World War Z topples Man of Steel at international box office

Propelling Paramount past the $1bn mark for 2013, World War Z scared up an excellent $70.1m in its second weekend for $135.3m to date.

Marc Forster’s adaptation of Max Brooks’ novel recorded superb openings in the likes of Russia ($12.3m - biggest Brad Pitt opening ever), Mexico ($7.9m from 608), Germany ($7.6m from 568) and Brazil ($4m - biggest Pitt opening ever, third best Paramount opening).

Holdovers were strong too with Korea adding $7.7m (dropping 24%), the UK taking $4.2m (dropping 39%) and Australia grossing $3.1m to push the local tally past $10m.

World War Z invades France, Poland and Benelux this weekend.

Sci-fi sequel Star Trek Into Darkness added $2m in its eighth weekend in play for $217.6m to date. It opens in Spain next weekend, with other territories (including Japan) to open in August.

• Surpassing $500m worldwide, Warner Bros’ Man of Steel added $52.2m after debuting in seven new markets.

Zack Snyder’s 3D Superman reboot charted top in Australia with $8.7m from 560 screens, Sweden with $2m from 168 screens and New Zealand with a $1.2m debut from 134 screens.

Highlights of Man of Steel’s holdovers include China ($11.9m for $46.5m to date), the UK ($4m for $41.1m) and France ($3.4m for $13.6m).

Also for Warner Bros, The Hangover Part III enjoyed a $7.7m weekend from its 59 markets, including a $1.5m debut in Mexico. The comedy threequel is now up to $227.5m internationally.

The Great Gatsby stands at $179m overseas, grossing $3.3m from its 52 territories over the weekend.

• Following its Australian opening last week, Universal’s Despicable Me 2 debuted in six new territories for an excellent $41.5m from 1,701 sites and an early international running total of $50m.

Five of those were chart-topping openings, with the UK & Ireland debut setting a new record for UPI’s biggest-ever opening weekend at $15.7m, which rises to an outstanding $23.3m including last weekend’s previews for 2013’s biggest opening.

The animated sequel also debuted top in France with $8m and a 40% market share, as well as in the Netherlands ($2.4m from 131), Belgium ($1.3m from 71) and French-Switzerland ($831k from 43).

Despicable Me 2 opens in 38 territories next weekend to coincide with its domestic debut.

Also for Universal, Fast & Furious 6 added $6.1m from its 64 territories for an overseas total of $448.7m to date, with Japan to open on July 6 and China on July 26.

Micro-budget horror The Purge is up to $10.1m following openings in Egypt, Iceland, Lebanon, Middle East, Romania and United Arab Emirates, while Oblivion has taken $196.5m internationally.

• Combined with its US tally of $171m, Disney’s Monsters University has crossed the $300m mark worldwide. The animated sequel added $44.2m from 37 territories this weekend for an overseas total to date of $129.3m.

Of its three new openings, both Taiwan and the Philippines scored record opening weekends for Disney/Pixar, while holdovers were strong in the likes of Germany (up 6%) and Spain (down 24%). Mexico is currently leading the way internationally with $26.9m.

It opens in Japan and Poland this weekend.

• Now playing in 73 markets, After Earth took $9.9m for an overseas total to date of $130.9m through Sony. The sci-fi recorded an excellent chart-topping debut of $3.3m in Spain and also opened top in Denmark on $350,000. It lands in China and Portugal (its final openings) on July 11.

Also for Sony, to coincide with its US bow, White House Down debuted in 25 markets for $6.8m from 1,225 screens. Highlights included a $2.1m opening in Korea and a $1.2m launch in Indonesia.

Roland Emmerich’s action thriller, starring Channing Tatum and Jamie Foxx, opens in the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam this weekend.

This is the End opened in the UK this weekend, resulting in a $2.1m debut, a bigger opening than Pineapple Express. Playing in just four markets overall, the apocalypse comedy has taken an early $2.4m, with Estonia, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, and Portugal to open this weekend.

• Epic continued its international roll-out through Fox this weekend, with openings in Australia ($2.7m from 372 screens) and Hong Kong ($368k from 74).

Combined with strong holds in the likes of Germany (up 18%) and the UK (down just 31% in its sixth weekend), the 3D animation took $5.1m from its 48 markets for an international running total of $130.5m.

The Internship opened in 11 new territories this weekend, resulting in a $3.6m gross from 1,563 screens. With 31 markets to come over summer, the comedy is up to $14.9m.

• Having crossed $100m domestically this weekend, Lionsgate’s Now You See Me grossed $5m overseas for an early $48.7m. The heist thriller opened at number two in the Netherlands with $610k from 85 screens.

It opens in the UK and Brazil this weekend, with other openings to come including Germany (July 11), Italy (July 18), Spain (July 19) and France (July 31).