Village Leads Limp Box Office

August 31, 2004

As the summer box office comes to a close, The Village continues to set career best records for M. Night Shyamalan, but it's the sophomore stint drop-offs that the real story. The previously mentioned career best openings were in Belgium, Sweden and Norway totaled $2.6 million, but at the same time saw its U.K. and French numbers cut nearly in half from last weekend. This week it took in a total of $10.2 million in 14 markets, lifting its international total to $30.8 million

Garfield's performance internationally continues to impress box office analysts and this weekend it came within a whisker of top the spot. This weekend the film earned $9.7 million in 42 markets, boosting its international total to $65 million. Openings totaling more than $1.8 million in Russia, Hungary and Norway, plus very strong holdovers in Germany and France accounted for the majority of this week's haul. And with Italy, Australia and Japan left to go, the film should still have some life left it its run; beating its domestic total of $75 million is academic at this point.

Number one openings in Australia, New Zealand, Singapore pushed Bourne Supremacy into the top five with $8.3 million on 1,100 screens in just 13 markets. The film is very early in its international run with just $25 million so far, but it should have no trouble overtaking the original before long.

With no major openings, King Arthur saw its weekly take nearly slashed in half to $7.8 million in 35 markets. That was enough, however, to push its total to $107.4 million, making it the 16th film to hit $100 million at the international box office this year.

The Chronicles of Riddick opened in four more major markets, but could only manage $6.2 million on 2,000 screens in 22 markets over the weekend. At just $35 million so far, its international run has not shown the kind of performance a $120 million movie should have.

Other highlights on the international scene include:

• In its first major foray in international waters, Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story topped the U.K. charts with $3.9 million, including sneaks peaks. However, it was a definite miss in Mexico taking in a tiny $339 thousand.
• Shrek 2 will have to wait till mid-December for it's last major opening, (Italy), but in the mean time it set another animation record opening with $530 thousand in Turkey. On the other hand, it saw its weekend total in Russia cut in half to just $1 million. Overall the film pulled in an estimated $4 million over the weekend.
• House of Flying Daggers, or as it is known it Japan, Lovers, took first place opening with $3.6 million. This is on top of the more than $22 million the film earned in its home country, China.
• Spider-man 2's weekend numbers dropped to $3.5 million on 2,800 screens in 57 markets, enough to push its international total to $370 million, more than it earned domestically. The film will have to wait till mid-September to see how far it can push that figure; whether or not it can reach the target of $400 million depends heavily on if it can beat the original's $21 million in Italy.
• Anacondas: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid had $1 million openings in Mexico and India taking in took in a total of $2.6 million during its first weekend of release.
• Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban continues to play out in the international market earning another $2.5 million to push its total to $520 million.
• Catwoman continues its run with a sub $1 million opening in Italy and $2.3 million for the weekend.
• Starsky and Hutch had its final international opening in Italy taking in $2.2 million, including sneak peaks.
• Latin American hasn't been kind to Collateral as the film saw a large drop and Mexico and mixed results in Brazil, Venezuela and Chile. Weekend total was just $1.8 million in 14 markets lifting its total to $7 million.
• Mean Girls has a strong opening in Germany earning $1.5 million and an equally strong $200,000 is Austria. Internationally, the film took in $2.5 million over the weekend for a total of $30 million so far.
• Alien vs. Predator opened number one in Taiwan and Malaysia with a combined $1.2 million. The filmed opened number one is every market it has played in so far.
• Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over held up strong in Spain, dropping less than 30% to $886 thousand.
• A Cinderella Story held up very well in the U.K. dropping just 13% in its second weekend earning $830 thousand with weekend for a total of $3 million.

Source: Variety

Filed under: International Box Office, Shrek 2, Spider-Man 2, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, The Bourne Supremacy, Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story, The Village, Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over, Collateral, Starsky & Hutch, Mean Girls, AVP: Alien Vs. Predator, Garfield: The Movie, The Chronicles of Riddick, King Arthur, A Cinderella Story, Catwoman, Anacondas: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid