International Box Office: Bullet Gunning for Number One
December 22, 2010
The Voyage Of The Dawn Treader remained in top spot over the weekend, but it fell more than 50% to $31.53 million on 10,107 screens in 61 markets for a total of $126.02 million internationally. Over the weekend it opened in Germany, but only managed second place with $2.46 million on 893 screens, which is about 40% less than Prince Caspian made during its opening weekend and less than half of what the original opened with. It was down 50% in Russia, but still going strong with $3.89 million on 1284 screens over the weekend for a total of $16.29 million after two. In France it held well, down just 40% to $3.10 million on 739 screens over the weekend and $8.77 million in total. It will not match its predecessors at the box office, but it should make enough internationally that it will break even, eventually.
Second place went to Let The Bullets Fly, which dominated China, earning $26.98 million on just 855 screens in its native market. This gave it what was easily the best per screen average in the international top 40 chart.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part I is still going strong, despite slipping to third place. Over the weekend it added $24.13 million on 8769 screens in 64 markets, for a total of $561.79 million internationally and $827.52 worldwide. As expected, it became just the 27th film to reach $800 million worldwide; it is currently in 24th place all time, while it should enter the top 20 by the time the Christmas break is over. This weekend it opened in its final market, South Korea, taking top spot with $4.98 million on 768 screens for a total opening of $6.59 million.
Tron: Legacy was right behind in fourth place with $23.25 million on 4067 screens in 28 markets over the weekend for a total opening of $24.41 million. Its biggest opening came from Japan where it made $3.40 million on 537 screens over the weekend and $4.36 million in total, but that was only enough for second place in that market. On the other hand, it topped the chart in Australia with $3.33 million on 434 screens. It also placed first in the U.K., but with just $3.06 million on 454 screens; I'm not happy with that result. When the original opened nearly 30 years ago, the international market was much less significant than it is now, so the film doesn't have a large built-in fan base to exploit, which could explain its middling start.
Megamind grew by 37% adding $14.97 million on 5506 screens in 45 markets for a total of $87.44 million. It opened in first place in Mexico with $2.48 million on 501 screens over the weekend for a total opening of $2.71 million. On the other hand, it only managed fourth in France with $1.97 million on 695 screens and fifth in Italy with $1.26 million on 375 screens. That's it for major markets, but it should still manage to hit $100 million by this time next weekend, and $250 million worldwide by the new year is within reach.
Tangled fell to sixth place with $14.40 million on 4066 screens in 25 markets for a total of $98.38 million after four weeks of release. It had no major market openings this past weekend, but it remained in first place in Germany with $4.09 million on 600 screens for a two-week total of $12.01 million. It rose to first place in France with $3.39 million on 706 screens over the weekend for a total of $14.90 million after three. It slipped to third place in Russia, but with $1.39 million on 540 screens over the weekend and a total of $22.00 million after four, it is already a massive hit in that market.
The Tourist grew by nearly 60%, but still fell to seventh with $11.78 million on 2751 screens in 16 markets for a total of $23.25 million after just two weeks of release. It had a pair of third place debuts in a couple of major markets: Italy at $2.51 million on 371 screens and Germany at $2.24 million on 629. Since the film was set in Italy and the director is German, one could argue that it should have performed better in these two markets.
There were also a couple of films to reach major milestones as The Social Network topped $100 million internationally and Shrek Forever After hit $500 million internationally.
Filed under: International Box Office, Tron: Legacy, Tangled, Shrek Forever After, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part I, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, The Social Network, The Tourist, Megamind