Overseas Box Office Sampling
Posted by Ethan on Tuesday, May 18, 2010 in Box Office Updates • Weekend • Top charts • (0) Comments • Permalink •
“Robin Hood” launched internationally with $75M this weekend. Add on its $36M US debut, and the bow-and-arrow flick pulled in $111M. Universal is counting on “Robin Hood” to make the bulk of its money overseas, and the film has delivered #1 openings around the globe.
In France, the Ridley Scott-Russell Crowe adventure dominated with 1M admissions, more than double the second place film “Camping 2.” That film, a sequel to the local smash comedy “Camping,” is top dog in the French marketplace right now with a towering 3.4M admissions from one month in release. Other new releases this weekend included “Nightmare on Elm Street” and “Date Night,” which were separated by a mere 9,200 admissions. “How to Train Your Dragon,” which has shown enviable box office stamina in the US, also displayed legs overseas and climbed 10% in its seventh week.
“Robin Hood” also claimed the top spot in European countries Belgium, Denmark, Czech Republic, Finland, Switzerland, Croatia, Serbia, Lithuania, and the Netherlands. In Italy, “Robin Hood” collected €4.2M causing “Iron Man 2” to sink 52%. The second-best per-theater average went to local production “Draquita.” “The Back-Up Plan” debuted in third place with a mild €36K. “Furry Vengeance,” which has not found an audience in North America, had the smallest drop in the top ten, down 24%.
Grosses Down Under were robust thanks to homegrown star Russell Crowe. “Robin Hood” claimed the top spot in New Zealand with NZ$648,686 and an excellent NZ$9,540 per screen. The movie had some competition from “Boy,” a New Zealand drama that took Best Feature at the Berlin Film Festival. In its eighth weekend, “Boy” took runner-up and dipped only 15%. Its total sits at NZ$6.9M, or almost $5M in US currency. Despite its very American subject matter, “The Blind Side” continued to impress. In week two, it was down 23% and still banking NZ$5,300 per theater, second best behind “Robin Hood.”
In Hong Kong, where “Robin Hood” did not open, “Iron Man 2” got beat out by the similarly-titled “IP Man 2,” a kung fu actioner about Wing Chun master Ip Man who went on to train Bruce Lee. Both films opened last week, but in week two "Iron Man 2" sank 48%, and homegrown action flick “IP Man 2” held steady with a 22% decline. Of the four films that debuted in Hong Kong this weekend, “Dear John” fared the strongest with HK$822,360, followed by “The Crazies” (HK$757,112), “Mother and Child” (HK$194,040), and Swedish 2008 release “Let the Right One In” (HK$87,292), which had the strongest per-theater tally of the quartet. “Toy Story 2” in 3D had by far the sharpest drop, plummeting 85%.
--Philip Siegel