Late Numbers Lift Charlie into Top Five

July 31, 2005

Early numbers had Mr. and Mrs. Smith taking fifth place on the overall international box office charts, but better than expected results has Charlie and the Chocolate Factory overtaking them $6.7 million to $5.4 million. It's biggest single market continues to be France where the film dipped just 6% during its second weekend there earning $3,533,857 for a $9,034,141 running tally. But it was even more impressive in Belgium where the film shot up by 68% to $400,000 for the weekend and $785,000 in total. The film also opened in first place in three markets, Brazil with $1.1 million on 200 screens, Holland with $625,000 on 124 screens, and South Africa with $275,000 on 41 screens. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory has $13.3 million so far and opens in a couple of important markets this weekend, (The U.K. and Mexico.)

• Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith missed the top five on the international charts for the first time during its internationally run, but that doesn't mean it's run is over. This weekend the film finished first in Japan for the third weekend with $4,039,490, which was down by 44% compared to last weekend. While this is a huge drop-off compared to the market norm, there was mitigating circumstance in the form of an Earthquake that depressed the overall market. (Half the top ten suffered declines of 50% or more.) Even so, with $44,575,870 so far and school holidays starting the film should still earn $100 million in Japan alone. Overall the final film in the Star Wars Saga has $426 million internationally for fifteenth place on the all-time charts and $802 million worldwide for 13th on the All-Time Charts, just ahead of the original Star Wars.
• Batman Begins sophomore stints in two Scandinavian markets went in opposite directions. In Norway the film tumbled more than 60% to $240,000 while in Finland the film saw substantial growth to $317,500. The film did remain in first place in both markets. The film was also first in its debut in Denmark warning $655,000 on 41 screens. Overall the film added $4 million to its $150 million international total with just two markets left to open in, (Sweden and Poland.)
• The Wedding Crashers showed remarkable resilience in the U.K. dropping just 16% in local currency, which was nearly flat in American dollars at $3.22 million. On the other hand, the film fell 33% in Germany to $698,071 and 43% in Austria to $146,183, (both figures are for the full week.) The film also debuted in Sweden with $190,000 over the weekend on 30 screens for a $4 million weekend haul on the international scene for a $12.4 million running tally.
• Monster-In-Law opened in two major markets earning $1.8 million in Australia for an easy first place finish but struggled in Mexico with $730,000. So far the film has made $36.3 million internationally, but even with quite a few markets left, it won't be able to match its domestic total.
• Sin City had a trio of strong openings in smaller markets over the weekend, the biggest of which came in Finland where the film just missed top spot with $315,000, ($350,000 including previews.) The film also did well during its debuts in the Czech Republic and Slovakia earning first place finishes in both with $110,000 and $30,000 respectively. It�s best market overall was Australia where it remained in third place with $840,000 on 228 screens. That gave the film an estimated $2 million for the weekend and $45.1 million internationally. The film still has a number of major openings left, including Germany and Spain in a couple of weeks.
• The Amityville Horror saw one of its better openings with a second place, $1.47 million debut in Spain. The film was less successful in Poland with a sixth place, $97,000 opening and in Holland with a 8th place debut than brought in $190,000 on 41 screens, including previews. One last note, the film topped the market in the United Arab Emirates during its debut the weekend before last with $190,000, including previews.
• Heaven's Soldiers slipped to fourth place in its native market of South Korea adding $1,453,951 this weekend to its $5,887,449 total so far. By this time next week it will have surpassed Batman Begins's total in the market.
• Herbie: Fully Loaded has the best opening this weekend in Poland but only managed a fourth place debut with $132,500 on 51 screens, including previews. The film did very well in a number of midlevel markets this weekend, ($286,000 in Argentina, $190,000 in Holland, and $170,000 in New Zealand.) However, the film plummeted 70% in Australia landing in 10th place with $195,000 on 233 screens; even so, the film has made $6.95 million in that market, half the films $13.9 million international total.
• Les Poupees Russes, a.k.a., The Russian Dolls grew by 8% during the weekend in France finishing with $896,925 over the weekend for a $16,813,777 running tally in the market.
• Dark Water snagged fifth place in its debut in Britain with $840,000 on 250 screens.
• House of Wax had a reasonable opening in Norway taking in $144,000, including previews, while it struggled in sixth place in Hungary with $31,000 during its opening there. It's best markets overall was Australia with $285,000 and Spain with $267,000. The film now has $30.8 million internationally and is closing in on its domestic total.
• March of the Penguins waddled its way into the top ten in Japan earning $673,624 over the weekend and $775,013 in total.
• Cinderella was re-released in France over the weekend and earned a sixth place finish with $598,314 on 400 screens.
• The presence of Nicole Kidman isn't helping Bewitched in her homeland of Australia. This week the film lost 59% of its box office landing at $595,000 for a $6.4 million running tally.
• Son of the Mask opened in fourth place in Spain with $580,000 on 300 screens, which is better than average for the film but hardly reason to celebrate. That was the film's last major market and with just $38.9 million internationally to go with its $17 million domestic total, this film is a bomb by any definition of the word.
• Whispering Corridor 4: Voice, fell by 57% during its second weekend in South Korea landing in fifth place with $547,462 for a $2,624,104 running total.
• The Longest Yard opened in Russia with $330,000 since Thursday. It also made $170,000 in New Zealand, but is falling faster than the rest of the holdovers in that market.
• The Descent slipped by 35% during its third weekend in Britain landing at $467,000 for the weekend and $3.60 million during its run.
• Despite sixth new wide releases opening in Spain, local comedy Semen, una historia de amor held up incredibly well slipping just 26% to $430,000 and that allowed the film to remain in fifth place.
• Will Ferrell has never been a huge draw internationally, but for Kicking and Screaming to only make $420,000 on 260 screens in the U.K. is still a big disappointment.
• The Interpreter debuted in third place in Russia with $415,000 since its opening on Thursday.
• George A. Romero's Land of the Dead opened in Argentina with $95,000 on just 22 screens, which gave it one of the best per screen averages in the market, but the low screen count kept the film from finishing better than seventh place. The result was nearly the same in Norway where the film earned $25,000 on 8 screens, also landing in seventh place. In its two holdovers the film dropped 40% in Italy to $220,000 and plummeted by 73% in Mexico to $72,000 for the week.
• Flight of the Phoenix managed sixth place in its opening in Australia taking in $343,000 including previews. That isn't a particularly good start, but better than the film has usually done as it has only earned $12.7 million so far.
• Valiant recovered somewhat after its disappointing sophomore stint in Spain slipping by 37% to $290,000 for a $2.5 million running tally there.
• Fly, Daddy, Fly was hit particularly hard by the Earthquake plummeting 65% to $281,592 for the weekend and $3,042,101 during its run.
• The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl will have a short run in South Korea as the film managed just $123,064 during its opening weekend, $131,087 since its Thursday debut. On the other hand, the film has made $132,000 during its second weekend in Argentina for a running tally of $367,142 there. It also has brought in $1,847,637 in Mexico in two weeks, (weekend numbers are unavailable for the latter market.)
• A Lot Like Love debuts in Norway with $45,000 on 16 screens, which was only strong enough for fifth place. And it performed even worse in Sweden landing in ninth place with $50,000 on 25 screens. The film fell out of the top ten in Spain with just $160,000 for the weekend and $1.3 million overall.
• New Police Story had the worst week-to-week performance in the top ten in France plummeting 47% to $243,103 for the weekend and $834,528 during its run there.
• Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy may have spent its last week in the ten in Germany adding $218,982 to its seven week total of $7,687,218. The film has already brought in $42.6 million internationally and has yet to open in many major markets like France, Spain, Japan, South Korea, Italy and many other smaller markets.
• Ginger Snaps Back: The Beginning opened in Italy over the weekend earning $214,317 over the weekend for a third place finish. That's more than the Canadian film earned at home.
• Lords of Dogtown missed the top ten in its debut in France with $200,000 on 98 screens.
• Boogeyman beat expectation domestically but it has really struggled internationally. This weekend it slipped another 32% in Italy landing in fifth place with $183,273. That bumps its total in the market to $2,083,377 and $16.1 million internationally.
• Raise Your Voice opened in Mexico the week before last earning $132,491 on just 41 screens. That's about on par with what Ice Princess earned there about a month ago.
• Cursed struggled in yet another market as if barely made 10th place in Germany with $132,000 on 107 screens. So far the film has only made $8.89 million, $2.78 million of which came from Spain.
• Silver City failed to make much of an impact domestically despite the its very timely release. However, in the U.K. the film managed 13th place with $126,611 on 19 screens during the first week of release.
• The Upside of Anger slipped out of the top ten in Germany despite growing by 25% to $124,000.
• Are We There Yet? slipped by 29% to $112,000 during its second weekend in New Zealand; that led to a $383,000 total in the market and $15 million internationally.
• A Love Song for Bobby Long opened in semi-limited release in Germany scoring $83,447 on 14 during the week.
• The Truth About Love opened in fifth place in the United Arab Emirate with $45,000 in 11 theatres, including previews. It's scheduled release in the U.K. appears to have been put on hiatus, but if Jennifer Love Hewitt's new TV does well, that could change.
• In Good Company missed the top ten in its debut in Holland taking in $44,000 on 16 screens, including previews. After surprising domestically the film has really struggled internationally earning just $14 million.
• Guess Who opened in Poland with $35,000 on 25 screens for an eighth place finish.
• Danny the Dog dropped to ninth place during its second weekend in Poland with just $25,000. It's going to need a breakout performance soon to have any chance of showing a profit.
• Being Julia landing in tenth place in Italy, again; the film added $16,362 this weekend for a seven-week total of $571,759, which isn't bad considering the time of year.
• Never Die Alone did just that as the film earned less than $12,500 on 18 screens in its debut in Italy.

Filed under: International Box Office, Star Wars Ep. III: Revenge of the Sith, Wedding Crashers, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Batman Begins, The Longest Yard, Monster-in-Law, La marche de l'empereur, Sin City, The Interpreter, Guess Who, Herbie: Fully Loaded, The Amityville Horror, Bewitched, Kicking and Screaming, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Boogeyman, In Good Company, House of Wax, Dark Water, Danny the Dog, A Lot Like Love, Flight of the Phoenix, George A. Romero's Land of the Dead, Valiant, Cursed, The Upside of Anger, Son of the Mask, Lords of Dogtown, Raise Your Voice, Being Julia, Never Die Alone, Silver City, A Love Song for Bobby Long, Are We There Yet?, The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl in 3-D