Fox's Ice Age 3 sets opening record for animated film

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Ice Age: Dawn Of The Dinosaurs crushed all before it as an estimated $148m haul from 101 markets through Fox delivered the sixth biggest international launch ever and the biggest animated debut in history.

The extraordinary result surpassed its predecessor and ranked number one in most territories, setting a string of industry records. The animated release combined with the $67.5m number one North American opening to move past $215m worldwide in its first weekend.

Paramount/DreamWorks’ Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen cruised towards $300m in its second weekend through PPI, while Sony’s one-two punch from Angels & Demons and Terminator Salvation saw those films reach $342m and $228m, respectively.

Ice Age 3 went out on 11,652 screens and the 3D result was significant, delivering $51m from 2,126 screens for 34% of the total revenue from 18% of the screens in what was the widest and most lucrative 3D launch ever.

It is worth bearing in mind that premium price points for 3D ticket sales often lead to a disproportionately high figure when compared to the screen count.

The overall debut ranks behind only Pirates Of The Caribbean 3 on $251m, Spider-Man 3 on $230.9m, Harry Potter 5 on $185.3n, Transformers 2 on $165.4m, and The Da Vinci Code’s $155m.

Fox International executives noted that if Ice Age 3 were compared to Transformers 2 in the same territories (the animated release is yet to open in China, Japan, South Korea and Italy) it in fact surpassed PPI’s hit by $27.5m. Similarly, it beat The Da Vinci Code by $23.4m.

The film set new industry marks in well over a dozen territories, among them Russia on $18.9m (589m roubles), Mexico on $10m ($132.4m pesos) for 65% market share, Brazil on $10.3m, and Austria on $3.4m (€2.4m).

Germany produced $16.6m and the UK delivered $13.1m (£7.9m) including two days of previews, while France’s $15.7m (€11.1m) was one of more than ten territories that produced all-time animated launch records. Another was India, where Ice Age 3 grossed $395,000 (19m rupees).

In other key markets, the film managed $9m in Spain, $6.5m in Australia, $3m in Switzerland for the second biggest animated launch behind Ice Age 2, and $2m in Norway for once again the silver medal in the all-time animated pantheon behind Ice Age 2. There was a notable result too in Hong Kong, where it took $1.9m from 67 screens including a record $1.6m from 50 3D screens.

Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen added $55.3m from 9,546 sites in 62 territories through PPI and after a mere two weekends stands at $298m. The biggest contribution came from South Korea, where the film held well on $8m from 1,030 sites after a 27% drop for $26.2m.

The warring robots added $5.2m in China from 1,009 sites for $41.6m, $5.1m in Australia from 240 for $22m, $3.8m in France from 660 for $12.7m, and $3.5m in the UK from 493 for $34.3m. The mechanical mayhem resisted Ice Age 3 to stay top in Australia and New Zealand, and also held on to number one spots in Italy and South Korea.

With Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince waiting in the wings, Warner Bros Pictures International reportedanother solid weekend for its hit comedy The Hangover as $9m from 1,950 screens in 30 markets raised the tally to $61.6m.

Fuelled by the close of Fete Du Cinema in France the comedy used a $2.1m haul to climb to $4.8m in third place after two weekends. In the UK it added $2.5m from 415 sites for $22.6m after four, and grossed $1.7m from 228 screens in the fourth weekend in Australia for $11.5m.

Terminator Salvation has reached $228.7m after grossing $5m from 4,590 screens in 63 markets. Sony Pictures Releasing International’s portion was $4.9m for a $202.6m running total. The action romp added $1.8m in Japan from 396 screens in the fifth weekend for $28.7m and stands at $22.9m in the UK after the same amount of time.
Angels & Demons added a further $2.6m from 2,670 screens in 62 markets for $342.2m and after eight weekends has reached $43.9m in Germany,

$33.6m in Japan, $28.2m in the UK, $20.9m in Spain, $17.7m in France, $25.6m in Italy, and $13.7m in Australia.

Sony’s comedy Year One took $1.4m from 575 screens in five markets for an early $7m tally. The UK generated $820,000 from 381 in its second weekend for $3.3m and Australia produced $525,000 from 185 for $3.6m after three.
Universal/UPI’s thriller Public Enemies opened day-and-date with North America in five territories for $5.3m from 958 venues overall. The highlights were a third place debut in the UK on $3.6m from 458, and $1.2m from 395 in Mexico for third place. France will be among ten new markets to receive the film next weekend.
State Of Play added $2m from 1,000 in 33 territories for $43.8m. In France, where it is released through Studio Canal, it held strong in fifth place on $1.1m from 394 for $3.2m after two weekends. There are six more territories in Latin America to open over the next two months.
Coraline stands at $38.1m and there are 12 territories to go over the next few months including Australia and Germany in August. Finally the comedy Bruno will launch next weekend day-and-date with North America in all eight Universal territories including the UK, Germany and Australia.
The Proposal added a further $4.2m through Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures International from 1,753 screens in 15 territories for an early $29.5m. Australia generated $1.6m in fourth place from 240 sites in its third weekend for $8.5m, and Mexico delivered $598,000 in fifth from 435 for $4.5m after three. Russia has produced $6.4m so far and according to Disney ranks as the biggest romantic comedy of the year-to-date.
Hannah Montana The Movieclimbed $2.6m from 2,040 theaters in 28 territories for a very respectable $59.9m after adding $1m from 185 screens in its second weekend in Australia to rank fifth on $2.7m.
Disney is adopting its customary softly-softly approach with its Pixar release Up, which so far has amassed $50.8m after adding $1.8m from 1,350 screens in 15 to track ahead of Wall-E and Ratatouille at the same stage.