MM! still has Japan to go (January 30th 2009) so who knows where this one will end...

I think Mad2 has a shot at $450 million, on par with Ice Age 2.

Also, Pixar has officially lost the battle for Big Dollar to Dreamworks with no signs of recovery...

But the Japanese marketplac hasn't been making US films big hits recently, with very few exceptions.

Yes, but we're talking $52m to reach IJ4 and TDK. MM! still got some life left in some territories so $30m from Japan might be enough to reach those two...

Well, not domestically yet, but worldwide. Domestically, DW has only the Shrek films beating Pixar. Even Ratatouille has beaten Madagascar, Over the Hedge and Shark Tale in the US and WALL-E is still ahead of Kung Fu Panda.

And wait till Toy Story 3 explodes

But how many Hollywood films made $30 million this year in Japan?

Just two so far - but I believe that Japan will beat South Korea's MM! gross of $24m...

We'll see. Would be exciting if it did, but I am rather doubting that.

Who cares about US if most of the money is concentrated overseas, where Dreamworks has much more market power? Toy Story 3 won't save them as they have already lost their market leadership (even though they still produce technologically superior films - nobody denies that, they just can't sell them well enough).

I don't think you actually could sell WALL-E much better than it was actually done. In the end, it is surprising it actually did this much. Kung-Fu Panda is obviously a much easier sell.

From Screendaily.com

Bond smashes UK opening record, brings in $38.6m from three markets
Jeremy Kay in Los Angeles
02 Nov 2008 22:12

Sony Pictures Releasing International chiefs were toasting a weekend rich in rewards last night as the division crossed $1bn in receipts for the year-to-date and the new James Bond release Quantum Of Solace dominated the overseas chart with a whopping $38.6m estimated gross from 2,123 screens in the UK, France and Sweden.

The British super-spy coaxed the biggest standard three-day weekend debut of all time in the UK with £15.4m ($25.3m) from 1,150 screens, passing the previous mark of £14.934m set in November 2005 by Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire. Overall the result accounted for 70% of the total UK box office for the weekend and finished 35% ahead of the £11.427m launch of Casino Royale.

Daniel Craig reprises his role as Bond under the direction of Marc Forster and the action title set a new record at the Odeon Leicester Square in central London by grossing more than £100,000 on both Friday and Saturday.

Quantum Of Solace was in similarly impressive form in France, where €8.2m ($10.6m) from 824 beat Casino Royale's five-day €7.056m launch by 16% for the biggest Bond launch ever in three days and the second biggest of the year-to-date behind Indiana Jones And The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull. The immediate prospects look robust considering that the All Saints school holiday runs until the end of November 5.

Bond's three-day haul in Sweden of 18.1m Swedish Krona ($2.7m) from 149 delivered the fourth biggest industry launch behind The Lord Of The Rings: The Return Of The King on 20.4m Krona, Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire on 19.3m and Pirates Of The Caribbean: At World's End on 19m. The result was 31% bigger than the 13.8m opening of Casino Royale.

Quantum Of Solace storms into a further 57 territories next weekend, among them Russia, Germany, Italy, South Korea, Brazil, Switzerland, Austria, Singapore and Taiwan. A second weekend gross in the region of $80m would not seem unreasonable and would boost Bond well past an international running total of $100m within ten days. It opens in North America and Mexico on November 14, Australia on November 19, Spain on November 21 and Japan on January 24 2009.

Sony's comedy The House Bunny added $1.1m from 1,200 screens in 33 markets for $19.1m, while Step Brothers raised its tally by $925,000 from 500 in 16 markets to $25.9m and launched in sixth place in Spain on $680,000 from 232.

High School Musical 3: Senior Year grossed a further $25.9m from 3,805 screens in 32 territories through Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures International, raising the running total to $85m. The tween dream ranked number one in 24 territories and opened top in Italy on $4.9m from 400 for the company's fifth biggest launch, opened top in Mexico on $1.7m from 350 and opened top in Belgium on $1.3m from 105 for the company's fourth biggest launch.

In the second weekend, Zac Efron and friends added $4.3m in the UK for an excellent $28.5m, $3.5m in France for $9m, $3.1m for $10.5m in Germany where it stayed top, $2.7m for $8.3m in Spain where it stayed top and just under $1m for $3.1m in Brazil where it also remained the number one film.

Wall-E added $3m for $258.8m and is yet to open in Japan, traditionally Pixar's biggest market outside of North America. The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas has crossed $20m from Spain and the UK and opens in North America on November 7.

DreamWorks Animation's Madagascar 2 opened one week ahead of North America to capitalise on school holidays in Russia and the Ukraine. PPI's gambit paid off as the animated sequel scored the biggest opening weekend of all time in both markets, grossing $16m from 554 sites in Russia and $1.8m from 81 in the Ukraine. The early international cumulative total stands at $17.8m.

"These results are confirmation of the incredible popularity of these characters from the first film and this bodes extremely well for the worldwide release of the film, which continues next week with Hungary and the Philippines releasing concurrently with the US," PPI president Andrew Cripps said.

Eagle Eye added $4.5m from 2,267 venues in 54 territories. for $65.5m and the largest contribution this weekend came from Japan where the thriller took $1.3m from 310 following a 19% drop for $9.1m. The comedy Tropic Thunder grossed $3.3m from 1,306 in 55 for $71.2m and added $1.2m from 239 in its second weekend in Italy after falling 31% for $3.5m. In its second weekend in the UK, the comedy Ghost Town took $1.4m from 344 after a 35% fall for $4.6m.

The Coen Brothers' dark comedy Burn After Reading surged towards $60m following a $6.7m haul from 1,705 sites in 20 territories through UPI and Focus Features International's network of overseas buyers for a $58m overall tally. The caper launched at number one in the Netherlands on $500,000 from 45 in the Coen Brothers' biggest opening in the market.

Burn After Reading ranked number one in Australia for the third consecutive weekend as $750,000 from 188 following a 25% drop raised the tally to $3.9m. There are 20 territories to go including Sweden on November 7.

Hellboy II: The Golden Army added $3.8m from 1,428 in 26 territories for a $76.5m running total and launched in France on $2.4m from 410 sites, which is 10% bigger than the opening weekend of Hellboy. The last two territories of China and Japan receive the film on November 21 and January 9 2009, respectively.

The phenomenal Mamma Mia! kept on marching on and overtook Kung Fu Panda's $413m mark to become the third biggest overseas release of the year-to-date behind Indiana Jones 4 and The Dark Knight as $3.4m from 2,700 venues in 46 territories raised the tally to $414.8m. Meryl Streep and friends added $240,000 in the UK from 177 locations for $128.8m (£67.3m). Already the biggest UK release in UK box office history, the musical is just £1.7m away from overtaking Titanic on £69m to become the biggest release of all time in the territory. The final major market to go is Japan on January 30 2009.

Death Race added $1.7m from 2,309 in 29 territories for $27.9m, opening in second place in Australia on $650,000 from 169 dates and launching in third place in Mexico on $270,000 from 197. The action remake has 21 territories to go over the next two months and arrives in New Zealand next weekend.

Saw V expanded into a further 17 territories including CIS, Mexico and Brazil through Mandate International's network of overseas distributors and grossed $5.8m to bring the running total from 26 territories to $14.3m.

Fox International's videogame action adaptation Max Payne grossed $2.9m from approximately 2,400 screens in 46 markets for $23.4m. There are 19 markets to go including the UK, Germany, France, South Korea, Japan and Italy.

In its fourth week Russian smash The Admiral grossed $1.4m from 739 screens in Russia and the Ukraine for a $36.6m international running total, $32.5m of which comes from Russia.

Warner Bros Pictures International's comedy Get Smart crossed $100m to stand at $100.2m. The romance Nights In Rodanthe added $2.7m from 1,274 screens in 33 markets for $22m. The film has amassed $4.2m after six weeks in Japan and opens in Australia on November 6.

Terrorism thriller Body Of Lies added $1.1m from approximately 594 screens in ten markets for $10.8m and ranks second in South Korea on $2.1m. The film opens in France on November 5 and Spain on November 7. Guy Ritchie's gangster romp RocknRolla added $758,000 from 290 screens in three for $10.3m. It opened in Australia on $548,000 from 220 and launched in Brazil on $118,000 from 41. Vicky Cristina Barcelona added $1.4m from 430 in its fourth weekend in France and stands at $12.1m.

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Is it ok to post the whole article? If not, I'll edit the post.

I don't get your point Doc. If Pixar can't sell it's pictures, its days are gone. If they take tough-sell concepts and can drive them to big numbers, that's their problem, not an excuse. Either stop taking tough-sell concepts or learn to sell them better - that's purely a management problem. If DW takes easy-sell concept and drives them to big numbers, here's our new global leader of computer animation.

It's not an excuse, but you're talking about them not being able to sell their movies well enough. It's not the problem of selling, though, it's the "problem" of the films themselves. Making them more accessible would simply make them different films. It is no excuse, but your wording was just misleading. Their concepts don't sell that well anymore, it's not like their marketing screwed up.

I think HSM3's 2nd week number in UK is actually £4.3m (~$7m) not $4.3m.. that would make sense for $28.5m total after 2 weeks..

You don't understand. It's the task of marketing to sell the product, and if you end up with the product that is not selling, your marketing screwed up. Deciding on the concept is also part of marketing, BTW.

Not at all. The marketing department and the filmmakers dont always work hand in hand.

Yeah at all, and that's the most current problem in the entire industry, because they must work hand in hand.

I suppose if they did, some great movies would simply not exist nowadays

The key phrase here is "I suppose". If they did, many of the worst movies and flops would never go into production, and failures would not occur with the current frequency. And great movies would still go. If you got a good product that people need, you only have to market it well enough.

Awesome for James Bond 23 or 24? Sounds idiotic when you say it like that hah. or is it James Bond 22? Daft.

Great total for HSM3, Mamma Mia and Saw V.

Amazing UK hold. Could be 2nd 100M grosser for the year.

Quantum of Solace is huge, absolutely huge. I think this will remain the peak of the Bond franchise for some time, though. QoS is well-received, but not absolutely tremendously so, so that I don't see yet another major increase for the next flick. I don't think we'll see a $850-900 million WW Bond anytime soon.

Great numbers for Bond. That UK hold is pretty impressive.

What a huge week!