Calm Before the Storm

May 22, 2005

It was another slow weekend for international details as few studios were brave enough, or foolish enough to try and squeeze in a release between Kingdom of Heaven and Revenge of the Sith. It was hard to find many films that earned more than $1 million over the weekend and most of the activity came from smaller releases in midlevel markets. Next weekend there could be even fewer details as Revenge of the Sith should dominate every market, but after that the summer blockbuster season should be in full swing and things should pick up.

• The Japanese film, Negotiator: Bayside Shakedown 3, dropped 25% to $3,969,987, which was not only the best week-to-week drop-off in the top ten, but easily enough to beat Kingdom of Heaven for top spot in the market. In fact, the film's performance in Japan was enough for second place on the international charts. The film has brought in $12,913,485 in its two weeks in Japan with Revenge of the Sith not opening in the market till early July, the film should become of the biggest hits of the year.
• Tears of Blood was nearly flat during its second weekend in South Korea bringing in $2,943,229 for a two week total of $10,823,024, $3 million better than Kingdom of Heaven has managed in the same time.
• Monster-In-Law just missed first place in the U.K. with $2.5 million on 380 screens. On the other hand, the film failed to make much of an impact in Israel with just $75,000.
• Unleashed finished second in Germany with $1,671,959 during its opening week of release. It also had a second place opening in Hong Kong with $335,000, also for the week. So far the film has earned just $7.5 million during its international run and will need a lot of help to recover its $43 million production budget.
• Shall We Dance? cracked $100 million during the midweek and now sits at $102.8 million. Over the weekend the film added $935,304 in Japan for a $16,086,618 total in the market and $843,178 in France for a $2,554,576 total in the market. The film also finished second in Belgium, but box office numbers for the market were unavailable.
• A Lot Like Love opened in Russia with a mediocre $250,000, which was still strong enough for a distant second place. The film earned an equally disappointing $230,000 in Mexico but did rather well in Poland with $80,000. It was as all part of its $1.1 million international debut weekend.
• Constantine won't be on the charts much longer, it only has a real box office presence in one market, Japan, where it's falling fast. This weekend it fell 37% to $823,464; that gives it $23,132,010 in the market, $151.3 million internationally and $226.7 million worldwide.
• Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events hit a major milestone as it crossed $200 million worldwide during the midweek and now sits at $201 million. Japan is the only market left, but the film is struggling somewhat with just $772,702 this weekend for a total of $5,944,381.
• House of Wax fell just 32% during its second weekend in Taiwan to $575,000 and a nearly equally impressive 38% in Singapore to $140,000.
• Hostage is quickly slipping off the charts in France falling 40% to $671,554 for the weekend and $3,637,324 during its run. The film has earned an estimated $25 million internationally with very few significant markets left to open in.
• In Good Company just missed the top ten in its debut in France with $380,000 on just 130 screens. It also made a combined $300,000 in Australia and New Zealand but is still looking for a big, break out performance.
• The Wedding Date had a bit of good news finishing in third place during its debut in Holland with $250,000, (including previews.) The film also added $480,000 during its fourth weekend in the U.K. for $6.5 million total in the market.
The Upside of Anger managed third place in its debut in Australia despite playing on only 140 screens. The film earned $580,000 over the weekend or $667,000 if you including previews.
• Million Dollar Baby added $570,916 to its nearly $20 million box office in France crossing $200 million worldwide along the way. The film has yet to open in Japan and should add to its $102.5 million international total when it does on the 28th of May.
• As expected, The Final Cut was nearly able to top its total domestic run during its first weekend of release in Italy taking in $502,945 and finishing in second place.
• Blade: Trinity fell a steep 46% during its second weekend in Japan to $484,206 for the weekend and $1,996,969 in total.
• Hide & Seek may have made its last appearance on this list with $431,072 over the weekend in Japan, which lifted its total in the market to $8,796,989 for a $70.4 million international total.
• The Jacket had a series of disappointing openings in the U.K. (eighth place at $325,000) Norway, (missing the top ten with $10,000) and Poland, (third place with $75,000.)
• Modigliani opened day and date in Italy finishing in fourth place with $377,081 on 238 screens. It's per screen average of $1,584 wasn't strong by any stretch of the imagination, but overall it was a much better performance than it managed here.
• Coach Carter managed just $283,654 during its debut in South Korea, ($335,166 if you include previews.) So far the film has only managed $5 million internationally, half of that coming from the U.K.
• Seed of Chucky barely managed a top ten placing in its debut in the U.K. with $200,000 on 92 screens.
• Kinsey cracked the top ten in its debut in South Korea with $198,959. Internationally the film has managed just $5 million, about hald of what it earned domestically.
• Ong-Bak struggled in another market making just $180,000 during its opening weekend in the U.K.
• I ♥ Huckabees flopped it in debut in Germany missing the top ten with just $178,374 during the week.
• Boogeyman missed the top ten in Australia opening with just $82,500 on just 40 screens.
• White Noise finished a distant third place in its debut in New Zealand with just $70,000.
• No one expected a film about American High School football would be an easy sell internationally, but Friday Night Lights's run so far has been one bomb after another. This week it opened in the U.K. with just $55,000 on 50 screens.
• Garden State opened in both Chile and Argentina the weekend before last with a combined $25,000 on 9 screens, but with just $7.1 million internationally the film will not be able to match its domestic total.

Filed under: International Box Office, Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events, Million Dollar Baby, Monster-in-Law, Constantine, Coach Carter, Friday Night Lights, Shall We Dance?, White Noise, Blade: Trinity, Hide and Seek, Boogeyman, In Good Company, Hostage, House of Wax, The Wedding Date, Garden State, Danny the Dog, A Lot Like Love, The Upside of Anger, Seed of Chucky, I Heart Huckabees, Kinsey, The Jacket, Ong-Bak, The Final Cut, Modigliani