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

Yesterday we reported the mediocre early ‘The Incredible Hulk’ box office estimates, but it turns out these numbers were slightly on the low side. Louis Leterrier’s new Hulk grossed over $21 million yesterday, giving it a shot at a $55 million box office weekend. We know it’s no ‘Iron Man’ by now, but it will be a decent opening nonetheless. In line with the opening numbers by ‘The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian’ last month. Notable is that ‘The Incredible Hulk’ won’t beat ‘The Hulk’ by Ang Lee in 2003, which made $62 million during its opening weekend.

Happening’s box office Friday was in line with what we reported yesterday. The awful thriller made $12.8 million, a little higher than the $12.5 mill we reported. It will definitely top Shyamalan’s last endeavor ‘Lady in the Water,’ which only made $18 million during its opening in 2006. ‘The Happening’ is still looking to surpass $30 million for the total weekend.

Last week’s movies are performing in line with our expectations from the weekly box office roundup. ‘Kung Fu Panda’ had another good Friday with a $10 million gross. While ‘You Don’t Mess with the Zohan’ went down to just $5.5 mill for the day.

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