After Earth edges out Fast & Furious 6 at international box office

The Will Smith-Jaden Smith sci-fi After Earth delivered a decent if not spectacular result, given that it was active in more than 60 markets. The early running total climbed to $48.9m including last weekend’s launch in South Korea.

Sony Pictures International Releasing sources said the overall launch was bigger than debuts in the same territories of Oblivion ($45.1m), The Last Airbender ($42.7m) and Jaden Smith vehicle The Karate Kid ($32.3m).

A ribbon of number one releases was led by Russia on $8.2m from 865, Mexico on $5.3m from 1,561, France on $3.8m from 502 and the UK on $3.5m from 673. Italy generated $2.4m from 442, Brazil $2m from 348, Malaysia a sensational $2m from 180, Germany $1.8m from 626, Indonesia a superb $1.4m from 103 and Taiwan $724,786 from 146.

UPDATE: Tucked in behind After Earth by the most slender of margins was Universal Pictures International’s global smash Fast & Furious 6.

The action thriller surged towards the $400m mark and is on track to cross Fast Five’s $416m final tally by next weekend to become the biggest international film in the franchise after a $43.2m haul from 8,096 theatres in 62 territories propelled the running total to $380.6m.

Combined with the $202.8m North American tally, the global number has reached $583.4m.

The action thriller opened top in Australia on an outstanding $10.7m from 247 that overtook the $9.1m grossed by Ted in summer 2012 to become the studio’s biggest openinng weekend in the territory.

Mexico was the top holdover on $3.1m from 602 for $31.6m after three weekends. Fast 6 has amassed $35.4m in the UK, $32m in Russia, $25.2m in Germany, $20.5m in France and $19m in Brazil to rank as Universal’s biggest result ever in the territory.

The film arrives in Venezuela on June 21, Japan on July 6 and China in July.

Oblivion grossed $2.1m from 5,674 sites in 29 territories and stands at $191.2m. The Tom Cruise sci-fi ranked number two in Japan on $1.6m from 346 for $8.2m after two weekends. The film’s global box office has reached $279.6m.

Universal’s genre release The Purge from producer Jason Blum complemented the number one North American launch with a $932,000 international debut in 447 venues.

The film added $910,000 in the UK from 365 to boost the running total to $3.5m after two weekends and opened in Poland on $90,000 from 83. The Purge arrives this week in Germany and Russia.

• UPDATE: The Hangover Part III added a confirmed $34.2m through Warner Bros Pictures International from 8,250 screens in 56 markets to boost the running total to $170.4m.

The comedy trilogy finale stayed number one in its second weekend in Germany on $4.2m from 728 screens for $21.1m and grossed $3.1m in Russia from 1,173 for a $14.6m running total after the same amount of time, exceeding the final gross of the second episode by some 26%.

Part III generated $2.8m from 559 in France to rank number two $10.7m after two weekends, $2.8m from 520 in Brazil to place top on $10.1m and $3m from 590 in Italy where it ranked number one on $13.5m to overtake the lifetime total of its predecessor.

In third weekend holds, Australia added $1.95m from 432 for $18.1m, the UK brought in $1.7m from 630 for $24.6m to rank second and Spain added $1.4m from 401 to rank number one on $4.8m. The film arrives in Japan and Mexico on Jun 28.

The Great Gatsby added $13.8m overall from 5,980 in 60 markets and has reached $143.1m. It opened top in New Zealand on $821,000 from 165 including previews for the biggest launch of a Baz Luhrmann film. The Brazilian debut of $736,000 from 162 also set a new mark for the director.

Gatsby stands at $20.6m in the UK, $15.9m in Russia, $13m in France, $12.9m in Germany, $9.2m in South Korea, $9.1m in Italy and $5.1m in Spain and has surpassed all previous Lurhmann releases in Russia, South Korea and Italy. It opens this week in Japan.

• Paramount Pictures International reported that Star Trek Into Darkness stands at $176.4m following a $17.6m weekend from 12,123 locations in 52 territories.

China led the way on $9m for a $42.4m running total, South Korea generated $3.3m for $9.3m and the UK grossed $900,000. The Netherlands was the biggest launch market on $600,000.

GI Joe: Retaliation opened top in Japan on $2.5m from 326 locales and the action title added $2.7m overall from seven territories to reach $243.6m.

• UPDATE: Fox International reported that the animation Epic grossed a confirmed $12.7m from 9,693 screens in 60 markets to reach $107.1m. It generated $2.1m in Russia from 2,007 for $11.8m after two weekends and $1.4m in France from 737 for $7.5m after three. A further $1m in the UK from 1,040 in the third weekend boosted the score to $17.2m.
• In its seventh weekend, Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures International’s Iron Man 3 from Marvel Studios crossed $800m as $3.9m propelled the running total to $802.3m.

The global tally stands at $1.197bn. Iron Man 3 ranks as the fifth biggest worldwide, seventh biggest international and 17th biggest North American release of all time.

• Now You See Me grossed $5.4m from 27 markets in its second weekend of release through Lionsgate International licensees to raise the running total to $10.3m. The mystery has amassed $1.6m from Europe and the Middle East, $1.5m in Latin America and $7.2m from Asia, where it stands at $2.3m in Thailand through Mongkol Cinema and $2m in Taiwan through Long Shong Entertainment Multimedia