Excellent Japanese start for Indy! I think we're looking at at least $45-50 million there, probably more.

So, Sex and the City crossed $300 million worldwide. With its holdovers and Japan still ahead, I think it can make it to around $360-370 million WW.

Narnia's holdovers have been decent so far. Considering it has yet to open in many major markets, I still think we'll see a $500+ million worldwide performance.

Nah, I see 70m+ at least for Indy 4 from Japan..

It might even get near 100m, if it holds well..

And finally, next week will be the first week for Narnia in the European markets (kind of)..

$100m is very unlikely considering Hayao Miyazaki's new film is being released in a month, but $60m is quite possible.

Way underestimated. The latest news on sina.com reported it grossed close to 50m RMB over the weekend, which would be around $7m. Huge positive reception too. Should get to $20m without trouble.

Do you know what's going on with Indy 4 in China?

I doubt that will affect Indy's box office. It will be in its fourth week and there should be plenty to go around for both films.

This is Japan, things work differently there as far as box-office is concerned. Movies rely on long-term legs.

The weekend actual for Panda in China is finally out, and it's 38m RMB ($5.5m).

Not sure what's happening with Indy in China; haven't found when it's going to be released, if it'll ever be. Currently Hancock is set on July 2nd, and Red Cliff is Jul 10.

Red Cliff will probably become the biggest movie ever in China or at least get close to that.

I dont think Indy will be released in China since communists soldiers are the main villains.

It should break the opening weekend record for sure, considering how close The Forbidden Kingdom and The Warlords came. I don't think the legs will be all that good though since the period of Three Kingdoms is such a popular and well-discussed topic that Chinese audience loves to tear a lot of these "historic" epics part, so probably a $30-35m total.

'Wanted' is tops overseas

Universal International's "Wanted" proved to be the international circuit's most desired title during the weekend, grabbing the No. 1 boxoffice spot with an action packed $33 million from 1,922 screens in 22 territories.

Disney/Pixar's "WALL-E," the No. 1 title domestically, set a promising opening pace in a limited, six-market overseas bow, grossing an estimated $3.1 million from 400 screens in Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Panama, Ecuador and Trinidad.

Finishing in the No. 2 weekend spot was DreamWorks Animation/Paramount's "King Fu Panda," which had powerhouse bows in six territories and landed with $21.5 million overall from 3,401 sites in 24 markets. Its international gross total stands at $98.5 million, while the worldwide tally is $277.8 million.

As the European soccer championships wound to a conclusion Sunday, third-place finisher "The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian" introduced itself to continental Europe, scoring strongly in the U.K. and France for an overall weekend estimate of $20.1 million from 4,200 screens in 34 markets. Its overseas the cume is $161.8 million; with $298.8 million globally.

Coming in at No. 4 was Marvel/Universal's "The Incredible Hulk," which dropped nearly 50% from the previous weekend to an estimated $12.1 million from 4,243 situations in 54 markets, for an international cume of $85.5 million. Worldwide, its total gross is $201 million.

Fifth on the weekend was Warner Bros. International's "Get Smart" starring Steve Carell, which played its second weekend overseas on 2,386 screens in 21 markets for an estimated $11.8 million. Strong openings in Australia ($3.8 million from 322 sites) and Mexico ($3 million from 700 screens) sparked overall action, bringing the spy spoof's overseas cume to $20.1 million. Globally, its cume is $97.4 million.

Last weekend's No. 1 title, Paramount's "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull," finished out of the top five this round but remained strong in its second weekend in Japan ($5.2 million from 327 spots for a market cume of $24 million). Overall, "Crystal Skull" pulled in $11.4 million from 4,721 spots in 62 markets for an overseas cume of $413 million.

Based on a comic series by Mark Millar and J.G. Jones, "Wanted" starring James McAvoy, Angelina Jolie and Morgan Freeman, had a smashing Russian opening, grossing [size=200]$11 million from 612 sites[/size] for a rousing per-screen average of $18,000. Generally, it finished at No. 1 in almost all territories that it played.

The director of the action title -- about a put-upon office nerd's conversion into a world-class assassin -- is Kazakhstan-born Timur Bekmambetov, whose past two fantasy thriller titles ("2004's "Night Watch" and 2006's "Day Watch") were substantial hits in Russia. "Wanted's" early worldwide gross tally is $84.1 million.

Disney said that "WALL-E's" overseas total opening gross is 24% ahead of the opening tally of 2007's "Ratatouille" in the same six markets. "Ratatouille" went on to gross $415 million overseas.

20th Century Fox International's "The Happening" tallied an estimated $6.7 million from 4,807 screens in 65 territories, for an overseas cume of $69.6 million. The Adam Sandler comedy "You Don't Mess With the Zohan," boosted its early international total to $19.2 million thanks to a $3.4 million weekend from 1,065 screens in 10 markets. Universal's "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" is up to a cume of $31.7 million after a $2.3 million weekend in 1,005 sites in 20 territories.

A pair of local-language openings sparked the France market during the weekend. Finishing second in Paris and suburbs was "Seuls two," from writer-directors Ramzy Bedia and Eric Judor. The comedy about two men stranded in a deserted Paris laughed all the way to an estimated $5.5 million marketwide.

Opening at No. 5 in Paris and suburbs was "Waltz With Bashir," Ari Folman's animated documentary about an Israeli soldier's loss of memory concerning military action in Lebanon. The 2008 Festival de Cannes entry grossed an estimated $1.3 million overall in the territory. The annual "La fete du Cinema" began Sunday across France accompanied by reductions in theater admission prices.

Other international cumes: Fox's "What Happens in Vegas," $24.6 million (thanks to a $1.8 million weekend from 1,200 screens in 22 markets); Sony's "Made of Honor," $47.8 million; Fox's "Street Kings," $33.6 million; Sony's "21," $70.7 million; Walden Media/Universal's "Nim's Island," $15.5 million (Universal territories only); and Warner's "Speed Racer," which opens Saturday in Japan, $40.6 million.

AMAZING opening for Wanted in Russia, but also somewhat expected too. Will probably have terrible legs there, though.

Good for Indy, though a bit of a harsh drop in Japan. $800+ million worldwide looking a little shakier now, but I think it'll crawl there.

Narnia is well on its way to $300+ million overseas.

From Variety

(above article is from HR)

Universal's assassination actioner "Wanted" came out with both guns blazing overseas, easily winning the weekend with a surprisingly robust $33 million at 1,922 playdates in 22 territories.

With a socko $17,169 per-location average in its day-and-date launch, "Wanted" underlined the drawing power of action pics in the international market as it hunted down No. 1 finishes in almost every territory and looked to keep local pic pirates at bay.

The movie posted particularly boffo returns in the booming Russian market -- $11 million at 612 -- as it rode the popularity of local helmer Timur Bekmambetov, known for the Russian "Night Watch" movies. The figure represented U's top launch and the best debut for an R-16 pic in that market.

Universal Intl. president David Kosse said the results exceeded internal forecasts and cited the pic's "fresh" look plus the star power of Angelina Jolie, Morgan Freeman and James McAvoy.

"Wanted" opened with an impressive $8 million (including previews) in the U.K., matching the launch of Disney's much-anticipated "The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian." The Blighty take marked the third highest 18-rated film launch behind "Hannibal" and "Sweeney Todd."

South Korea also saw boffo biz with $6.7 million at 240, representing U's top launch in the market along with the best opening of an 18-rated Hollywood film.

Except for the U.K., Universal aimed "Wanted" mostly at fast-burn markets due to the likely impact of piracy, which typically diminishes performance once a pic opens in vulnerable territories. Thailand took in $1.1 million, followed by Hong Kong and Singapore with $870,000 each, the Ukraine pulled in $833,000, Malaysia with $770,000, the Philippines with $746,000, Turkey with $508,000 and Poland with $484,000.

Kosse told Daily Variety that the pic's performance was particularly impressive given that "Wanted" -- based on a graphic novel -- had been a largely unknown property with mainstream auds. Kosse acknowledged "Wanted" will face serious competish next weekend from Sony's Will Smith tentpole "Hancock." "I think 'Hancock' will do very well, but I think we've got a lot of momentum from this weekend," he said.

"Wanted" opens next weekend in Italy, followed by a staggered international release over the next three months.

Unlike Universal, Disney opted for a smallish foreign day-and-date launch for "Wall-E." The pic nonetheless tallied an impressive $3.1 million at 400 Latin American playdates in half a dozen markets. The toon led in Brazil with $1.6 million in the third biggest Pixar launch after "The Incredibles" and "Finding Nemo" and topped Chile with $525,000 and Colombia with $498,000.

"Wall-E" hits its first major foreign markets next weekend with launches in Mexico and Russia and will open gradually over the rest of the year to maximize local playability opportunities, following a pattern similar to that employed for "Ratatouille." Given its pedigree and the strong market for CG toons, "Wall-E" could wind up as the best foreign performer this year, a list currently topped by Par's "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull," which has amassed $413 million to date, including $11.4 million over the weekend. "Finding Nemo" is the top international performer among Disney/Pixar titles with a $525 million foreign cume, followed by "Ratatouille" with $410 million and "The Incredibles" with $362 million.
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- Awesome numbers for Wanted in Russia and UK. Pretty impressive in South Korea. Good if not spectacular for every where else.
- Narnia 2, once again, underperformed in UK, France (I think 6-7m.). Bye-bye 350m OS and 500m WW.
- Big drop for Indy 4 in Japan, might do under 50m, and certainly won't hit 500m OS.
- Solid opening number for Wall-E.
- What about Speed Racer's number in Japan?? OMG, it's gonna make less than 100m WW!

How much did indy gross in japan. So is 500M OS not possible for indy.

$5.2 million for a $24 million running total.

Why they don't mention his biggest hit Irony of Fate 2, which made $56 million in former USSR territories, much bigger than both Watches?

The huge opening was expected, given the initial amount of awareness a movie had and also a big advertising campaign, with a director's name in its center. For the first time ever our guy helms such a big international blockbuster, so I guess it's one more point in the 2008 national yearly 'pride box' (right there with Mikhalkov's and Bodrov's Oscar nods, wins on Eurovision, UEFA cup, world hockey championship, quarterfinals of Euro - pretty big year). I believe this is a good start of Bekmambetov's career in Hollywood, and there's a potential of Russian invasion of some sort.

Although, I don't like that some local media reports a budget of $150 million (we have that old trick of making a movie look more expensive than it is to raise the buzz or something...). It has a chance for some legs, because the WOM should be generally favorable and the next week's only competition for screens is Wall-E. The week after it will face Hancock, which is gonna be a huge hit, I believe, since Will Smith is a huge star here, and the movie opened the Moscow Film Festival with both Smith and Theron present, so the anticipation is pretty high.
I think Wanted has a chance for $25 million total.

Well, it was revealed that Indy did have previews in japan.

http://www.variety.com/article/VR111798 ... egoryId=19

So it made 7.9mill without previews in its opening weekend, that would give it about a 34% drop from its previous weekend, i dont know if thats good or not, maybe someone who knows Japan B.O can tell us.

Any idea who'll be the next Russian director to branch out to Hollywood?

How about Mikhail Khodorkovsky? The guy hasn't been doing anything in recent years, has he?

Thanks for the link. paramount is expecting at least 92M in japan.

I didn't know this..

so, 50m+ total is back in play

Well, he's writing and publishing essays, articles and books, also making research for PhD dissertation. He has plenty of things to do behind bars. And he's gonna be released in a few years (I believe 2-3 to go).

I think Bodrov can make a few international projects.
We might see some local projects going for international releases more likely. Fyodor Bondarchuk might jump into it (director of Company 9, son of Sergei Bondarchuk, who won Oscar for War and Peace) - currently he's filming sci-fi movie Inhabited Island, adaptation of a novel by Strugatsky brothers, our biggest sci-fi writers. Another sci-fi movie Hard to Be a God, also adapted from Strugatskyes, is being filmed by Aleksei German.

Our Hollywood old-timer Andrei Konchalovsky (The Odyssey, The Lion in Winter-2003, Tango & Cash, Runaway Train) is currently making 2 international films, big-budgeted Nutcracker: The Untold Story and The Forbidden City.

His son, Yegor Konchalovsky (Antikiller 1, 2) could be big in the future. Aleksei Balabanov (Cargo 200, Brother 1, 2, Zhmurki) could easily helm international productions. And there's also few minor blockbuster-type guys, like newcomers Nikolai Lebedev (Wolfhound) and Mikhail Khleborodov (Paragraf 78). Bumer's Pyotr Buslov might try something in the future.

I heard that our current #1 writer Darya Dontsova is in negotiations with Hollywood about adapting some of her books (and there's 90 of them - ironical detective stories of mediocre quality, but 100 million books sold), so that's another potential property that might go internationally. Then you shouldn't forget about sci-fi writer Sergei Lukyanenko, author of Watches, who also has a lot of things with international potential. After Bekmambetov's success with Wanted, I guess they will revive the talks about Twilight Watch. We also have some sci-fi and fantasy writers, whose stuff might do well internationally.

P.S. Although I think the easiest way for us to break out would be to make our billionaires, such as Abramovich, simply buy out Hollywood piece by piece, or at least a couple of studios...

Interesting overview, thanks. I really think that Hollywood sould take on the Night Watch series...there's so much to improve...