Eclipse rolls over international arena with $104.6m debut

The film performed exceptionally in Russia as it took $15m to beat the opening weekends of Pirates Of The Caribbean: At Worlds End and Alice In Wonderland.

Despite hot weather and the participation of the national side in the World Cup quarter-finals on Saturday [July 2], Spain delivered a tremendous $10.6m (€8.4m) from 720 screens including previews. This was on a par with the opening weekend of The Twilight Saga: New Moon and beat the launches of Harry Potter Order Of The Phoenix and Half-Blood Prince.

Italy was also on target, producing $9.9m (€7.9m) from 700, ahead of Harry Potter Order Of The Phoenix and Half-Blood Prince, as well as Spider-Man 2and 3 and Pirates Of The Caribbean: At Worlds End.

Australia generated $10.9m (AUD 12.99m) from 536 screens for the eighth best launch in history there, beating Harry Potter Order Of The Phoenix on AUD 12.87m.

Elsewhere, Eclipse performed as follows:

• Brazil: $10.6m (19.4m Real) from 336 sites, beating New Moon’s opening weekend by approximately 39% and ahead of the launches ofSpider-Man 2and 3 and Pirates Of The Caribbean: At Worlds End, andHarry Potter Order Of The Phoenix;
• Mexico: $8.4m (110m pesos) from 507 sites, beating New Moon by roughly 7% and ahead of Harry Potter Order Of The Phoenix;
• South Africa: the biggest opening weekend in industry history on $1.6m (12.49m ZAR); and
• Romania: the biggest opening weekend of the year in admissions on 46,370 and the third biggest box office launch of 2010 on $240,000 (821,733 RON).

Eclipse set a record for Saturday previews in the UK as it amassed $5.7m (₤3.7m). The film took a preview weekend total of $9.5m (£6.3m). Eclipse will launch properly in the UK, as well as France and South Africa, this weekend, followed by Germany the following weekend.

Twilight finished on $200.3m internationally and New Moon grossed $416m overseas. New Moon’s opening weekend last November from 24 markets was $121.6m from 6,672 screens, rising to $132.6m including previews.

• Shrek Forever After earned a huge fillip as an estimated $41m haul through PPI from 4,435 venues in 30 territories raised the relatively early international cumulative tally to $135.5m.

The 3D animation opened top in the nine new markets that opened over the weekend, the largest grosses coming from the UK and France despite soaring temperatures.

The green ogre plundered $13.1m in the UK from 808 sites – 77% of which staged 3D presentations – and took $11.7m in France from 952 for the biggest DreamWorks Animation launch of all time, exceeding Shrek The Third by 1% and Kung Fu Panda by 67%.

Elsewhere, South Korea delivered $6.1m from 550 locations to beat the opening weekend of international behemoths Ice Age 3 by 175% and Alice In Wonderland by 14%. German audiences were absorbed by their team’s World Cup quarter-final triumph over Argentina and yet the film still managed to gross $4.1m from 891 sites.

Shrek Forever After grossed $1.5m in Hong Kong from 45 locations, which was 44% ahead of Shrek The Third and 7% more than Ice Age 3. It grossed a further $2.1m in Australia from 201 after a 14% fall for $15.5m.

Iron Man 2 added $771,000 this weekend and stands at an industry-wide tally of $304.7m, $295.4m of which comes from Paramount territories.

• Toy Story 3 generated $25.5m through Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures International from 5,001 theatres as the early running total climbed to $150.8m with only 37% of the overseas footprint in active release.

The film’s global tally has reached $439.8m including the $289m North American score, placing Toy Story 3 as Disney’s 12^th biggest global release. It currently ranks as the fifth biggest release of the year

The story in Latin America was one of continued excellence and the film has grossed $89.3m from the region to date. It will overtake Disney’s $90m record Latin American mark set by Alice In Wonderland on Monday.

The film grossed a further $5.5m in Mexico for an extraordinary $45.4m and is now the biggest animated release in industry history. It added $6.1m in Australia for $16.3m after 11 days.

• Alice In Wonderland has become the fourth biggest international release in history and overtaken Ice Age 3 thanks to a $400,000 haul that pushed the tally to $688.7m. Japan continues to be an exceptional driver and has generated $126.1m or almost 20% of the overseas figure.

Prince Of Persia: The Sands Of Time added $2.9m from 5,614 theatres in 54 territories in its seventh weekend to reach $231m and a $319.1m worldwide tally.

• Universal’s Get Him To The Greek grossed $2.4m through UPI from 738 venues in nine territories for an early $14.7m running total. The comedy added $1.5m from 387 for $5.7m after two weekends, and has reached $6.3m in Australia after 18 days.

Robin Hoodcrossed $200m at the international box office on Thursday [July 1]. The weekend estimate is $1.3m from 4,055 in 51 territories for $201.7m.

Fatal, Universal’s latest international acquisition from France, ranked second in that market behind the opening of Shrek Forever After, grossing $2m from 400 venues to raise the tally after 19 days to $6m.

German family comedy Hanni Und Nanni, which Universal is distributing through its agreement with UFA, has taken $1.9m in Germany and $275,000 in Austria.

• Sex And The City 2 grossed $3.6m through Warner Bros Pictures International from 4,050 screens in 58 markets, bringing the international tally to $180m.
• Fox International’s action comedy Knight And Day added a further $8m from 2,240 screens in 25 markets, bringing the early running total to $25m. South Korea was the lead market once again, generating $2.9m from 420 after a slight drop in the second weekend for $8m. Russia produced $1.7m from 949 for $6.6m. The film debuted in a 13 smaller markets.

The A-Team added $3.8m from 2,888 in 45 to boost the tally after four weekends to $54.5m. Top performers were France on $1.2m from 652 for $6.7m after three, and Australia on $425,866 from 216 for $7.9m after four.

Marmaduke added $2.1m from 1,061 in 22 and has taken $15.7m. Australia produced $1.2m in its opening weekend from 209.

Fox International opens Predators day-and-date with the US this weekend in 22 markets, including six of the top 15.

• The Karate Kid grossed a further $2.1m through Sony Pictures Releasing International from 730 screens in 25 markets for $24.9m.

Including China the family film added $3.9m for an industry-wide $31.9m. After four weekends The Karate Kid has taken $3.2m in the Philippines and after two has taken $925,000 from Thailand.

Grown Ups added $1.7m from 220 in six for $5.3m and stands at $5.3m in Australia after two weekends.