"Phoenix" still rising at overseas box office
LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" mopped up on the international circuit for the second consecutive weekend, towering over the competition with an estimated box office of $100.8 million from more than 13,000 screens in 58 markets.
Distributor Warner Bros. International estimated that about 14 million moviegoers passed through the overseas turnstiles during the weekend, hoisting the 12-day foreign gross for the fifth episode in the fantasy franchise to a mighty $351.3 million, $143.8 million more than the title's North American gross.
Strong holdover action and three powerful No. 1 market bows propelled "Phoenix" to several records for the "Harry Potter" series. In Japan, the opening-weekend estimate is $18.6 million from 951 screens, eclipsing all other market openings for the series.
In Russia, the weekend tally is $7 million from 528 situations, the distributor's biggest opening day there ever, WBI said. In Israel, the per-screen average was nearly $20,000 as "Phoenix" opened with $655,000 from 33 screens. Again, it was the biggest market opening of any title in the franchise and the fourth-biggest market opening of all time.
Holdover action remained strong, particularly in the U.K., where "Phoenix" generated an estimated $14.2 million in its second weekend at 1,390 sites for a market cume of $61.1 million.
The only substantial newcomer overseas is the weekend's No. 5 title, New Line Cinema's "Hairspray," which made its overseas debut in just one market, the U.K. The John Waters-inspired musical comedy grossed an estimated $4 million from 350 screens, finishing No. 2 in the territory behind "Phoenix." Early "Hairspray" worldwide cume stands at $31.8 million.
'TRANSFORMERS' STILL IN ACTION
In the weekend's No. 2 spot is DreamWorks/Paramount Pictures International's "Transformers," which played at 4,315 screens in 42 markets for an estimated $34 million, down just $2 million from the previous weekend (when it played in 32 territories). Its overseas total stands at $192 million. Worldwide, its tally is $455 million.
The Michael Bay-directed action title opened in 10 new markets, finishing No. 1 in Mexico (an estimated $5.5 million from 413 screens), Colombia, Chile, Panama, Peru, Venezuela and South Africa.
In the third spot overall is another strong hold, 20th Century Fox International's "Die Hard 4" (known domestically as "Live Free or Die Hard"), which nabbed an estimated $23 million from 5,500 screens in 51 markets. Its international cume stands at $155.7 million.
In its Korea opening, "Die Hard" finished in first place, opening with an estimated $10.9 million over six days from 549 locations. The July 17 bow in the market produced Fox's biggest single-day market opening ever. So far, the Bruce Willis action title's biggest overseas market is Japan, with a cume of $24.2 million, followed by the U.K. at $22.5 million.
DreamWorks/PPI's "Shrek the Third" finished fourth during the weekend, grossing an estimated $10.6 million from 4,544 screens in 54 markets. Its overseas cume is a mighty $381.4 million.
Disney/Pixar's "Ratatouille" pushed its overseas total to $37.2 million ($202.8 million worldwide) with an estimated $3.4 million for the weekend at 1,972 screens in 14 markets.
Universal's "Knocked Up" bowed in New Zealand (No. 3 with an estimated $285,000 from 46 screens) and grossed $1.5 million from 224 sites in its third Australia weekend. The cume from the two territories is $9.3 million.
Thanks to an estimated $1.8 million weekend at 3,587 screens in 45 markets, "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End" pushed its overseas cume to $639.4 million, just $1.7 million shy of the international total grossed by the biggest of the three "Pirates" titles, 2006's "Dead Man's Chest."
Fox's "Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer" grossed an estimated $1.5 million for the weekend from 2,200 screens in 34 markets, hoisting its overseas cume to $107.8 million.
Reuters/Hollywood Reporter
