International Top Five - The Casino Era is Gone
December 20, 2006
There was a new winner on the international box office charts as Eragon claimed top spot with $30.09 million on 6,195 screens in 76 markets. This included first place finishes in nearly three dozen markets, but finished third or worse in half, including some major markets. For instance, the film placed fourth in the U.K. with just $2.26 million on 431 screens. Its best market was Spain where it pulled in $4.2 million at 500 while Germany was close behind with $3.88 million on 781 screens. Other million dollar markets include Mexico, ($2.28 million on 807 screens); Russia, ($2.2 million on 490); Japan, ($2.16 million on 558); Australia, ($1.67 million on 321); and Thailand, ($1.1 million on 220). The film has yet to open in France, Italy, Brazil, and smaller markets, but there's little room to expand beyond this point and while it did claim first place, it was not a dominate display especially considering its competition has been in release for a month.
Casino Royale may have been knocked out of the top spot, but the studio still had reason to celebrate as the film became the highest grossing installment in the franchise on the international scene. Over the weekend the film earned $20.60 million on 6853 screens in 64 markets for a total of $279.92 million, which is nearly $10 million more than Die Another Day earned. Worldwide the film now had $417.42 at the end of the weekend, just $13 million from overtaking Die Another Day on that chart. The film's only opening of note was in Brazil where it took first place with $1.3 million on 361 screens while it has yet to debut in both South Korea and Italy. As for future goals, the film should hit $300 million shortly and $500 million worldwide by the end of its run.
The Holiday climbed into third place with $14.03 million on 2536 screens in 28 markets for a total of $28.20 million. The film opened in third place in both Germany with $2.62 million on 542 screens and Netherlands with $608,000 on 96, (including previews). On the other hand, it flopped in Australia with a mere $379,000 on 178 screens. Holdovers were generally good; for instance, the film climbed to second place in the U.K. with $3.11 million on 431 screens for a two-week total of $11.36 million.
Happy Feet fell to fourth with $12.91 million on 5915 screens for a international total of $58.99 million after a month of release. The film had no major openings this weekend and had some sharp declines in holdovers. The lone exception was the U.K. where it was down just 26% to $3.96 million on 466 screens for a two-week total of $12.99 million. In France is was down 43% to $1.4 million on 830 screens and it was even worse in Spain, (down more than 60% to an estimated $1 million on 470), and in Mexico, (down 52% to $735,000).
The final film in the top five was Arthur & the Invisibles, which dominated its home market of France with $11.2 million on 956 screens. Adding in smaller markets like Belgium, ($423,000 on 70 screens); Switzerland, ($100,000 on 15); and others, and the film made $12.47 million on 1443 screens in 5 markets during its opening weekend.
Filed under: International Box Office, Happy Feet, Casino Royale, Eragon, The Holiday, Arthur et les Minimoys