"Horton" leads foreign box office

By Frank Segers

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - The comedy "Bienvenue chez les Ch'tis," the French film industry's biggest-ever hit, narrowly claimed the No. 1 spot internationally during the weekend as Hollywood front-runners -- "10,000 BC" and "Dr. Seuss' Horton Hears A Who!" -- sagged in a generally somnolent post-Easter session overseas.

"Bienvenue," a comedy of manners about a postal worker who is transferred to a small northern village where the locals speak an incomprehensible dialect, earned an estimated $14.7 million during its fifth consecutive weekend as the No. 1 title in France.

The weekend total is likely to float higher since estimates from the film's runs in French-speaking Switzerland and Belgium were not available Sunday. The film has grossed an estimated $152 million to date, largely from just its home territory.

"Horton" finished No. 2 for the weekend with an estimated $13.2 million from 52 markets in its third frame. Its foreign total is $77 million. 10,000 BC" came in at No. 3 with $12 million from 62 territories, raising its overseas total to $142.5 million.

"The Spiderwick Chronicles" finished at No. 4 with $8.1 million from 52 territories; its foreign total rose to $48.1 million. "Step Up 2 The Streets" rounded out the top five with $7 million from 27 markets for an international total of $51.7 million.

Other foreign totals: "27 Dresses," $6.1 million; "Jumper," $118.3 million; "Vantage Point," $61.2 million; "The Game Plan," $38.7 million; "Meet the Spartans," $31.9 million; "Juno," $58.8 million; "The Other Boleyn Girl," $24.5 million; "No Country for Old Men," $78.3 million; and "There Will Be Blood," $31.7 million.

Thanks to a $2.1 million weekend in Japan, where it has been the top draw for three weekends, Disney's "Enchanted" rose to $201.8 million overseas -- the 26th film in Disney history to pass the $200 million mark internationally.

Reuters/Hollywood Reporter