Samurai and King Battle Lasts Another Week

February 3, 2004

Strong holdovers and a half a dozen smaller openings kept The Last Samurai in first place on the international scene for the third weekend in a row. This week it took in another $23.3 million to raise its total to nearly $250 million internationally. Ken Watanabe's Oscar nomination helped the film's Japanese take rise by 22% from last weekend, and is now just shy of $100 million in that nation.

It was another close second place for Lord of the Rings: Return of the King earning $20.7 million. Its international total jumped to $572.7, beating Fellowship of the Ring sometime mid-week. It should beat The Two Towers to hit fourth place all-time early next weekend, if not sooner. Worldwide, the film crossed $900 million and while it's currently in 6th place all-time, it should be in third place by before the weekend starts.

Mona Lisa Smile continues to perform well, adding another $7.1 million and a third place finish this weekend. At this rate, it should easily surpass its domestic take, but that's not saying much.

A number one opening in France helped Brother Bear into fourth place. $4.6 million of its $6.3 million weekend total came from that one opening. Like the previous film, Brother Bear's international run should surpass its disappointing domestic total.

Rounding out the top five was The Haunted Mansion. It earned $6.1 million over the weekend, mostly thanks to personal best for Eddie Murphy in Spain and Mexico.


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Source: Variety

Filed under: International Box Office, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, The Last Samurai, Brother Bear, The Haunted Mansion, Mona Lisa Smile