Ok, ‘The Happening’ is a terrible movie, but taking the number one spot overseas is quite an accomplishment. M. Night Shyamalan’s movie made $32.1 million at 5,714 screens in 88 territories. That’s about $5,600 per screen. ‘The Incredible Hulk’ came in second, but managed to make almost $10,000 per screen at 38 markets.

The $32.1 million comes after Shyamalan’s awful box office result of ‘Lady in the Water’ in 2006. The fantasy only made $30 million overseas during its lifetime. It’s clear Fox’ aggressive marketing campaign paid off. The trailer with falling bodies gave people high hopes for his new thriller. It’s too bad this is one of those ‘the best is in the trailer’ movies and most will leave disappointed.

Europe was leading the ticket sales for ‘The Happening.’ France grossed a good $4.6 million, followed by Spain with $3.8 million. The U.K. brought in $3.4 million and several other countries ended the weekend with around $2 million.

Continue reading It’s Happening around the world, a look at the overseas box office

It’s the ultimate box office battle. The special effects male type driven ‘Indiana Jones 4′ against the pink chick flick ‘Sex and the City.’ Last weekend ‘Sex’ won, but this weekend Indy managed to beat ‘Sex and the City’ in the US. Internationally? Not so much. As in the US this weekend, it was a close call. ‘Sex’ grossed an estimated $38.1 million, while ‘Indiana Jones’ couldn’t get past $36 mill. But remember, ‘Sex and the City’ has yet to launch in some territories. Sex’ box office result came from 25 territories, while Indy’s came from 60.

‘Sex and the City’ now stand at $91.3 million overseas and will likely pass $200 million worldwide this Monday. It is turning out to be one of the most successful female driven movies of all time. Meanwhile, ‘Indiana Jones 4′ has an overseas total of $326 million, making a worldwide total of $580 million. It has now passed ‘Iron Man’ as the most successful movie of 2008 worldwide.

Continue reading ‘Indiana Jones 4′ can’t beat ‘Sex’ overseas

Taking a look at the overseas box office, we see ‘The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian’ doing well in its current territories. But Caspian’s rollout is spanning over two months, which seems old-fashioned for such a big movie.

Paramount released ‘Iron Man’ and ‘Indiana Jones 4′ simultaneous, why can’t Disney do the same? Well, while you can question why it didn’t release in Europe in May, Disney isn’t releasing ‘Prince Caspian’ there in June for a simple reason; the European Soccer Championship. A family movie wouldn’t stand a chance against the big event in Europe and that’s why Disney delayed it until July.

In the couple of territories it’s in, Caspian already took $80 million. But the fantasy will release in most Asian territories this week, with countries like the U.K., France and Germany following in July. A little earlier in the U.K. and France, because Disney probably doesn’t expect them to make the Soccer Championship’s finals — just kidding guys (if you come from one of these countries).

Continue reading Why ‘Prince Caspian’ still didn’t visit Europe, a look at the overseas box office