The increasing box office clout of the China market was fully on display on the weekend as the territory provided two franchise titles significant opening pushes, with The Dark Knight Rises coming out second locally but first overall on the foreign theatrical circuit.
Distributor Warner Bros. said that of its estimated overseas weekend take of $46.4 million – from a total of 10,156 venues in 64 territories – the Batman sequel pulled a “rough estimate” of $28.5 million from Monday through Sunday from nearly 4,100 situations in China.
A Rises opening in Italy also generated $8.8 million (including previews) over six days at 836 situations, which Warners said is “already 70 percent of the entire (market) box office run” of 2008’s The Dark Knight. Total international box office for Rises is now $574 million.
Also opening in China was the weekend’s No. 2, Sony’s The Amazing Spider-Man, the fourth title in the blockbuster series, which made its international debut on June 27.
Of its total $33.7 million take in its latest stanza at 7,125 sites in 59 markets, $33.3 million came from China over a seven-day period. That was more than 2007’s Spider-Man 3 grossed in its total China run, said Sony. Foreign cume for Amazing now stands at $475.3 million.
“China has continued to be extremely strong,” said Veronika Kwan Vandenberg, Warner Bros. International’s president of distribution. “The top 10 films through June 30 in China are already 85% of the top 10 films for the entire year in 2011.”
Millennium-Nu Image Films’ The Expendables 2, last weekend’s No. 1 title on the foreign theatrical circuit, is likely to wind up No. 3 this round once all the numbers come in later this week. (It is being distributed via myriad local overseas distributors.)
The action sequel costarring Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, Chuck Norris, Jean-Claude Van Dammes and Arnold Schwarzenegger opened No. 1 in Brazil (estimated $3.7 million at 300 spots), Germany ($3.5 million at 515), Australia ($2.4 million at 200 locations), and in Austria ($564,053 from 66 sites).
The Expendables 2 also remained No. 1 in its second France round ($3.3 million at 535 situations) and extracted $2.3 million from 870 spots in Italy and Russia via Universal, pushing the two-market total to $22.8 million. Its international cume is likely to top $75 million (last round it finished at $50.2 million).
Meanwhile, for summer 2012 season (Memorial Day through Labor Day), Twentieth Century Fox is by far the foreign box office leader of the ‘big six” Hollywood majors.
The distributor said it grossed an estimated $1.060 billion over the period, a whopping 171% increase from summer 2011 when the summer tally was $623 million. Fox’s year-to-date foreign take is put at an estimated $2.062 billion.
Warner’s said it registered $862 million in summer box office overseas, of which $574 million is accounted for by Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight Rises, which is the director’s biggest title internationally. (Worldwide, the film’s gross is expected to surpass $1 billion over the weekend.)
While it has yet to report is summer box office total, Disney said it has racked up a total foreign gross this year to date of $1.645 billion. The studio expects to cross the $2 billion mark in late October or early November, which would make 2012 the third consecutive year that Disney has grossed more than $2 billion offshore.
Paramount said it expects to take in $465 million this year in summer box office, a huge drop from summer 2011 when it bagged $1.55 billion offshore. “Last year was a huge summer for the studio,” said Paramount. Summer and year-to-date box office of Sony and Universal are expected this week.
Opening No. 1 in the U.K. ($4.4 million at 701 venues), Sony’s Total Recall generated $13 million on the weekend – just about even with last round -- at 5,282 screens in 74 markets.
The remake starring Colin Farrell of the 1990 Carolco Pictures original starring Schwarzenegger, made its foreign debut on Aug.1, and has collected a foreign gross total of $98.7 million thus far. It ranks No. 4 on the weekend.
Taking the No. 5 spot was Brave, drawing $12.9 million from 51 territories. The Pixar animation title released by Disney 11 weeks ago lifted its offshore cume to $237.6 million while its worldwide tally stands at $469.3 million.
The Bourne Legacy, co-starring Jeremy Renner, Rachel Weisz and Edward Norton, broadened its run by 14 territories, and drew $12.6 million overall from 3,550 locations in 37 territories in all. No. 1 debuts were recorded in Russia, Turkey, Ukraine, Indonesia and United Arab Emirates. This week, the action sequel opens in 10 markets including Italy, Brazil and Korea. Cume stands at $61.3 million.
DreamWorks Animation’s Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted elevated via Paramount its foreign box office total to $388 million thanks to $8.9 million weekend in its 13th round offshore, playing at 2,740 spots in 34 markets.
Universal’s Ted, director Seth MacFarlane’s comedy-fantasy starring Mark Wahlberg, pushed its international gross total to $168.4 million (with 24 territories still to play) thanks to a $7.1 million weekend at 2,223 locations in 34 markets.
Beginning its Latin American push was Fox’s Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, which collected $6 million on the weekend from a total of 2,399 screens in 21 territories, moving its foreign cume to $53.9 million. No. 1 openings were recorded in Mexico ($1.75 million at 1,044 playdates), Colombia and in Panama.
Premiering No. 5 in the U.K. ($3.5 million at 435 spots) was Fox’s sci-fi/comedy costarring Ben Stiller and Vince Vaughn, The Watch, which grossed $5.1 million at 1,590 situations in 20 markets. A U.K. opening delivered $3.5 million from 435 situations. Foreign cume stands at $9. 7 million.
Fox’s Ice Age: Continental Drift elevated its foreign cume to $675.5 million thanks to a $5 million weekend at 3,940 situations in 40 territories. Same distrib’s Prometheus snared $4.5 million on the weekend from 1,753 spots in seven territories, moving its overseas cume to $225.5 million.
Grossing $3.1 million each were Focus Films/Universal’s ParaNorman, which played at 2,400 spots in 20 markets and moved its foreign cume to $17.5 million; and Paramount’s Tad, The Lost Explorer, the latest title in the Tadeo Jones animation series, which opened in Spain only at 326 spots, taking the market’s No. 1 spot.
Source:Hollywoodreporter
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