International Details - Dragons Dominate South Korean Marketplace

August 19, 2007

D-War slipped to sixth place overall, but remained in first place in South Korea with $10.19 million on 623 screens over the weekend and $37.81 million in total.

• Rush Hour 3 started its international run off in seventh place with $9.61 million on 677 screens in 7 markets. The majority of that came in the U.K. where it opened in first place with $5.52 million on 359 screens, which is not as strong as its opening here, given the relative size of the two markets.
• Live Free or Die Hard was flat this weekend adding $7.18 million on 2153 screens in 21 markets for a total of $204.74 million. Hitting $200 million internationally was a good milestone, but even with Spain and Italy yet to come, it will likely be its last milestone. This week the film opened in first place in Australia with $3.35 million on 361 screens while in neighboring New Zealand it managed $481,000 on 66 screens, also taking first place.
• Evan Almighty continues to expand adding $6.10 million on 1867 screens in 24 markets for a total of $23.07 million. This includes a rather tepid fourth place opening on Germany with $1.27 million on 349 screens, which is significantly weaker that its opening stateside, and for a film that may have cost $200 million, this is a really, really bad sign. Holdovers were better as it held strong in Mexico down just 38% to $802,000 on 353 screens over the weekend and $3.23 million in total while it was even better in Brazil down 34% to $666,000 on 197 screens and $1.97 million in total. Using those latter markets as guides, Evan Almighty should at least match its production budget worldwide and might show a profit by the tertiary markets like hotels.
• May 18 placed second in South Korea and tenth overall with $5.23 million on 450 screens over the weekend and $32.39 million in total.
• Ocean's Thirteen opened in first place in Japan with $4.19 million on 455 screens over the weekend and $5.06 million in total. This was the vast majority of the film's 11th place, $5.18 million weekend, which was earned on 1159 screens in 40 markets. Overall the film now has $168.25 million internationally and $284.52 million worldwide.
• Surf's Up had the best growth on the charts this weekend up 443% to $5.12 million on 1549 screens in 30 markets for a total of $13.20 million so far. However, its massive expansion explains the film's resurgence more than any market. Speaking of expansion, the film's biggest opening of the weekend came in the U.K. where it took in $1.21 million on 398 screens placing seventh in the process, but its best opening came in Mexico where it managed second place with $1.15 million on 345 screens.
• The Bourne Ultimatum opened in 13th place with $4.25 million on 370 screens in 11 markets, all of which were of the smaller variety. The film is tracking ahead of The Bourne Supremacy is all markets, including the United Arab Emirates and Indonesia where it earned more in one weekend than the previous installment earned in total at $579,000 and $444,000 respectively. However, the franchise has never really been a big seller internationally. This weekend we will see if that changed as the film debuts in the U.K. and Spain.
• License To Wed climbed to 14th place with $3.40 million on 1172 screens in 11 markets for a very early total of $4.82 million. The film opened in a trio of major markets scoring third place in Mexico with $1.07 million on 352 screens, fourth place in Spain with $876,000 on 249, and eighth in the U.K. with $541,000 on 201. It is particularly bad news that the film did worse the bigger the market was.
• Stardust opened in first place in Russia with $2.96 million on 505 screens, which was enough for 15th place internationally. Russia is not a major market, although it is growing, and a $2.96 million opening is equivalent to $30 to $60 million here. However, one must note that the market is very receptive to fantasy films and that does skew the numbers somewhat. That said, this does indicated a $100 million international run, which is great news after disappointing here.
• Chak De India opened in 16th place with $2.85 million on 503 screens in 17 markets, which is a strong result for this kind of film.
• Shrek the Third fell from 9th to 17th place with $2.32 million on 2600 screens in 26 markets for a total of $412.09 million internationally and $733.10 million worldwide.
• Hairspray remained relatively flat with $1.85 million on 667 screens in 6 markets for a total of $20.61 million. The film opened in Mexico but struggled with just $438,000 on 227 screens landing in sixth place while it managed fourth place in Argentina with $128,000 on 32 screens.
• Return opened in third place in South Korea with $1.67 million on 235 screens over the weekend and $2.32 million in total.
• La Fille Coupee en Deux, which is French for The Girl Cut In Two, opened in fifth place in its native market with $1.64 million on 292 screens.
• Pokemon 2007 is holding on far better than expected down just 12% in Japan to $1.63 million on 351 screens for a total of $31.28 million after a month of release.
• Monkey Magic was right behind with $1.48 million on 461 screens over the weekend and $25.21 million in total. This was enough for sixth place in Japan and 22nd overall.
• Because I Said So dipped one spot to 23rd with $1.30 million on 379 screens in 10 markets for a total of $20.28 million.
• Flash Point tumbled from its respectable opening down from 10th place to 24th with $1.26 million on 338 screens in 3 markets for a total of $4.31 million.
• Masked Rider Den-o fell to 7th in Japan and 25th internationally with $1.22 million on 266 screens over the weekend for a total of $4.77 million in total.
• Cash also stumbled down to 26th place with $1.15 million on 517 screens in 14 markets for a total of $5.51 million.
• No Reservations returned to the charts with $1.08 million on 482 screens in 9 markets for a very early total of $3.43 million. Nearly half of the weekend haul, $456,000, came on 150 screens in Brazil, which was enough for fourth place.
• Naruto Shippuden: The Movie landed in eighth place in Japan with $970,000 on 250 screens over the weekend and $4.83 million in total.
• Secret barely managed a spot in the top 30 with $951,000 on 407 screens over the weekend and $4.66 million in total.
• Fracture slipped a spot to 30th with $932,000 on 341 screens in 19 markets for a total of $39.30 million. This is just over what the film earned domestically, but still disappointing

Filed under: International Box Office, Shrek the Third, The Bourne Ultimatum, Rush Hour 3, Live Free or Die Hard, Hairspray, Ocean's Thirteen, Evan Almighty, Surf’s Up, License to Wed, No Reservations, Because I Said So, Stardust, Dragon Wars: D-War, Chak De India, La fille coupée en deux, Pokemon 2007: Diamond & Pearl, Monkey Magic, , Hwa-ryeo-han hyuga, , , Gekijô-ban Kamen Raidâ Den-Ô: Ore, tanjô!, Return, Cash