Any update Lecter? Not sure if Variety updates on a Sunday or Monday.

After its record-breaking worldwide opening last round, "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" gave up considerable boxoffice altitude on the foreign circuit but still remained a dominant No. 1 over the weekend with $84.4 million lured from over 16,000 screens in 64 territories.

Overseas accumulated total to date stands at $405.3 million, while the global boxoffice total is $627.2 million, qualifying the sixth outing in the multi-billion-dollar Warner Bros. franchise as the 39th highest grossing title in film history worldwide -- after just 12 days of release.

While the weekend's take dropped 64% from its smashing opening round, "Prince" generated sufficient b.o. to catapult Warner Bros. over the $1 billion international gross mark in 2009. It is the ninth consecutive year that the Warner's surpassed that benchmark.

The first studio this year to gross over $1 billion foreign was 20th Century Fox, which did so early this month. Paramount is on the verge of joining the billion-dollar club, and Sony hopes to do so by early August.

"Prince" opened in Poland ($2 million from 196 screens) and Argentina ($1.9 million from 190 sites), but the big numbers continued to be drawn from the major overseas territories. The top three are Germany with $9.25 million from 1,377 screens for a cume of $40 million; France with $9 million from 970 spots for a $33.6 million cume; and the U.K. with $8.3 million from 585 locations for a cume of $53.5 million.

"G-Force," producer Jerry Bruckheimer's 3D family animation outing about elite guinea pigs trying to save the world -- the weekend's No. 1 film in the U.S. and Canada -- dipped its toes in international waters via Disney in Chile. Its first four days at 37 locations produced an estimated $300,000, or about $8,000 per screen, enough for a No. 3 market ranking.

Disney's comedy "The Proposal" with Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds opened No. 2 in the U.K. with an estimated $3.4 million derived from 428 screens.

Finishing a solid second on the weekend was Fox's "Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs," which collected $40.6 million from 9,946 locations in 102 markets. The "Ice Age" digital animation threequel remains 2009's biggest grosser internationally with an overseas cume of $505.4 million (versus $171.3 million domestic).

Third was "The Hangover," Warner Bros.' sleeper hit, which continues to show unusual traction overseas for a comedy. Propelled by a $4.3 million Germany opening (including previews) at 455 screens, "Hangover" drew $10.2 million from a total of 2,300 sites in 37 territories. Foreign cume stands at $98.5 million.

Premiering in 13 markets, "Public Enemies" drew $9.6 million from 2,600 locations in 33 territories, finishing No. 4 and lifting its overseas cume to $36.3 million. The best new market for the crime drama from director Michael Mann starring Johnny Depp as John Dillinger was Russia, where the No. 2 tally was $2.4 million from 327 spots. It was the biggest overseas opening for a Mann title, said distributor Universal.

Fifth on the weekend was DreamWorks/Paramount's "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" from director Michael Bay, which grossed $7.5 million on the weekend from 6,891 spots in 63 territories. The sequel's foreign cume now stands at $413.2 million versus the $389 million grossed by the 2007 original over its entire foreign run.

A listless France debut ($1.1 million from 214 screens, ranking No. 5) held "Bruno's" weekend tally to an estimated $6.5 million from 2,700 locations in 33 markets, bringing the Sacha Baron Cohen comedy's overseas cume -- from three distributors: Universal, Sony and Mandate Int'l. -- to $56 million. Worldwide, "Bruno" has grossed $112.5 million so far.

Sony's "The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3," the subway action vehicle co-starring Denzel Washington and John Travolta, scored close to a No. 1 finish in its Spain opening, $2.1 million from 359 screens. Overall weekend provided $2.8 million from 540 sites in 14 markets for an overseas cume of $9.1 million.

Also in France, the top local language title was "Une semaine dur deux," a melodrama from TFM Distribution directed by Ivan Calberac about two children coping with the shared custody arrangement of their divorced parents. Its opening round drew $1.3 million from 330 screens and a No. 4 market ranking.

Opening at No. 5 was EuropaCorp. Distribution's import of actor-director Tony Jaa's martial arts drama "Ong Bak 2," from Thailand's Sahamongol Film. Its gross was $1.2 million from 280 spots. The Weinstein Co.'s "The Reader" finished No. 6 in France with $1 million from 285 locations in its second round, off 33% from the opener. Market cume for the Kate Winslet starrer stands at $3 million.

Other international cumes: Fox's "Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian, $212.1 million; Sony's "Terminator Salvation," $237.9 million; Universal's "State of Play," $48.6 million; Fox's "X-Men Origins: Wolverine," $183.4 million; and Universal's "The Limits of Control," $30,000 (opening at five locations in Australia).

Warner pushes past $1bn international mark with Potter at $405m

27 July, 2009 | By Wendy Mitchell

Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince has pushed Warner Bros Pictures International past the $1bn mark in international box office, marking the studio’s ninth consecutive year meeting that threshold.

At the end of its second weekend, Harry Potter 6 has an international cume of $405.3m.

Also helping Warner is surprise summer hit The Hangover, which will hit the $100m on Monday; that film will still have some life as Germany opens this week and Spain and Latin America opening in August.

Also pushing Warner towards the billion earlier in 2009 were the rollouts of Yes Man, The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button and Gran Torino.

“With the fantastic slate of films so far, and the hard work of our international teams and partners, 2009 is turning into a spectacular year for us,” said Veronika Kwan-Rubinek, President, Distribution, Warner Bros. Pictures International. Fourth-quarter releases will include Steven Soderbergh’s The Informant (starring Matt Damon), Spike Jonze’s Where The Wild Things Are, and Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes. In 2007, WBPI had a record-setting international gross across all the studios, of $2.24 billion.

The sixth film in the franchise holds the record for the highest-grossing international opening with $236m, and became one of the fastest films to break the $300m mark — within eight days of release.

This weekend’s estimated gross of $84.4m in 64 markets included the highest Potter opening in Poland ($2m), a new Warner record in Argentina of $1.9m, and the UK adding $8.3m for a new cume of $53.3m, making Potter the top film of 2009 in the Hogwarts-home territory.

Also, The Hangover earned another $10.2m this weekend in 37 territories, for a new international cume of $98.5; Germany’s launch contributed $4.3m this weekend.

Amongst the other studios, Fox’s Ice Age 3 has now crossed the $500m mark after $41m this weekend pushed it to $505m. That breaks down into $300m+ in Europe alone and $100+ in Latin America (in the latter, the first film to cross that mark since Titanic). Records have been set in territories including Russia and Mexico.

Ice Age 3’s weekend highlights included $6m in Germany, $5.5m in France, $3.3m in Brazil and $3.2m in the UK; although Japan had a mild opening with $422,080. In China, the film is Fox’s third-highest performer ever, at number two with $2.1m for a new cume of almost $16m.

After opening in India with $364,000, Night At The Museum 2 now has an international cume of $212.1m.

Walt Disney Studios Motion Picture Releasing International’s G-Force not only dominated North America, but in its sole international opening in Chile, it made $386,000 on 42 screens — which represents an opening five times better than similar Alvin And The Chipmunks. Next weekend, the guinea pigs will hit 14 new territories, including Belgium, The Netherlands, Argentina, South Africa, Colombia, Mexico, Venezuela and the UK.

Also, Bolt will finally strike in the major market of Japan, having already collected a box-office total of $184.4m.

Romantic comedy The Proposal earned $5.1m in its UK launch (number two behind Potter and setting a new opening record for Bullock in the UK), contributing to its international take of $8.2m in 24 territories (for a new cume of $61.1m).

Bullock is also popular in Australia, with a new cumulative tally of $12.4m and the latest Spanish cume is $3.9m. WDSMPRI will expand the romcom into German-speaking Europe, the Philippines and Malaysia next week.

Also for Disney, animated Up set a new Pixar record in Israel, taking $403,000 from 49 screens. Next weekend, the Cannes opener will expand to France, Spain, Hong Kong, Korea and Taiwan.

Universal International Pictures opened Michael Mann’s John Dillinger biopic Public Enemies, starring Johnny Depp, in 13 new markets this weekend. Public Enemies grossed an estimated $9.6m in 33 territories, for a new international tally of $36.3m.

Mann scored his biggest opening in Russia, where the film grossed $2.4m, behind only Potter. Another strong new territory was Brazil, with $900,000 on 210 screens. In notable holdover territories, France contributed $1.5m,
Mexico added $340,000. Universal still has 30 territories to open on the film, including Australia on July 30 and Germany and Austria on August 6 and 7.

Bruno made $6.5m in 33 markets, for a new international cume of $56m; the UK’s 17-day total stands at $21.4m. Sony’s territories for Bruno made $1.3m on 555 screens in four markets (a French opening adding $1.1m) for a new cume of $4.3m. (Figures from Mandate International’s Bruno international territories weren’t available as of press time.)

Meanwhile, UPI’s Russell Crowe-starring State Of Play took in $400,000 and is set to soon cross the $50m mark; five Latin American territories will open over the next two months.

For Paramount Pictures International, Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen took an estimated $8m internationally for the weekend, for a new estimated cume of $413.2m. Particularly strong holdover territories include Australia, where the film grossed $924,000 in its fifth weekend and passed $30m locally. The UK also added $650,000 for a new cume of $42.5m.

Star Trek made just $425,0000 at 307 international screens for a new cume of $254m. Paramount/Nickelodeon’s Imagine That starring Eddie Murphy made an estimated $165,000 for a new cume of $15.5m.

DreamWorks Animation’s Monsters vs. Aliens is now at a cume of $197.8 after adding $127,000 this weekend at 210 screens.

Finally, at Sony Pictures Releasing International action remake The Taking Of Pelham 1 2 3 earned 2.8m in 14 markets for a new cume of $9.1m. In its Spanish opening, the film was top of the box office (beating Harry Potter 6) and made $2.1m on 359 screens. That subway train will keep running this weekend with new moves into the UK, France, Belgium, Estonia, Finland, Kenya, Lithuania, French-speaking Switzerland, Thailand, and Turkey.

Terminator Salvation has now made a cume of $237.9m (including non-SPRI territories), with a new $400,000 this weekend. The Christian Bale-starrer expands into Mexico this weekend.
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Harry Potter nears $500m mark; The Hangover crosses $100m

2 August, 2009 | By Wendy Mitchell

Warner Bros Pictures International continues to stir up magic with Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince, which made an estimated $42.7m on 13,200 screens in 64 markets this weekend.

The international cume is now just below the $500m mark, at $492.3m. The film is still number one in the UK on $5.1m for a new cume of $66.5m. It was also tops in Japan ($5.7m), Germany ($4.7m), Russia ($1.1m) and Italy ($1.1m) this weekend. The film has also passed the $40m mark in France.

What happens in Vegas is not staying in Vegas — it’s spreading worldwide for Warner’s comedy The Hangover, which now stands at $111.8m internationally after adding $7.9m this weekend in 43 territories. It led the charts in Singapore and made $2.2m in its second weekend in Germany. The Hangover, about the misadventures during a bachelor weekend in Las Vegas, has now grossed $33.6m in the UK, $16.2m in Australia, $11.3m in France, $5.1m in Russia, $4.5m in Italy and $4m in The Netherlands. Expansions coming soon include Spain and Mexico on August 14 and Brazil on August 21.

As Screen tipped last week, Ice Age 3 has indeed become the highest-grossing animated film in history at the international box office. The film made $22.3m this weekend for 20th Century Fox International on 8,886 screens, for a new cume of $550m. That beats the previous animated champ, 2003’s Finding Nemo, which made $525 internationally. In other records, Ice Age: Dawn Of The Dinosaurs became the all-time industry top performer in Argentina with a new cume of $6.6m. It will expand into Korea and Italy later in August.

Aliens In The Attic had a slow opening domestically, while its Russian opening hit $467,008.

Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures International had a hot weekend of more than $48m. Drivers to that include Up’s record-setting $8.6m opening in Spain, a strong showing in France of $9.1m and Korea’s biggest animation opening this year of $2.5m for a weekend of $23.7m and a new cume of $80.2m.

The Proposal saw $11m from 2,693 screens in 32 territories, for a new cume of $78.2m. Hot markets include Germany with $4.1m and the UK with $2.7m. The Sandra Bullock romcom will next expand to Italy and France in September and Japan in October.

G-Force, the Guinea Pig family adventure film, expanded into 14 territories and made $10.9m from 1,615 screens (including $4.5m in the UK and $2.5m in Mexico). Brazil and Poland will open the weekend of August 14.

And Bolt finally opened in Japan on a strong $2.6m from 250 screens, pushing its cume to $187m, which WDSMPI now says will ensure a $200m international take by the end of its run.

Meanwhile, Paramount Pictures International’s Transformers 2 grossed $3.8m on 4,815 screens in 63 territories, for a new cume in its sixth international weekend of $422m. PPI is gearing up for the launch of GI Joe: The Rise Of Cobra next weekend.

Sony Pictures Releasing International’s The Taking Of Pelham 1 2 3 made $7.8m this weekend in 24 markets, including a UK opening of $3.2m and French opening of $2.4m. The cume is now $18.5m.

Also, Sony’s Terminator Salvation had a big opening in Mexico, at $2.9m and the number one spot at the local box office. That performance was 33% better than 2003’s Terminator 3. The international cume is now $241.4m.

Universal had Judd Apatow’s Funny People opening in Russia along with its bland North American launch; it made $500,000 in Russia on 197 screens; the UK is the next major market to open on August 28.

UPI’s Public Enemies has now crossed $50m internationally, adding $9.7m this weekend in 42 territories. Johnny Depp’s portrait of John Dillinger still has 20 territories to expand, including Austria and Germany next weekend.

Drag Me to Hell had a strong start in Spain, grossing $1.3m. UPI still has 10 more territories to open, including Argentina on August 13, Brazil on August 14 and Mexico on August 21.

Bruno’s international tally (from all distributors) is now $66m, after $4m this weekend in 33 territories.

Finally, UPI’s Land Of The Lost had a slow UK opening, in sixth place, with $1.1m. The Will Ferrell comedy’s new international cume is $10m.

Harry Potter dropped hard again last week in China.

This week is going to be interesting for China with both Up and G.I. Joe opening.

what is the potential for Up in china? has 3D any effect in china?

5 of the top 10 highest grossing films overseas will end up being Harry Potter films!!! In terms of its legacy, imo no other franchise has opened up and dominated the international market as much as Harry Potter has.

5 of the top 10 highest grossing films overseas will end up being Harry Potter films!!! In terms of its legacy, imo no other franchise has opened up and dominated the international market as much as Harry Potter has.

Eh, I'd still put LOTR in the same category, if not more impressive, for not only being consistent but showing growth for each film, whereas Potter saw decreases until ultimately stabilizing in the same (admittedly massive) range. The extent of success which The Hobbit series has overseas may also serve as a good indication of the strength of that franchise.

I see both FOTR and HP as setting the benchmark in the rapid expansion of the overseas market, with the advantage of the latter over the former in gross being solely attributable to Japan.

Indeed, Japan with it's mamoth gross swayed the pendulum for Hp1 and Hp2....FOTR and TTT would've beaten HP1 and HP2 overseas had it not been for Japan. ROTK of course is on a another level altogether.

Indeed, Japan with it's mamoth gross swayed the pendulum for Hp1 and Hp2....FOTR and TTT would've beaten HP1 and HP2 overseas had it not been for Japan.

I still haven't forgiven them.