Disney crosses $2bn while Sony's Evil rules overseas on $46.2m

This is only the eighth time a distributor has achieved the feat and the current tally ranks as the seventh highest company haul of all time with more than three months left in 2010. Fox International holds the record for last year’s $2.4bn driven by Avatar.

• Meanwhile Sony ruled the waves this weekend as Resident Evil: Afterlife (3D) launched on an estimated $46.2m from 3,755 screens in 29 markets.

The storming debut went out day-and-date with the number one North American opening and was led by a superb $15.5m in Japan from 664 screens and $9.5m in Russia from 719.

The fourth entry in the horror sequel took $3.4m in Spain from 509, $3m in Taiwan from 141, $2.9m in the UK from 356, $1.7m in Italy from 254, $1.28m in Malaysia from 131 and $1.26m in India from 254.

Resident Evil: Afterlife (3D) launched in Singapore on $1m from 59, Colombia on $810,000 from 128, Poland on $525,000 from 79, Venezuela on $435,000 from 72 and South African on $155,000 from 61.

Virtually all of the 29 markets generated number one launches except Italy, India and South Africa, and the results were generally far higher than previous launches in the franchise. The film arrives in Brazil, Mexico, South Korea and Sweden next weekend.

Summit International’s five territories – Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia, Turkey and Israel – grossed $3.7m from 533 screens.

Sony Pictures Releasing International’s Salt added $5.6m from 3,138 in 63 for a robust $156m, while The Karate Kid grossed $5.2m from 45 for $167.8m. Grown Ups stands at $84.4m.

• Inception brought in a further $14.8m through Warner Bros Pictures International from 7,900 screens in 61 territories as the running total climbed to $447m. The UK and Japan are the two top markets on $53.2m and $39.4m respectively.

Cats And Dogs 2 generated $2.5m from almost 2,700 screens in 49 territories for $55.5m and opens this weekend in Australia, South Korea and Italy.

• Buoyed by a $3.4m number one launch in China on 485 screens, Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures International’s The Sorcerer’s Apprentice grossed $9.1m from 3,489 for $127.6m.

The Australian debut generated $1.2m from 240, while in the second weekend Spain and Germany added $1.2m for $4.3m and $1.1m for $3.1m, respectively.

Toy Story 3 grossed a further $5.6m from 3,964 screens in 40 territories to boost the international cumulative tally to $632.2m The animated hit stands at $112.1m (£72.3m) in the UK where it is the second biggest film ever released in the territory.

The film’s biggest market is Japan on $121.6m (¥10.5bn) and was finally toppled from its two-month reign by this weekend’s champion Resident Evil 4. It is the tenth biggest overseas release ever and the fifth at the global box office on $1.042bn.

• Universal/UPI’s Despicable Me added $6.1m from 1,430 sites in 29 territories for $81.5m, powered by an excellent $4.5m number one debut in Australia from 264. 

The American, which Universal is releasing in 16 markets, debuted in Italy in fourth place on $825,000 from 275. Get Him To The Greek stands at $27.4m and Step Up 3D has taken $32.5m from Universal’s five territories and $94m overall through Universal and Summit International territories after six weekends, making it the highest grossing film in the franchise overseas.

Scott Pilgrim Vs The World is on $11.2m and The Expendables has taken $5.4m in Spain through the distributor. Weekend results for The Expendables were unavailable at time of writing, however the action adventure has grossed more than

• Paramount/PPI’s The Last Airbender added $6m from 3,616 venues in 56 international markets for $150m. The third weekend in Mexico added $1.5m from 787 for $11.2m.

Shrek Forever After grossed $2.7m from 2,475 in 61 for $487.5m and the film is expected to cross $500m when it opens in Japan in December.

Tomorrow When The War Began continued its winning ways in Australia and New Zealand as $2.1m from 283 locations in the second weekend raised the tally to $7m.

Australia accounted for $1.9m of the overall total from 229 sites for $6.5m. New Zealand held on to number one on $180,000 from 54 for $518,000. Inferno Entertainment holds remaining international territories and is currently in discussions with buyers in Toronto.

The comedy remake Dinner for Schmucks has grossed $3.7m.

• Vampires Suck earned $5.3m through Fox International from 1,796 screens in 23 markets for an early $13.1m. There were launches in Germany ($3.2m from 503) and Austria ($459,000 from 76).

Avatar: Special Edition pulled in a further $2.2m from 990 screens in 21 markets, bringing the international tally to $2.0125bn.

On the local title front, Nosso Lar continued to make history in Brazil, earning $2.8m from 434 screens, a drop of only 15% for $9.5m after two weekends. The film is now the highest grossing local title after ten days in release, beating Fox’s own Se Eu Fosse Voce 2.

In Spain, Lope added $765,000 from 310 screens for $2.1m after two weekends. Marmaduke stands at $44.8m, Predators $72.9m and TheA-Team $99.3m.