.

The film opened at number one in Spain on $2.2m from 330, debuted in third place in Germany on $1.3m from 440, and ranked number two in Brazil and The Netherlands.

Fox International’s Dragonball: Evolution opened in 28 new markets this weekend and grossed $10.6m from approximately 4,500 screens in 35 markets for a $37m tally.

The action fantasy opened well in Spain in third place on a little over $2m from 350, second in Italy on $1.3m from 391 and fifth in Australia on $907,506 from 193. The UK launch generated $539,754 from 316.

Dragonball: Evolution was a strong performer in Latin America, opening in fourth place in Brazil on $832,857 from 156, third in Mexico on just over $1m in from 564, third in Venezuela on an excellent $ 587,249 from 55, and second in Argentina on $272,678 from 48.

Finally $181,612 from 26 in Ecuador deserves special mention as it not only delivered a number one ranking but Fox’s sixth highest opening weekend of all time in the territory.

Marley & Me added a further $3.5m from approximately 2,600 screens in 24 markets for a $90.1m running total. The comedy ranked third in its second weekend in Italy after adding $1.2m from 369 for $3.9m.

Family title Race To Witch Mountain added $5.2m through Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures International from 2,275 screens in 23 territories, raising the early tally to $15m. The film opened in Australia on $1.2m from 270, the UK on $1m from 410, and Argentina on $380,000 from 47.

The romantic comedy Confessions Of A Shopaholic added $1.9m from 2,205 in 32 for $52m and debuted in Brazil on $350,000 from 80. The animated release Ponyo On The Cliff launched in France on $1.1m from 180, which was roughly 30% less than Hayao Miyazaki’s Spirited Away grossed on its debut.

Gran Torino is approaching $90m after Clint Eastwood’s drama grossed $4m through Warner Bros Pictures International from more than 2,300 screens in 54 territories for $87.8m.

Sony Pictures Releasing International’s comedy Paul Blart: Mall Cop added $2.4 from 1,370 screens in 20 markets for $24.6m. Holdover highlights came from Germany and the UK, where the film ranked second and added $1.3m from 509 for $8.5m after three weekends, and ranked tenth on $340,000 from 334 for $6.7m after four, respectively. The film ranks 11th in Australia on a $2.9m tally after four and second in Austria with a $1.7m running total after three.

'Fast' still tops at foreign box office
Universal pic dominates overseas markets
By DAVE MCNARY
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"Fast and Furious" drove to its second straight victory at the foreign box office, dominating the weekend with $36 million at 5,076 playdates in 59 markets.

Uni's actioner posted the second biggest weekend of any pic in 2009, trailing only its $45 million take in the previous frame. "Fast and Furious" has now cumed $145 million internationally, topping the domestic total by over $8 million.

"Fast" blew past rivals with a $5.7 million Australian launch with a 51% share, representing U's best opening day in that market, the biggest 2009 launch and the highest April debut in Oz. Italy opened impressively with $4.2 million while the U.K. soph sesh slid 58% to $3 million for a $15.3 million Brit cume and the third German frame was off 47% to $1.8 million.

Par's "Monsters Vs Aliens" remained the only other pic with serious potency in foreign markets with $20 million at 7,058 in 58 territories, all from holdovers. Foreign cume has hit $126 million, trailing the domestic take by $36 million.

The U.K. led the way with $3.3 million, down only 19% in its third frame with 3D screens taking in an average of $9,000 -- three times better than conventional venues. French biz rose 34% to $2.7 million while Australian takings jumped 12% to $2.3 million and German grosses soared 71% to $1.8 million

Domestic leader "17 Again" showed decent foreign traction with $6 million at 819 in nine markets, mostly from soph sesh biz in the U.K with $3 million and Australia with $1.7 million. The comedy's cumed $18.7 million in foreign coin.

Uni's newspaper thriller "State of Play" went day and date with $2 million at 375 in just three markets with $1.7 million coming from Spain. The Russell Crowe vehicle opens next weekend in the U.K., where the TV series of the same name originated.

Disney's "Race to Witch Mountain" attracted family biz with $5.5 million at 2,426 in 27 markets, led by a $1.8 million Spanish launch that edged "State of Play." "Race," still early in its foreign run, has cumed $24.3 million outside the United States or $39 million behind the domestic total.

Fox's "Dragonball: Evolution" battled its way to $3.8 million at 3,500 in 40 markets for a foreign cume of $44 million -- more than five times the two-week U.S. total of $7.8 million.

U's Brit comedy "The Boat that Rocked" also took in $3.8 million at 1,635 in a dozen markets for a $12.8 million international cume. Warner's "Gran Torino" added $3.4 million at 2,100 in 49 territories for a foreign cume of $94.1 million.

Par's "I Love You Man" opened in its first overseas markets with $1.9 million in the U.K. and the Ukraine while Disney opened "Hannah Montana The Movie" in Poland with $385,000 in its first foreign launch. The teenpic will go into major markets including Italy, Mexico, Scandinavia and the UK on May 1 as a counterprogrammer to Fox's day and date launch of "X-Men Origins: Wolverine."

The pre-sales for Star Trek at my theatre are the biggest since Madagascar 2, I'd say. The two Wedneday 8 pm peview showings are both pretty full right now.

It could manage a 750,000+ admissions opening actually if the weather plays along. The marketing is very strong.