International Top Five - Escape Greater than Original
January 7, 2009
Not only did Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa remained in first place for the third weekend in a row, and four in total, the film also managed to surpass the international total of its predecessor. It was aided by a record-breaking first place opening in Poland where the film opened with $3.22 million on 130 screens over the weekend for a total of $4.02 million. Granted, films like this tend to do very well in this market, but this is still a pleasant surprise. It was not as impressive in China with $2.43 million on 600 screens earning third place there. Holdovers were led by France, where the film added $4.50 million on 820 screens over the weekend and $38.75 million in total. Meanwhile in Italy, the film earned $3.86 million on 571 screens for a total of $29.38 million. Overall it made $31.96 million over the weekend on 6290 screens in 43 market and it now has $339.88 million internationally and $516.90 million Worldwide.
Bedtime Stories climbed into second place with $21.57 million on 3378 screens in 23 markets for a total of $42.42 million. The film opened in first place in Mexico with $2.41 million on 563 screens over the weekend and a total of $3.28 million. It also pulled in an estimated $3.6 million on 350 screens in Russia and $1.2 million on 20 in Taiwan. In all three markets, the film set records for the best opening for an Adam Sandler film. Additionally, it added $2.70 million on 459 screens over the weekend in the U.K. for a total of $8.24 million after two, and $2.29 million on 520 screens in Germany for a total of $6.57 million, also after two.
A lack of new openings resulted in Australia slipping to third place by the narrowest of narrow margins earning $21.43 million on 5241 screens in 51 markets for a total of $83.57 million. This is closing in on twice what the film made domestically, and its worldwide total will reach $150 million, or more, which should be enough to show a profit sometime during the film's initial push on the home market.
As expected, Bolt landed in the top five this weekend, as it pulled in $11.51 million on 1797 screens in 26 markets for a total of $64.24 million. The film opened in third place in South Korea with $1.21 million on 343 screens over the weekend and $2.16 million in total, while it had to settle for fourth place in Australia with $1.77 million on 293 screens. This was not as much as I was expecting, but on the other hand, the film grew during its second weekend in China to $2.05 million on 135 screens for a total of $3.61 million.
Yes Man was able to sneak into fifth place with $11.45 million on 1775 screens in 20 markets for a total of $32.68 million. This includes a first place, $2.97 million opening on 256 screens in Australia, while it added $3.23 million on 434 screens in the U.K. for a total of $9.70 million in that market after two weeks of release. This film should be able to cross $100 million domestically, and it will be interesting to see if it can match that feat internationally.
Filed under: International Box Office, Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa, Bolt, Bedtime Stories, Yes Man, Australia