International Details - Its Sink of Swim for New Releases

April 16, 2006

Several films made they international debut this past weekend with even more returning to the charts, but because of the power of Ice Age: The Meltdown, none of them were able to reach the top five, but a few came close. Leading that list is Jean-Philippe; the French film debuted in third place in its native home with $3.34 million on 550 screens. It also opened in two other French-speaking markets but was much weaker earning seventh in Switzerland with $62,000 on 12 screens over the weekend and $68,000 in total while in Belgium it managed just ninth with $131,000 on 29 screens over the weekend and $144,000 in total. Add it up and the film pulled in $3.53 million on 591 screens in 3 markets during its first weekend of release.

• Failure to Launch slipped a place to seventh with $3.03 million on 1363 screens in 18 markets for a total of $18.31 million after a month on the international scene. The film opened in a handful of new markets this weekend taking fith in both Greece and Holland with $187,000 on $199,000 respectively. Meanwhile, it had to settle for eighth in South Korea with $258,000 on 93 screens over the weekend and $294,000 in total. Its best market of the weekend remained the U.K. with $805,000 on 353 screens over the weekend and $3.62 million in total.
• My Scary Girl opened in first place in South Korea with $2.89 million on 300 screens over the weekend and $3.41 million in total.
• Piranha Hunt opened in second place in Russia with $2.71 million on 303 screens over the weekend and $3.14 million in total. It was competitive with Ice Age: The Meltdown's second weekend of release there.
• She's The Man opened in two major markets scoring second place in both with $1.73 million on 305 screens in the U.K. and $901,000 on 138 screens in Australia. In both cases it was dominated by Ice Age: The Meltdown. Adding in holdovers and the film managed 10th place in the international charts with $2.71 million on 491 screens in 4 markets for a very early international total of $3.12 million and considering how poorly films of this nature usually do, this is quite a good start.
• Firewall slipped a spot to 11th with $2.39 million on 1654 screens in 27 markets for a running tally of $22.96 million internationally. The film open in 10 markets include France and Russia. The former was the bigger opening with $449,000 on 202 screens but it could only manage ninth place. On the other hand, the film made just $170,000 on 177 screens over the weekend in Russia and $196,000 in total, but that was good enough for fourth place.
• Narnia is starting to slip down the charts falling 42% to $2.21 million on 1090 screens in 10 markets for an international total of $442.27 million while its worldwide total hit $733.75 million. Almost all of the film's weekend haul came from Japan where it remained in first place with $1.92 million on 631 screens and now have $49.25 million in that market of six weeks of release.
• Hoodwinked! returned to the international charts with $2.10 million on 337 screens in 8 markets for an total of $14.73 million so far. This is mostly thanks to the film's second place debut in South Korea; there the film made $1.53 million on 144 screens over the weekend and $1.71 million in total.
• Final Destination 3 had another nearly 50% drop-off this weekend falling to 14th place with $2.05 million on 1226 screens in 19 markets for an international total of $42.14 million. The film opened in third place in the Netherlands with $187,000 on 71 screens over the weekend and $223,000 in total while its best market was France with $717,000 on 354 screens for a three-week total of $5.27 million.
• Nanny McPhee jumped into 15th place with $1.86 million on 1309 screens in 33 markets for an international total of $65.74 million. The film had a trio of new openings in major markets including a fourth place debut in Mexico with $328,000 on 300 screens a fifth place opening in Spain with $615,000 on 229 including previews, and sixth place start in Italy with $495,000 on 222 screens. I was expecting more from the film, especially in Mexico.
• Hostel opened in third place in Greece with $265,000 but that couldn't stop the film from slipping a couple of spots to 16th. Overall the film made $1.58 million on 83 screens in 23 markets for an international total of $22.16 million.
• Yours, Mine and Ours climbed nearly ten spots to 17th with $1.58 million on 964 screens in 20 markets but still has only $6.88 million internationally. Its climb this weekend can be credited entirely to its opening in Mexico where it took second place with $820,000 on 327 screens. It also opened in Argentina but only managed seventh place with $47,000 on 30 screens.
• Enfermes Dehors opened in fourth place in France with $1.52 million on 340 screens, but that was good enough for 18th place on the international charts.
• Eight Below opened in first place in Taiwan with $310,000 on 17 screens but its overall total slipped 23% to $1.52 million on 1405 screens in 14 markets. After nearly a month the film has now made $9.78 million, which is well below its domestic pace even taking into account the number of major markets left to open in.
• The Pink Panther had the worst week-to-week drop-off on the charts this weekend plummeting 64% to $1.49 million on 1528 screens in 18 markets. This was mainly due to the film shedding screens and markets at an accelerate rate, but even so the film was able to reach $70.05 million on the international scene, which lifts its worldwide total past the $150 million mark.
• Brokeback Mountain is also shedding screens and markets and just fell out of the top twenty with $1.39 million on 1151 screens in 28 markets for an international total of $91.23 million.
• Alien Autopsy opened with a soft $1.39 million on 417 screens in its native U.K. finishing third in the process. Reviews have been mixed so far with even the positive reviews saying the film is too slight to have much staying power. But with just a 5 million pound production budget, (roughly $8.8 million), it should still make a profit, even if it has to wait till the home market to do so.
• Almost Love fell to third place in South Korea with $1.27 million on 240 screens for an total of $11.97 million after three weeks of release.
• 16 Blocks made its first appearance on the international charts with $1.23 million on 520 screens in 6 markets for a very early international total of $3.54 million. More than half that total came from France where the film earned a fifth place debut with $741,000 on 248 screens while a sizeable chunk of the rest came from its fourth place, $176,000 debut on 40 screens in Belgium.
• Post-holidays hit Doraemon 2006 hard as it fell 55% in Japan to $1.09 million on 305 screens for a six week total of $25.78 million.
• The Producers made a return to the international charts with $1.07 million on 346 screens in 18 markets for a total of $11.46 million. Nearly all of that came from Japan where the film finished third with $1.01 million on 272 screens, but that was below the $5000 per screen average that usually indicated whether or not a film will have legs.
• Lucky Number Slevin opened in third place in Spain with $873,000 on 231 screens while coming in second in Iceland with $15,000 on 2 screens over the weekend and $19,000 in total. That was the vast majority of the film's weekend haul and enough to help it climb back into the top 30 with $948,000 on 259 screens in 5 markets for a running tally of $5.63 million internationally.
• Keeping Mum is struggling nearly everywhere is opens and it was no different this weekend as if place fourth in Germany with $677,000 on 409 screens while in managed just sixth in New Zealand with $73,000 on 52 screens. Add in holdovers and the film earned $864,000 on 525 screens in 10 markets for a total of just $10.50 million, well below studio expectations.
• Pride & Prejudice is coasting on holdovers at the moment but still managed to remain in the top 30 with $845,000 on 256 screens in 18 markets lifting its international total to $79.88 million.
• Il Caimano fell another 45%, and slipped out of top spot in Italy, it still managed $808,000 on 312 screens for a three-week total of $6.60 million in its native market.
• It turns out The World's Fastest Indian merely had previews last week in Australia and during its first weekend of full release it placed fifth with $656,000 on 192 screens for a total of $812,000 in the market and $6.6 million internationally.
• Tristan & Isolde opened in fifth place in Italy with $635,000 on 294 screens lifting the film's early international total to $3.5 million. The film has already opened in a few major markets and has had a very disappointing run so far, even when compared to its domestic run.
• Crash has had two DVD releases domestically, but it just opened in South Korea over the weekend. There it managed just sixth place with $394,000 on 82 screens over the weekend and $452,000 in total.
• Good Night, And Good Luck opened in semi-limited release in Germany but missed the top ten with $261,000 on 64 screens for a running tally of about $20 million internationally.

Filed under: International Box Office, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Failure to Launch, Brokeback Mountain, The Pink Panther, Eight Below, Crash, Final Destination 3, Yours, Mine and Ours, Hoodwinked, Firewall, Hostel, Nanny McPhee, Pride & Prejudice, She’s the Man, Good Night, and Good Luck, Lucky Number Slevin, The Producers: The Movie Musical, Tristan & Isolde, The World's Fastest Indian, 16 Blocks