Guardians rule int'l BO on $42m

WALT DISNEY STUDIOS MOTION PICTURES INTERNATIONAL

The sci-fi adventure held off a robust $29.5m session from Fox International’s Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes as that film surged past $300m and an impressive $28.5m debut from Paramount’s US champion Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

Guardians Of The Galaxy Guardians opened at number one in Australia through Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures International on $6m, rising to $8.2m including previews.

Russia remains the lead market at this early stage on $23.9m and the film has already overtaken the lifetime tallies of the first two Iron Man releases, Thor and both Captain America films, while the UK climbed to $22.8m despite the record comedy launch of The Inbetweeners 2.

Mexico has delivered $13.4m, Brazil $10.5m and South Korea $8.6m.

On Imax, Guardians Of The Galaxy brought in $7.4m worldwide for approximately $30m. Of this, roughly $3m came from 168 screens for a $10m running total.

Guardians opens this week in France Spain, Belgium and the Netherlands and is scheduled to open in Germany on August 28, Japan on September 13, China on October 10 and Italy on October 22.

Planes: Fire & Rescue grossed $3.5m from 30 territories to stand at $37.5m. The family release has grossed $5.1m in France, $4,4m in Mexico, $3.8m in Japan, $3.2m in both Brazil and Spain, $3m in Argentina, $1.8m in Poland and $1.6m in the UK. It debuts this week in Germany, South Korea and Taiwan.

FOX INTERNATIONAL

UPDATE: Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes swung to a $307.8m international running total following a confirmed $29.4m haul from 70 markets. France led the way on a $6.4m second weekend from 799 to rank second behind the Lucy debut through Europacorp and reach $23.9m.

Apes landed in Germany in first place on $6.1m from 767 that produced the third biggest debut of 2014 so far behind Transformers: Age of Extinction and The Wolf Of Wall Street.

The UK generated $2.9m from 815 in the fourth session to stand at $46.3m and rank third. In their third sessions, Brazil and Mexico ranked second and fourth and produced $2.7m from 716 for $20.5m and $1.4m from 843 for $22.9m, respectively.

The action sequel stayed top in Italy in a typically soporific August as $914,697 from 602 boosted the tally to $4.5m following last weekend’s debut. Apes has amassed $14.9m in Spain after four and opened at number one in Austria on $608,971 from 110.

DreamWorks Animation’s How To Train Your Dragon 2 earned $12m from 52 markets for $319.9m. Germany added $2.4m from 1,188 for $15.9m after three weekends, Spain $1.2m from 707 for $6.3m after two and the UK $1.5m from 753 for $33.3m after five.

The Fault In Our Stars has reached $143.6m, powered by a strong 10-week run in Brazil where the $30.9m tally ranks as the biggest film of the year in admissions and the second biggest box office result of the year-to-date. The YA drama arrives this week in South Korea and Venezuela and is yet to open in France, Russia, Italy and Japan.

PARAMOUNT PICTURES INTERNATIONAL

UPDATE: A solid all-round session for the studio saw Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles break out on a confirmed $29m in 19 territories, scoring number one debuts in 17.

In standout table-topping results, the youth fare delivered $11m in Russia, $7.1m in Mexico, $1.9m in Malaysia, $1.5m in Singapore and $1.3m in Taiwan.

The Turtles arrive this week in Brazil and Argentina.

Transformers: Age Of Extinction overtook its 2011 franchise stablemate Dark Of The Moon to enter the international box office top 10 pantheon as $17m from 58 territories elevated the tally to $789.1m.

Age Of Extinction scored the top Hollywood debut of the session in Japan on $6.4m from 337 sites and arrived at number one in Spain on $2.6m from 382. It held well in the fourth session in Germany as $1.8m from 585 boosted the running total to $34m.

Hercules added $5.5m from 41 territories and stands at $71.4m. It opens this week in Italy.

ASIA UPDATE

Kim Han-min’s South Korean box office smash and naval epic The Admiral: Roaring Currents added $26.5m to stand at $81m.

Jacob Cheung’s Chinese wuxia fantasy 3D releaseThe White Haired Witch Of Lunar Kingdom backed by Bona Film Group added $7.5m for $44m.

Huayi Bros’ Brotherhood Of Blades grossed $4.1m for an early $5.2m through IM Global licensees. Girl Friends added $4.5m for $28m.

Animation sequel Yugo & Lala debuted on $4.8m through Golden Networks licensees. Chinese drama Continent added $5.2m and the running total has reached $93m. Pirates grossed $11m for an early $13.3m.

EUROPACORP / FRANCE UPDATE

Lucy opened in France this week on an confirmed $13.2m to deliver the biggest launch of the eyar-to-date for an English-language film and the second biggest debut behind Superchondriaque and EuropaCorp’s biggest debt for an English-language film. The launch also marked a new high in France for Scarlett Johansson.

District B13 remake Brick Mansions starring the late Paul Walker took $6m and stands at $21m through EuropaCorp licensees. UGC’s comedy Qu’est Qu’on A Fait Au Bon Dieu? added $3.3m and has grossed $113m.

UNIVERSAL PICTURES INTERNATIONAL

UPDATE: Luc Besson’s action film Lucy brought in a further $8.3m from 15 Universal territories for $15.3m, which pushed the overall international running total including EuropaCorp to $28.5m.

The action film opened top in the Philippines on $1.3m from 122 to beat Guardians and scored number one debuts in the U.A.E. and Turkey on $1.2m from 34 and $646,000 from 187.

Australia generated $2.4m from 215 for $8.2m. There are 44 territories to go including Germany this week.

The Purge: Anarchy grossed $3.8m from 35 for $26.8m.

Neighbors stands at $112m, Mrs. Brown’s Boys D’ Movie $28.8m and Boyhood $7.4m.

UK UPDATE

The Inbetweeners 2 is already a comedy smash after adding an estimated $12.5m through Entertainment Film Distributors to reach a dazzling early $20m after five days. It launched on August 6 on $4.53m from 495 in a record UK comedy launch in the UK that overtook its predecessor’s $4.39m in 2011.

WARNER BROS PICTURES INTERNATIONAL

UPDATE: Into The Storm debuted this weekend in Russia and 19 smaller East European and Asian markets to amass $8.3m overall. Russia delivered $2.7m from 1,111 screens to rank third.

Rurouni Kenshin: Kyoto Inferno continued to prosper in its second session in Japan as $4.3m raised the tally to $19.2m. The Warner Entertainment Japan production ranks third.

Blended added $1.6m from 40 markets for $75.2m and stands at $12.6m in the lead market of Mexico, $9.7m in Brazil, $5.6m in Russia, $4.5m in Australia and $3.3m in the UK.

LIONSGATE INTERNATIONAL

UPDATE: Step Up: All In took $7.1m over the weekend including Universal territories to reach $39.2m overall. The music drama opened in Germany through Constantin $2.6m from 418 screens and stands at $6.8m in France, $6.3m in the CIS , $4.3m in Taiwan and $4m in Benelux.

SONY PICTURES RELEASING INTERNATIONAL

Sex Tape grossed $5.4m from 35 markets for $26.2m and opened in Mexico on $1.7m from 680. 22 Jump Street added $4m in 41 markets for $108.7m.