International Top Five - Casino Plays to Full Houses Worldwide
November 29, 2006
Casino Royale's dominance of the worldwide box office continued as it opened in 18 new markets scoring first place in every one of them. In fact, it was number one in 40 of the 50 markets it is currently playing in. Overall the film earned $64.94 million on 6460 screens in 50 markets for a two-week total of $129.06 million. The biggest opening of the weekend was in Germany where it crushed the competition with $12.84 million on 839 screens, more than 10 times its nearest competition. France was also a major contributor to its weekend success with $8.4 million on 823 screens while it captured $3.90 million on 500 screens in Spain, and a combined $8.02 million on 392 screens in the four Scandinavian markets. Not surprisingly, holdovers were led by the U.K. where it dipped just 25% to $16.51 million on 506 screens for a total of $53.96 million, which is nearly what Die Another Day earned in total in that market. Next up for the film is Japan this weekend, Australia the weekend after and South Korea the weekend after that. As for the film's long term potential, it is likely to crack the $500 million milestone worldwide with $600 million being a tough but achievable goal.
Borat opened in first place in Australia with $3.79 million on 292 screens over the weekend and $4.74 million in total while it also earned first place in its debut in New Zealand with $492,000 on 50 screens over the weekend and $608,000 in total. Adding in holdovers and the film made $14.22 million on 2353 screens in 32 markets for a total of $82.61 million internationally. Just shy of half that figure, $41.02 million has come from the United Kingdom, including $2.84 million on 441 screens this past weekend.
The Departed remained in third place with $6.93 million on 2102 screens in 36 markets for a total of $80.82 million. Its best opening of the weekend was in South Korea where it brought in $1.7 million on 180 screens, good enough for second place, while it also performed well in Turkey with $377,000 from 69. Meanwhile, it was wable to knock Casino Royale out of first place in Greece scoring $829,000 on 62 screens. The film opens in France tonight and Germany next weekend, but doesn't wrap up its run till March of next year.
Dhoom 2: Back in Action got off to one of the greatest openings ever for an Bollywood film with $6.75 million on 834 screens in 19 markets. In the U.K. the film earned sixth place with $803,000 on 51 screens while it had to settle for 8th in New Zealand, ($34,000 on 5 screens), and 12th in Australia, ($137,000 on 12). It was reported that the film set records in many theatres in its native India, but full figures were not released.
Saw III slipped to fifth place with $6.23 million on 1927 screens in 26 markets for a total of $47.57 million after a month on the international scene. The film opened in third place in France with an estimated $2.5 million while it managed fourth in Finland with $46,000 on 11. Holdovers were not able to bring much good news. For instance, the film plummeted a very steep 46% during its second weekend in Japan to $480,000 on 88 screens for a total of $2.27 million while it was even worse in Spain falling from first to fifth with $717,000 on 298 screens for a three-week total of $5.95 million.
Filed under: International Box Office, Casino Royale, The Departed, Borat, Saw III, Dhoom 2