According to Niki, District9 might top Russia with at least $4m.

While not a uber-blockbuster opening, is among this year's highest and on par with GI Joe which also opened to the low $4ms in Russia.

'G.I. Joe' continues overseas domination
Closing in on $100 mil in only 12 days on foreign run

By Frank Segers


Expanding its No. 1 foreign run by 14 new markets on the weekend, Paramount's "G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra's" overseas boxoffice tally nonetheless dropped nearly 40% from its opening round, registering $26.2 million overall from 7,039 screens in 49 territories.

Still, the live-action feature from director Stephen Sommers based on the Hasbro toy line is pressing the $100-million foreign gross mark (cume stands at $91.5 million) after only 12 days out on the international circuit. It remained in first place for the second consecutive weekend. Worldwide tally stands at $190.3 million.

The biggest of the openings in mostly medium-sized markets was Germany where "Cobra" finished No. 3 with $1.9 million from 474 locations. Major holdovers included Korea ($3.1 million from 377 sites for a cume of $10.4 million), Russia ($2.6 million from 510 situations, cume $9 million) and China ($2.2 million from 990 locales, cume $9.5 million).

Sony introduced "District 9," which finished No. 1 in North America, in nine foreign markets for a total of $7 million drawn from 750 screens. Directed by Neill Blomkamp, a protege of producer Peter Jackson, the sci-fi tale of aliens in South Africa opened No. 1 in Russia ($4.5 million from 453 sites), New Zealand and the Ukraine. A No. 2 Australia premiere produced $1.8 million from 178 screens.

Second on the weekend was Warner Bros.' "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince," which registered $14.5 million from more than 8,000 screens in 64 markets, pushing its foreign gross total to $577.7 million. Worldwide, the sixth "Harry Potter" has grossed $861.7 million, pushing its rank on the industry's all-time boxoffice hit chart to No. 17 behind Disney's "Finding Nemo."

No. 3 was 20th Century Fox's "Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs," which bagged $11.2 million from 6,532 sites in 66 markets thanks to a $2.4 million opening in Korea at 350 screens. The threequel, with a foreign boxoffice total of $600.7 million, is now the first Fox film since 1997's "Titanic" (foreign gross total of $1.24 billion) to cross the $600-million mark overseas.

Fourth was Pixar/Disney's "Up," which continued its marathon foreign run with a $10.6 million weekend from 2,396 screens in 19 territories. Overseas cume is $128 million with a global boxoffice total of $415 million. A Portugal opening produced the biggest opening for a Disney animation title, $825,000 from 80 sites for a per-screen average of $10,313.

No. 5 for the second consecutive weekend was Universal's "Public Enemies." Propeled by six market openings, the period crime drama from director Michael Mann starring Johnny Depp drew $9.2 million overall from 3,400 territories, lifting its foreign gross total to $75.5 million.

Fox's "Night At The Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian" is winding up its overseas run in Japan, and going out with a bang. Opening Nippon frame for the Ben Stiller vehicle produced $8.62 million from 625 sites ($13,790 per screen). Weekend overall generated $8.63 from 697 situations in two markets for a foreign of $222.4 million.

Thanks to an $8 million weekend from 3,000 sites in 50 territories, Warner Bros. sleeper hit comedy "The Hangover" raised its foreign boxoffice total to $136.6 million and its worldwide cume to more than $400 million.

"G-Force," a big-budget digital animation title from producer Jerry Bruckheimer and Disney, drew $6.7 million from 2,079 sites in 17 markets for a foreign cume of $40.9 million so far. Disney's "The Proposal" finished No. 1 in its third Germany frame for an overall $6.2 million at 2,530 locations in 35 territories. Overseas cume for the Sandra Bullock-Ryan Reynolds romantic comedy stands at $103.6 million.

Thanks to openings in the U.K., Spain, Italy and Malaysia, Fox's "Aliens in the Attic" pushed its foreign cume to $5.3 million. Overall weekend tally was $3.8 million from 1,250 sites in eight territories. The No. 3 U.K. debut produced $2.3 million from 436 locations.

Sony's "The Ugly Truth" played the U.K., Australia and Israel for a total of $3.5 million from 705 screens. Cume for the romantic comedy starring Katherine Heigl is $13 million.

Topping the U.K. charts was New Line's "The Time Traveler's Wife," a romantic drama costarring Rachel McAdams and Eric Bana about a Chicago librarian who time travels when stressed. Opening round produced $1.65 million from 426 sites.

In Paris and environs, "Neuilly sa mere!' (Neuilly my mother!) from TFM Distribution, a comedy about a Muslim teenager living with a traditional French family, finished No. 1.

Other international cumes: "The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3," $32.9 million; Focus Features/Universal's "Coraline," $43.1 million; Universal's "Land of the Lost," $12.7 million; DreamWorks/Paramount's "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen," $427.3 million; and Universal's "Funny People," $1.3 million.

I just can't fathom that IA3 might end up at #3 all time behind only Titanic and ROTK. This is like the most shocking OS performance in ages.

All that and the 2 most impressive are Titanic and Jurassic Park!

I know you hate IA3 but its performance has been amazing.

I know you hate IA3 but its performance has been amazing.

Wait, I just realized, IA3 is soon gonna become the 3rd biggest film ever in USD in Germany (behind Titanic and ROTK)? Gross.

Highest Grossing Films Overseas (All-Time)
0. Shrek Forever After (2010)- $1,310,755,904
1. Titanic (1997)- $1,242,091,767
2. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)- $742,083,616
3. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (2001)- $657,158,000
4. Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (2007)- $651,576,067
5. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007)- $646,208,000
6. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (2006)- $642,863,913
7. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002)- $616,655,000
8. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005)- $605,908,000
9. Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (2009)- $600,700,000
10. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002)- $583,495,746
11. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009)- $577,700,000
12. Jurassic Park (1993)- $557,623,171
13. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)- $555,985,574
14. Spider-Man 3 (2007)- $554,341,323
15. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004)- $546,093,000
16. The Da Vinci Code (2006)- $540,703,713
17. Finding Nemo (2003)- $524,911,000
18. Independence Day (1996)- $511,231,623
19. Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999)- $493,229,257
20. Shrek 2 (2004)- $478,612,511
21. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008)- $469,534,914
22. The Dark Knight (2008)- $468,576,467
23. Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (2005)- $468,484,191
24. The Matrix Reloaded (2003)- $460,552,000
25. Mamma Mia! (2008)- $458,479,424

And let's face it, it's also the worst crime Germany has committed since WW2.