Hitch Tops 2005 Charts

March 16, 2005

Not only is Hitch the undisputed champion of 2005 for the domestic market, it is also the new number one worldwide, topping Howl's Moving Castle $216.5 million to $211.9 million. And with $28.1 million this weekend on 4,600 screens in 40 markets, the film sits at $66.0 million internationally and could become the first film from 2005 to reach the $100 million milestone on the international scene. The film's biggest opening of the weekend came from the U.K., where it racked up $8.1 million including sneak peaks, which represented more than 50% of total box office in the market. Add in first place debuts in Italy with $2.5 million on 300, Belgium with $820,000 on 57, Netherlands with $670,000 on 93 and $225,000 on 16 screens in the U.E.A. The film also performed admirably in South Korea with a third place, $1.4 million weekend on 175 screens. Notable holdovers include its $6.3 million in Germany, down less than 30% to $17.2 million in that market alone and $1.83 million in Australia, down 34% and still first place in both markets. The film was also first place in Scandinavia, but exact numbers are currently unavailable.

Constantine rose this week to second place with $8.8 million and $85.9 million after debuting in 38 markets. Right now it's in a close race with Hitch to become the first film of 2005 to reach $100 million internationally, although at this pace the latter film seems to have the edge. This weekend the film had number one debuts in Brazil with $1.5 million on 255 screens (the biggest opening of any film this year), and $830,000 on 115 in Turkey (the second biggest opening of the year).

Meet the Fockers has slipped to third place this weekend with $8.2 million on 2,800 screens in 27 markets for a running tally of $214 million. It's only opening was a first place finish in South Africa with $420,000 on 70 screens. The film is roughly a week away from hitting $500 million worldwide with Japan and South Korea still ahead.

Hide & Seek stumbled in its Italian debut with a mere $908,000 on 298 screens, but performed much better in Spain with $1.5 million, down just 43% during its second weekend. That may not seem like a strong performance but a 60% drop-off would not have been unexpected. Overall the film added $5.3 million to its $43.4 million international box office, and with several major markets left, including Germany on April 7th, the film should beat its domestic total and top $100 million worldwide.

There's a glut of films vying for fifth place on the international charts: Million Dollar Baby, Ray, Blade: Trinity and even Shark Tale in the hunt. Unfortunately, exact numbers are not in for the films and early reports have conflicting numbers. Million Dollar Baby earned $7.5 million last week and it would be unlikely that the film dropped so far that it would miss the top five and is the most likely film to fill the final spot. Ray pulled in either $4.2 million or $2.8 million, there's some confusion on the matter. While Blade: Trinity had a $3.1 million opening in Spain, $440,000 second weekend in Italy plus trace amounts from half a dozen other markets. Shark Tale made $1.6 million in Italy and other smaller markets plus an unknown amount in Japan; it opened last weekend with $2.0 million and would need to earn nearly the same amount this weekend to make it to the top five. We may have to wait till Sunday when we get the international details before we can solve this mystery.


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Filed under: International Box Office, Meet the Fockers, Hitch, Shark Tale, Million Dollar Baby, Constantine, Ray, Blade: Trinity, Hide and Seek