Pacific Rim impresses on int'l debut

Despicable Me 2 was active in 7,900 theatres in 50 territories through Universal Pictures International and has amassed $472.4m worldwide. The animation has grossed approximately twice as much as its 2010 predecessor by the same stage and is forecast to cross the $293m lifetime total of Despicable Me this week.

Despicable Me 2 scored number one debuts in all six of its new territories and stayed top in a sequence of strong holds in the likes of Germany, Spain, Argentina, Mexico, Netherlands and Portugal. It added $3.4m in the UK for a $41m running total, $4.8m from 700 in Germany for $13m and $2m from 325 in Spain for $7.6m.

The family hit claimed 90% market share in Lithuania and delivered Universal’s biggest opening weekend as well as the industry’s biggest 3D animated film opening and the biggest July opening. It scored the studio’s biggest opening day in Latvia and has passed Ice Age 3 in Australia to rank as the eighth biggest animated release there. There are 13 territories to go over the next few months. 

Fast & Furious 6 crossed $700m worldwide at the weekend, grossing $4m from 2,100 sites in 45 territories to reach $467.7m internationally and $704.2m globally. The action smash ranked second in its second weekend in Japan on $2.4m from 322 for $10.3m. It arrives in China on Jul 26.  

The Purge added $1m from 550 in 14 territories for an early $12.3m and opened in third place in Spain on $722,000 from 240 venues. There are 30 territories to go.

• Warner Bros Pictures International’s sci-fi tentpole Pacific Rim [pictured] launched day-and-date with North America and the international results were strong. Guillermo del Toro’s latest release opened on 9,800 screens across a modest footprint of 38 markets and drew 8.3m admissions. The early worldwide tally including the $38.3m number three North American debut stands at $91.3m.

Pacific Rim delivered an outstanding $9.6m number one debut in South Korea from 1,005 screens nationwide to claim approximately 50% market share and defied warm weather in Russia to produce a $9.3m number one result from 1,537.

The tentpole opened second behind Despicable Me 2 in del Toro’s native Mexico on $5.3m from 1,750 in what turned out to be three times bigger than any of the director’s previous films. It is expected to overtake the $5.8m lifetime total of Pan’s Labyrinth on Monday.

A number one $3.5m debut in Taiwan from 177 delivered an emphatic result in the wake of Typhoon Soulik, which made landfall early on Saturday morning. In Taipei the Friday-Sunday estimated of $1.1m represented 57% share of the top five.

Pacific Rim opened in second place in the UK on $3.2m from 907 behind the Monsters University debut and arrived in third place in Australia on $2.6m from 428 behind the debut of The Heat and the fourth session of Despicable Me 2.

Thailand delivered an excellent $2.4m number one from 300 and WBPI executives estimated 80% market share. If these figures are confirmed on Monday the debut will be Warner Bros’ biggest debut of the year and the studio’s fourth biggest of all time.

The film arrives this week in France and Germany followed by China on Jul 31 and Spain, Japan and Brazil on Aug 9.

Pacific Rim grossed more than $4m on 124 IMAX screens for a $32,000-plus per-screen average. Results were especially strong in Taiwan on $430,000 from seven, South Korea on $655,000, Russia on more than $1 and Mexico. The IMAX global box office stands at $11.3m.

Man Of Steel added $13.3m from roughly 7,000 screens in 63 markets and stands at $338.2m. The Superman reboot opened in Brazil on $5.7m from 780 including previews and has amassed $62.9m in China after four, $45m in the UK after five, $21m in Mexico after five and $19.3m in Australia after three.

Man Of Steel has produced $18m in France after four, $15.2m in South Korea after five, $10.7m in Russia after four, $9.4m in Germany after four, $9.3m in Spain after four and $6.1m in Italy after four. It opened in Japan on Aug 30.

• Monsters University brought in a further $30.2m through Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures International as the running total from 45 territories representing 86% of the international footprint reached $236.4m and worldwide $474.2m.

The family hit opened in the UK on a terrific $5.3m and debuted in France on a solid $3.7m, while if results hold there will be an all-time record animation debut in Hong Kong that will also rank as the industry’s sixth biggest opening weekend. To date Monsters University has amassed more than $100m from Latin America and is set to open in Italy and China on Aug 21 and Aug 23, respectively.

Latest figures put the family hit on $36m in Mexico, $20.3m in Russia, $19.2m in Australia, $18.8m in Japan, an exceptional $17.5m in Argentina, $15.4m in Brazil, $11.5m in Spain, $11.2m in Germany, a superb $9.7m in Colombia, $6.5m in Taiwan and impressive results in three other Latin American markets – $6m in Venezuela, $5.8m in Chile and $5.1m in Panama.

The Lone Ranger grossed $12.7m from 33 territories representing approximately 35% of the international market and stands at $48m and $119.1m worldwide.

The adventure opened in Brazil on $1.2m, climbing to $1.7m including previews. At this stage the film has generated $12.4m in Russia, $6.7m in Australia, $3.7m in Argentina, $3.6m in Italy and $2.3m in South Korea.

The Lone Ranger arrives next week in Mexico and a host of Latin American territories as well as Taiwan. Japan follows on Aug 2, France on Aug 7, Germany on Aug 8, the UK on Aug 9, Spain on Aug 23 and China at a date to be set.

• Paramount Pictures International’s World War Z brought in a further $22.4m in its fourth weekend from 8,051 cinemas in 59 markets and stands at $246m.

The zombie thriller opened top in Sweden on $914,000 from 143 and top in Norway on $803,000 from 73.

France led holdover business on $2.8m from 707 in the second weekend for $12.5m, followed by South Korea on $2.4m from 566 for $31.4m after four sessions, Germany on $1.6m from 626 for $14.7m after three and Australia on $1.1m from 220 for $15.5m after four.

In third weekend holds, Russia generated $1.4m for $23.3m, Mexico $1.7m for $19.5m and Brazil $1.1m for $12.3m.

Star Trek Into Darkness added $1.1m from 1,529 locales in 26 territories to reach $222.5m. Spain produced $610,000 from 506 for $2.5m after two weekends.

• Fox International’s comedy The Heat grossed $8.1m from 2,507 screens in 30 markets for $16.2m and opened top in Australia on $3.7m from 334. It added $1m in Russia on 901 for $3.8m after two and $1m in Germany from 516 for $2.9m, both after two weekends.

The Internship added $2.5m from 1,816 screens in 29 markets for $25.7m and opened in Holland on $373,485. The UK tally stands at $3.4m after two sessions. Epic stands at $137.4m.

• An $11.6m number one debut in China on 5,118 screens pushed After Earth past $150m through Sony Pictures Releasing International. Overall the sci-fi generated $13.7m from 7,300 screens in 59 markets to reach $155.4m.

After Earth added $750,000 from 426 in the third weekend in Spain to rank third and reach a $7.2m running total. Japan produced $325,000 from 529 in the fourth weekend for $8.2m while Portugal produced $175,000 from 49 to rank second in the opening weekend.

White House Down grossed $1.8m from 885 in 29 for an early $19.7m tally. The thriller opened top in Turkey on $115,00 from 105.

The Adam Sandler, Kevin James, Chris Rock and Salma Hayek comedy Grown Ups 2 opened in its first nine markets and the highlight of a $1.7m weekend from 520 screens was a number two debut in Spain that produced $1.1m from 380. Sandler scored his biggest debut in Israel on $340,000 from 23 screens.

This Is The End stands at $6.2m from six markets including the UK, where the Jonah Hill, Seth Rogen and James Franco ensemble comedy has amassed $5.6m after three weekends and ranks ninth.

• Mystery Now You See Me grossed $6.3m for $72.5m through Lionsgate International licensees.
• South Korea smash Cold Eyes, a police thriller remake of Eye In The Sky, generated $7.5m internationally to reach $19m. The film had drawn more than two million admissions in South Korea by Jul 15 after its Jul 3 launch.