International Top Five - Borat has a Devil of a Time
November 8, 2006
Borat beat the competition with relative ease this week earning $18.64 million on 995 screens in 17 markets. In fact, the $11.87 million the film made on 428 screens in Sacha Baron Cohen's native United Kingdom was more than the second place film earned in total. The film's second biggest opening was in Germany where the film had to settle for second place with a still fantastic $2.67 million on 234 screens. The film also had first place openings in smaller markets like Holland, ($731,000 on 64 screens); Sweden, ($717,000 on 39); and Denmark, ($366,000 on 36).
The Devil Wears Prada was knocked out of first place but still earned $11.09 million on 3814 screens in 48 markets to its international total of $151.05 million, which is about double what most analysts had expected. The film had no new openings of note this week but did manage to remain in first place in South Korea adding $1.3 million on 222 screens to its total of $5.2 million in that market. This is particularly strong considering that market it not known for its kindness to holdovers, nor are Hollywood films able to win there often. The film also did very well during its second weekend in Belgium down just 1% to $633,000 on 60 screens over the weekend and $1.78 million overall. Additionally, the film had $1 million dollar weekends in Germany, ($2.05 million on 609 screens for a total of $17.24 million), and in Italy, ($1.45 million on 313 screens for a total of $14.68 million). The film is easily one of the biggest surprise hits of the year and should have no trouble topping $300 million worldwide. All on a budget of just $35 million.
Open Season also slipped a spot hitting third with $8.35 million on 3190 screens in 42 markets for a total of $52.66 million. The film had a few openings in smaller markets but the bulk of the film's weekend haul came from holdovers like Russia where it added $1.6 million for a two-week total $5.6 million.
Prete-Moi Ta Main, a.k.a., Rent A Wife started its run in three markets earning $7.62 million on 498 screens. In its native market of France the film took first with $7.29 million on 471 screens. The film also opened in Belgium with $232,000 on 19 screens over the weekend and $236,000 in total for a ninth place finish while it managed just 10th in Switzerland with $93,000 on 8 screens.
Saw III saw its weekend box office shoot up by 47% while it was only able to remain in fifth place. Its biggest opening was in Australia where it opened in first place with $1.98 million on 208 screens while it also finished first in Brazil, ($1.2 million and 200 screens), and in Argentina, ($306,000 on 49 screens). Meanwhile it fell 44% during its second weekend in the U.K. with $2.67 million on 375 screens for a total of $10.64 million. Overall the film made $7.52 million in 1106 screens in 12 markets for a total of $16.21 million internationally.
Filed under: International Box Office, Borat, The Devil Wears Prada, Open Season, Saw III