Few Films Open ahead of War's Worldwide Debut

July 3, 2005

Summer blockbusters continue to squeeze out the competition, so much so that the only real news is about such blockbusters. For instance, War of the Worlds managed $13.35 million during its first day of release on the international scene, which is good, but below expectations. On the other hand, Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith broke another record earning $4.96 million during its preview in Japan.

• Les Poupees Russes, a.k.a., The Russian Dolls, slipped to second place at the French box office but still pulled in an impressive $3 million. The film also opened in Belgium over the weekend placing fifth, (box office numbers are unavailable.)
• Sahara opened in third place in South Korea with $1.22 million over the weekend and $1.43 million since its midweek debut.
• A Lot Like Love opened in a number of markets over the weekend, including a couple of major ones, but failed to make a real impact in any of them. Its biggest opening in terms of raw dollars was the U.K. where the film finished fifth place with $760,000 while the film finished fourth in Germany with just $370,000.
• Kung Fu Hustle opened in the U.K. this weekend with just $855,000 on 276 screens and in Russia the film brought in $220,000. While it held onto tenth spot in France with $300,000.
• Herbie: Fully Loaded made its international debut in Australia with a $1.3 million, fourth place debut on 286 screens in Australia. That's just slightly better than its domestic opening, relatively speaking. Meanwhile, the news was much, much worse in New Zealand where the film finished seventh with just $35,000 on 44 screens.
• Rules of Dating fell to fifth place in its native South Korea adding $1.09 million to its $9.52 million running tally.
• Monster-In-Law opened in fifth place in France with $1.0 million on 341 screens while it did marginally better in New Zealand finishing with $130,000 on 42 screens. Internationally the film has brought in $25 million, about a third of that coming from the U.K. alone.
• Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy again held up better than most of the competition in Germany falling just 31% to $675,00 for a $5.1 million 3 week total in the market, rising to second place for the weekend. The film is still in the top ten in Russia, ($115,000 for a $880,000 running tally) and other smaller markets but the bulk of its international box office has come from the U.K. where the film has earned nearly $20 million.
• The Interpreter was flat this weekend in France adding $800,000 to its $4.0 million total in the market. That gives the film $75.5 million internationally, a few million more than it earned domestically.
• The Amityville Horror debuted in France with a tepid $800,000 on 244 screens, barely enough for sixth place. Internationally the film now has $17.5 million, nearly half of that coming from the U.K.
• The Longest Yard added another $585,000 in Australia plus an additional $100,000 from Mexico for a total of $9.4 million in those two markets.
• It was a strong week in France as holidays helped boost the overall market. Most films were relatively flat during the weekend with The Pacifier adding another $600,000 to is $3.4 million haul there.
• Unleashed opened in eighth place in Holland with $85,000 on 25 screens. It performed much better in Taiwan finishing with $135,000 on 15 screens, but it's best market this weekend was Spain where the film added $250,000 to is $2.5 million total there.
• It has become pretty common for Bollywood films to open day-and-date here, in the U.K. and Australia. Paheli was the latest such film. In the U.K. the film earned $356,000 on 42 screens while in Australia the box office was less spectacular at $44,000 on 9 screens.
• Racing Stripes debuted in Spain with $300,000 on 300 screens for the worst per screen average in the top ten.
• Texas Chainsaw Massacre saw its weekly take sliced in half in South Korea landing at sixth place with $260,000.
• Guess Who opened in Russia with $240,000 on 72 screens and has made $16.9 million internationally.
• opened in the top ten in Germany with $150,000 on just 58 screens giving the film the second best per screen average in the top market.
• Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants opened in Australia, kind of; it didn't open nation wide, only regionally. Even so, the film struggled with an $128,000, eighth place finish on 56 screens.
• The Statement had the best per screen average in Germany with $125,000 on just 47 screens.
• Pooh's Heffalump Movie expanded to the rest of Australia over the weekend and that allowed the film to climb into the top ten with $80,000 on 100 screens. Overall, the film has not done particularly well earning about $31.5 million internationally, but film's like this are meant to pay for themselves on the home market.
• The Notebook finally opened in Italy, but it looks like the wait hurt the films chances as it managed just $71,500 on 78 screens.
• The Upside of Anger opened in semi-limited release in the Netherlands finishing in 11th place with $37,500 including previews.
• My Summer of Love opened in limited release in Australia with $17,000 on 16 screens.

Filed under: International Box Office, Star Wars Ep. III: Revenge of the Sith, War of the Worlds, The Longest Yard, The Pacifier, Monster-in-Law, The Notebook, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The Interpreter, Guess Who, Sahara, Herbie: Fully Loaded, The Amityville Horror, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Racing Stripes, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, Danny the Dog, A Lot Like Love, The Upside of Anger, Pooh's Heffalump Movie, Kung Fu Hustle, My Summer of Love, The Statement