Arthur, King of the International Box Office

August 24, 2004

A trio of new openings pushed King Arthur into first place this week with $13 million in 33 markets. The film now sits at $88 million internationally, and should break $100 million by next weekend. Worldwide it looks headed for $200 million.

Two nearly identical openings in France ($5.9 million) and the U.K. ($5.4 million) was all The Village needed for its first finish in the top five on the international charts. Weekend totals was $11.5 million pushing its international total to $14.4 million very early in its run.

Garfield opened well in more than half a dozen mostly mid-ranged markets. $2.4 million in Germany was the only major market opening, but the film also did solid business in South Korea, Belgium, Austria, and others. The weekend total for the Live Action cartoon was $10.7 million on 3,151 screens in 37 markets and now sits just shy of $50 million internationally.

With only one opening in Denmark, I, Robot dropped from first to fourth on the international charts. The $10.5 million it earned this weekend was also well below last weekend's figure, but with $127.8 million the film is just over a week from beating its domestic total internationally.

As expected, Shrek 2 became just the second film this year to hit $400 million internationally. $2.1 million in Russia was a record for an animated movie, but Finding Nemo's international record looks very save at this time. The worldwide race will be much closer with Italy still ahead.

Other highlights on the international scene include:

  • Spider-man 2 may have dropped out of the top five, but it is still earning impressive an impressive box office at $5.7 million in 60 markets lifting its international total to $361.5 million..
  • Bourne Supremacy had an impressive start in the South East Asian region. Starts in Hong Kong, Indonesia and South Korea were all well above The Bourne Identity's start. And with the film dropping just 35% in the U.K. it should top the original's total there in just two weeks.
  • The Chronicles of Riddick continues its solid, if unimpressive international run with $4 million this weekend and $21 million total so far.
  • Also performing unimpressively is Catwoman with $3.6 million this weekend and $15.5 million overall.
  • Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban international run is winding down as it earned $3 million this week for a $514.4 million total.
  • Hellboy continues its march to $100 million worldwide with $2.7 million this week thanks in part to a number one opening in Australia.
  • Fahrenheit 9/11 took in $2.4 million in it's Japanese debut. The documentary has already topped $50 million internationally with several more openings to go.
  • Collateral had a million dollar opening in Mexico and a $1.7 million weekend overall.
  • Alien vs. Predator continues its tour of South East Asia earning $1.6 million.
  • Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over opened domestically more than a year ago, but it just opened in Spain this past weekend. The film earned $1.2 million there and pushed its worldwide total to 191.8 million.
  • A Cinderella Story opened in fourth place in the U.K. with $956 thousand.

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Source: Variety

Filed under: International Box Office, Shrek 2, Spider-Man 2, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, The Bourne Supremacy, I, Robot, Fahrenheit 9/11, The Village, Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over, Collateral, AVP: Alien Vs. Predator, Garfield: The Movie, Hellboy, The Chronicles of Riddick, King Arthur, A Cinderella Story, Catwoman