Village's Population Grows

September 29, 2004

For the fifth week in a row The Village finished in first place with $14.0 million on 4000 screens in 38 markets. The biggest opening of the week was $5.2 million in Spain, but suffered another collapse in Mexico dropping 55% during its second weekend there. Its international total hit $100 million over the weekend, the fifth Disney film to do so this year, and the 17th overall.

Despite no major openings The Terminal climbed to second place on the charts this week with $8.3 million. Strong holdovers are the keys to this film's success with the 29% drop-off in France a good example of that. So far the film has earned $55 million and it should have no trouble beating its domestic total internationally.

The Bourne Supremacy's weekly take was almost flat as it took in $6.9 million on 2200 screens in 25 markets. However, do to weakness overall it was able to climb two spots on the chart. The film took in $1.6 million in its debut in Italy, which was well above the original's performance there, but a distant second to Spider-Man 2's second weekend there. The spy thriller now sits at $64 million internationally with many more markets yet to come.

Helped by a second place opening in Germany, Collateral finished in fourth place with $5.8 million in 12 markets. So far the film has pulled in $25 million internationally.

Again making the top five is the surprise hit, Garfield, which earned $5.5 million and pushed its international total to $99.8 million. Highlights include a $925 thousand opening in Italy, which is not bad considering the target demographic and $430 thousand in South Africa, which was good enough for top spot. With better than expected legs in many markets, including 9 weeks in the top 10 in the U.K., this live-action cartoon should see solid weekly numbers for a few more weeks.

Other highlights on the international scene include:

• The Adolf Hitler Biopic earned $5 million during its sophomore stint raising its box office to $11.2 million in the market.
• After a record breaking opening in Italy last weekend, Spider-Man 2 saw its weekly take slashed in half to $4.9 million. That meant it finished just shy of the $400 million mark internationally with $399 million.
• Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story opened in France, Australia and Norway to mixed results. It looks like this film will only find success in English speaking markets, and limited success at that. This week the film made $4.8 million to raise its international total to $30 million.
• I, Robot took in $3.2 million in Japan this past weekend and $4.3 million overall. It second weekend drop-off was 33%, which is high for the market, but still enough for a first place finish. It's international haul is now up to $169 million.
• Wimbledon opened in first place in the U.K. with $3.1 million, which is not a particularly strong start for the film in what should be its biggest single market. The film also opened in Sweden with a very poor $100,000.
• Resident Evil: Apocalypse opened in Germany, but couldn't unseat local movie, The Downfall. Overall the film made $2.8 million to push its international box office to $20.7 million and its worldwide box office to $64.5 million, higher than the original earned in total.
• Shark Tale opened in two markets ahead of its domestic release this week. In Australia it made $2.4 million, (including previews) and $600,000 in New Zealand, (also including previews.) In both markets the film finished first but was very front-loaded.
• A Cinderella Story opened in fifth place in Australia with $1 million, including previews. That's not a bad result given the high level of direct competition the film faced, (four of the top five films were aimed at kids.) This helped push its weekend haul to $2.1 million and a $10.1 million international total.
• Catwoman continues its international run taking in $2 million this week, which raising its total to $30.8 million.
• Shrek 2 is in a holding pattern waiting for its December debut in Italy. This week it managed to add another $1.8 million to its $434.7 million total.
• Hero finally opened in the U.K. over the weekend taking in $1.8 million and a third place finish. Its international total now sits at $106.4 million with several strong markets ahead.
• The German animated film, Laura's Stern, opened in its home country over the weekend earning $1.6 million.
• 13 Going on 30 earned $1.5 million, a big chunk of that coming from Germany. The film has earned $35 million internationally and $92 million worldwide.
• The Princess Diaries 2 took in $1.1 million in Australian for the week.
• Van Helsing continues its pursuit of $300 million worldwide currently sitting at $297.7 so far. But with just $1 million this weekend and no new markets to open it will probably fall short.
• Hellboy also took in $1 million over the weekend and now sits at $30.4 million internationally.
• Cellular stumbled in its U.K. debut bringing in a mere $750,000.
• The Punisher performance in the U.K. was punishing. It could only manage a $330 thousand, 8th place opening.
• Exorcist: The Beginning had another second place opening, this time in Taiwan with $110 thousand.

Source: Variety

Filed under: International Box Office, Shrek 2, Spider-Man 2, The Bourne Supremacy, Shark Tale, I, Robot, Van Helsing, Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story, The Village, Collateral, The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement, The Terminal, Garfield: The Movie, Hellboy, A Cinderella Story, Resident Evil: Apocalypse, Exorcist: The Beginning, The Punisher, Cellular, Wimbledon, 13 Going On 30