"Knight" closes in on "Hancock" at foreign box office

By Hy Hollinger

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - "The Dark Knight," the sequel to Christopher Nolan's 2005 "Batman Begins," showed over the weekend that a granddaddy among comic book superheroes can stand up to recent upstarts, posting a lusty $41.3 million from 4,520 screens in only 20 foreign markets.

The Caped Crusader's opening represents a major coup for the Warner Bros./DC Comics franchise in the international market. The opening take from a limited number of territories made the film a close second to non-comic book superhero "Hancock," which topped the overseas market for a third weekend with $45.2 million from 8,510 screens in 71 markets. At the same time, early signs indicate that Batman might improve his international appeal this time after languishing behind domestic earnings in four of the five previous movie outings for the character. Only 1997's "Batman & Robin" earned more internationally.

"Dark Knight" hits Italy, Holland and the U.K. this coming weekend and is booked for August bows in Korea, Japan, Spain, France and Germany.

The overseas box office enjoyed another strong summer weekend, with a diverse batch of high-profile films attracting audiences of all ages. Favorites included "Mamma Mia!" ($27.6 million), "Kung Fu Panda" ($26.1 million), "WALL-E" ($13.6 million) and "Wanted" ($10.5 million).

Australia led "Dark Knight's" welcoming committee with an outstanding $13.5 million for five days from 473 screens, hailed by Warners as the fifth-highest opening in the market for the studio and the market's biggest opening weekend ever for a superhero film. Mexico debuted to $6.6 million from 1,433 screens, the 11th-biggest opening in the market; and Brazil took in $4.3 million from 548 screens for the country's biggest weekend opening of the year.

"Hancock" opened at No. 1 in Spain with $9.2 million from 575 screens, 8 percent better than "Spider-Man 3" and 60 percent better than the recent Will Smith hit "I Am Legend."

Feel-good musical "Mamma Mia!" reached an international gross of $73.3 million after a $27.6 million weekend on 2,384 screens in 21 countries. Universal is reporting strong holdovers and repeat business thanks to word-of-mouth for the film adaptation of the hit stage musical.

The Paramount/DreamWorks animated summer hit "Kung Fu Panda" reached a stately $270.1 million as it earned $26.1 million from 5,358 screen in 38 markets.

Another heralded animated offering, Disney/Pixar's "WALL-E," pulled in $13.6 million from 2,639 screens in 17 markets for a total to date of $52.1 million, building gradually overseas until its December opening in Japan.

Disney's family-friendly "The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian" raised its cumulative take to $228.6 million as it registered $6.2 million from 2,888 screens in 33 countries.

Universal's Angelina Jolie-starring action feature "Wanted" is hovering around the $100 million mark, tallying $10.5 million from 2,465 screens in 37 territories. At the same time, "Hellboy II: The Golden Army" grossed $8.5 million from 1,321 dates in nine territories for an international total of $15.4 million.

New Line's 3-D offering "Journey to the Center of the Earth" unearthed $6.5 million from 11 markets to lift its overseas take to $12.7 million.

Reuters/Hollywood Reporter