International Top Five - Pirates Close in on $1 Billion
September 6, 2006
Last weekend I assumed Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest's time on top of the international charts was over. It had no new openings, the competition was getting tighter and it just seemed like its time was done. However, when the numbers came in the film easily won the weekend race as it was the only film able to top $10 million over the weekend. The Pirate pic pulled in $11.99 million on 5378 screens in 43 markets for an international total of $581.55 million while its worldwide was $994.43 million as of Sunday. The film should become only the third film to reach $1 billion worldwide and could do so as early as Thursday. After that there are a few milestones the film will be aiming for like $600 million internationally, which it should have no trouble doing especially with the film opening in Italy on the 15th.
The film that was supposed to knock Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest out of top spot was Miami Vice, but the film wasn't even able to finish first during its debut in Japan. Over the weekend the film added $7.63 million on 2714 screens in 38 markets for an international total of $64.29 million, which puts it ahead of its domestic total. In Japan the film finish second in a close race with local hit, Gedo senki, a.k.a. Tales From Earthsea. Its $1.69 million on 291 screens was less than half of the $3.90 million Michael Mann's previous film opened with back 2004 and a big reason why it remained in second place on the international charts. The film opens in Spain, Turkey, and other markets this weekend, and it could finally see its way to number one, but it will have tough competition from our next film.
Cars added $7.13 million on 2842 screens in 31 markets for a total of $172.83 million internationally. The film finished its expansion into Scandinavia with first place openings in Sweden, ($1.01 million on 182), and Denmark, ($800,000 on 107), while it remained in first place in Norway, ($695,000 on 120 for a $1.90 million total), and Finland, ($304,000 on 69 for a $728,000 total). Meanwhile, the film slipped to second place in Italy by the narrowest of narrow margins as is added $2.15 million on 637 screens to its two-week total of $9.66 million. This weekend the film opens in Germany and other German-speaking markets and that could be enough for it to win the box office race.
Monster House climbed a spot to fourth with $5.93 million on 2968 screens in 37 markets for a total of $38.09 million. Its biggest opening of the weekend came in Spain where it made $1.30 million on 350 screens, good enough for third place. The film also opened in Brazil pulling in $598,000 on 178 screens.
The final film in the top five was Alatriste, a rousing film set in 17th century Spain. The film opened in its native market over the weekend easily capturing first place with $5.88 million on 447 screens, which was more than the rest of the top five combined. While it should perform better in its home market than practically anywhere else, it should still be able to match its 24 million Euro production budget before its North American release date (currently December 22nd). And with Viggo Mortensen starring in it, it should have a strong showing here as well.
Filed under: International Box Office, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest, Cars, Monster House, Miami Vice