Panther Leaps to top of International Box Office
March 15, 2006
A trio of openings in major markets helped The Pink Panther climb into first place on the international charts with $10.29 million on 3351 screens in 34 markets for a running tally of $31.89 million. That helped the film become only the second film of 2006 to cross $100 million on the worldwide scene. It opened in second place in Germany with $2.05 million on 540 screens while it finished first in Australia with $979,000 on 244 and in Switzerland with $446,000 on 66. The film debuted with $1.4 million on 504 screens in France, while it made $1.16 million on 349 screens during its third weekend in Spain for a total of $6.73 million so far.
Narnia became only the 19th film to reach $400 million internationally with $7.77 million on 1976 screens in 25 markets and now sits at $403.22 million. Most of its weekly box office came from its five-day, $2.3 million opening on 165 screens in China and its $5.48 million sophomore stint on 780 screens in Japan. While the film has made $20.08 million in that one market already, its drop-off of 38% is higher than expected given the market norms and its affinity for Fantasy.
There was a three way battle for first place in Germany over the weekend and while Brokeback Mountain came in third place, it still managed a very impressive $1.90 million on just 149 screens for the best per screen average in the top ten there, probably the best in the market. That helped the film climb to third place overall with $6.45 million on 1805 screens in 42 markets and the film now has $70.50 million internationally and just over $150 million worldwide.
The Italian film, Il Mio Miglior Nemico, opened in first place in its native market with $5.89 million on 556 screens over the weekend and $5.95 million in total. That one result was enough for the film to finish in fourth place on the international charts.
Syriana slipped to fifth place with $5.64 million on 2339 screens in 44 markets for an international total of $27.35 million. The film opened in a couple Scandinavian countries over the weekend and did well in semi-limited release. For instance, it placed fifth in Norway with $112,000 on just 10 screens while it finished seventh in Sweden with $79,000 also on 10 screens. Its biggest market of the weekend remained the U.K. with $1.23 million on 236 screens for a two-week total of $3.57 million.
Filed under: International Box Office, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Brokeback Mountain, The Pink Panther, Syriana