International Top Five - Simpsons Stave Off Potter
August 15, 2007
For the third weekend in a row, The Simpsons Movie topped the charts, but it was a close race as the TV adaptation pulled in $24.12 million on 6,629 screens in 55 markets for a total of $232.02 million, just beating Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, which clocked in with $23.87 million.
The Simpsons' nearly 50% drop-off can be explained by they lack of new openings and the film is still performing strongly in several major markets, including the U.K. where it added $4.39 million on 506 screens to its running tally of $60.41 million.
Meanwhile in Mexico, the film was down 64% during its second weekend of release, although that's typical of the film's performance so far and it was still able to earn first place with $1.95 million on 986 screens for a total of $11.10 million so far.
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix just missed first place with $23.87 million on 7514 screens in 61 markets for a total of $548.40 million. The big news this week was the film's opening in China where it earned $5.48 million, this despite the Chinese government limiting the number of screens to around 450. (This was done as local productions have proven a tough sell this year and international competition as been blamed for this.) The only other opening this weekend was in Turkey where the film made $1.27 million on 303 screens. Add in stronger holds than expected, (the film was down just 28% in the U.K. to $2.15 million for the weekend and $89.21 million in total), and $600 million internationally is the new target while $900 million worldwide suddenly becomes a lot more realistic.
It was a milestone weekend for Ratatouille as it remained in third place despite no major openings. Even more impressive, it fell just 27% to $18.69 million on 5755 screens in 22 markets for a total of $119.27 million. Its biggest market was France where it added $9.00 million on 723 screens for a total of $25.53 million, which is ahead of Finding Nemo's pace. Granted, I don't think it will maintain that lead and the film is certainly benefiting from being set in Paris, but this is still a fantastic performance. It didn't hold as well in Spain but it still added $2.18 million on 523 screens for a two-week total of $9.13 million. Overall the film appears to be heading toward $500 million worldwide, which would be a slight increase from Cars' performance and more than enough to ensure a profit before it hits the home market.
The Transformers also reached a milestone since last week hitting $300 million before the weekend while adding $16.28 million on 5195 screens in 50 markets for a total of $329.41 million internationally. The film had no new openings this weekend, but did add $3.38 million on 618 screens in Japan for a total of $13.53 million there and $2.57 million on 769 screens in Germany for a total of $10.23 million there. The U.K. fit nicely in-between those figures adding $2.80 million on 464 screens for a total of $36.39 million. Worldwide the film also hit a milestone becoming only the 36th film to reach $600 million, but with no more major markets left to open in, that's the last milestone for this movie.
Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer returned to the charts with $11.96 million on 1900 screens in 9 markets for a total of $122.94 million after two months of release. This weekend the film finished 1-2-3 in a trio of major markets. Its first place opening came in Spain where it managed $3.46 million on 506 screens while in placed second in France with $4.80 million on 750 screens. Meanwhile, it debuted in third place in South Korea with $2.03 million on 402 screens over the weekend and $2.76 million in total. The film is close to matching its domestic total while topping $250 million worldwide and with a few more markets left to open in, it should earn enough to guarantee a profit during its initial push into the home market.
Filed under: International Box Office, Transformers, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Ratatouille, The Simpsons Movie, Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer