Estimated haul of $143 mil in 56 territories
Playing on some 12,000 screens in 56 overseas territories, Paramount's "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" ruled the international boxoffice over the weekend with an estimated gross of $143 million.
The fourth edition of Steven Spielberg's Indiana Jones series with Harrison Ford began its graduated foreign rollout Wednesday, and by Sunday had compiled the sixth biggest opening surge ever internationally.
"Crystal Skull" becomes the 13th film in industry history to have grossed more than $100 million in its overseas debut. Weekend total worldwide is $269 million.
Paramount Pictures International proclaimed "Crystal Skull" its biggest opening weekend in its short history. Prior record holder was Spielberg's "War of the Worlds" with Tom Cruise, which nabbed $102.5 million. (Previous titles in the Indiana Jones series were handled by United International Pictures, the ex-partnership of Paramount, Universal and MGM.)
"Crystal Skull" finished No. 1 in all major markets.
Opening figures plus screens counts by market: U.K., $21.5 million over four days from 536 sites; France, $14.1 million from 781 screens; Germany, $12.6 million from 841 locations; Spain, $11.7 million from 731 spots; Korea, $10 million from 619 situations; Australia, $9 million from 263 sites; Russia, $8.4 million from 602 spots; Italy, $6.5 million from 625 screens; Brazil, $5.7 million from 257 locations; Mexico, $4.5 from 426 screens; and Poland, $3.7 million from 80 spots.
The record holder for overseas opening surges -- usually from four to six day periods -- remains last May's "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End," which tallied $251.1 million in its opening six days. Sony's "Spider-Man 3" grabbed $230.5 million in 2007, and ranks second on the biggest international hits list.
Warner's "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007) rolled up an opening gross of $193 million, followed by Sony's "The Da Vinci Code" (2006) ($155 million) and Fox's "Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith" (2005) ($145.5 million).
With the devalued U.S. dollar versus major foreign currencies, "Crystal Skull" will easily overtake the previous international record holder of the Indiana Jones series, 1989's "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade," which grossed $277 million over the course of its foreign run.
Second in the series, 1984's "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom," grossed $153.5 million overseas while 1981's "Raider of the Lost Ark" logged $141.8 million.
A distant No. 2 over the weekend was Disney/Walden Media's "The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian," which nabbed an estimated $18 million in its second weekend at 3,360 screens in just 13 territories. The 11-day international cume stands at $49.1 million. Worldwide, it has grossed $140.2 million.
An exceptionally strong Japan opening provided "Prince Caspian" an estimated $7.7 million from 320 sites for a $24,063 per-screen average. Mexico came up with $3.1 million from 840 screens for a 10-day market cume of $11.6 million.
In Russia, the "Prince Caspian" tally was $2.4 million from 730 situations for an 11-day cume of $10.9 million.
Disney will open the latest in the "Narnia" series this week in six markets: Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Poland, Singapore and Thailand. 2005's "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe" grossed $450 million overseas, and "Prince Caspian" looks on track to exceed that tally.
Tied for No. 3 with 20th Century Fox's "What Happens in Vegas" was the Marvel Comics' production of "Iron Man" from Paramount, which grossed $12.5 million from about 6,000 locations for an international cume of $228 million, propelling the global tally to $480.3 million. "Vegas," which also grabbed $12.5 million on the weekend, played 3,800 screens in 56 markets for a cume of $77.8 million.
Fourth was Sony's romantic comedy "Made of Honor," grossing an estimated $3.4 million from 1,745 screens in 25 territories. International total to date is $25.6 million
No. 5, Warner's "Speed Racer," dropped 58% from its prior weekend to an estimated $3 million from about 3,400 screens in 40 territories. Cume for the Wachowski brothers adaptation of an animated Japanese television series stands at $29.8 million; worldwide, $66 million.
Sony's gambling-themed "21" won $1.8 million from 1,025 screens in 37 markets for a cume of $49.3 million. Warner's "The Bucket List" with Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman came up with $1.2 million from 511 screens in 23 markets for a cume of $75.2 million.
In France, the sole local language debut of note was director Arnaud Desplechin's "Un Conte de Noel" ("A Christmas Tale") with Catherine Deneuve. The BAC release opened seventh in Paris and suburbs, and looks in for an estimated $500,000 overall from about 300 screens. "Bienvenue Chez Les Ch'tis" in its 13th week finished No. 10 in Paris and suburbs, and grossed $600,000 overall from about 500 screens. Market cume for the smash comedy stands at $183 million.
Assorted international cumes: Universal's "Forgetting Sarah Marshall," $23.2 million; New Line's "The Golden Compass," $294 million; Fox's "Dr. Seuss' Horton Hears A Who!," $138 million;"Summit/Universal's "Nim's Island," $27 million; Fox's "Street Kings," $30.2 million; New Line's "Semi-Pro," $9.7 million; Universal's ‘Definitely, Maybe," $20.7 million; Fox's "Shutter," $16.5 million; and Focus Features/Universal's "The Other Boleyn Girl," $37 million.
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