King of Pop reigns overseas as This Is It launches on $68.5m

Combined with the $32.5m number one North American launch the film has amassed $101m globally within its first week. Sony’s worldwide marketing and distribution chief Jeff Blake said on Sunday [November 1] the studio would extend the release in North America and select territories beyond the two-week run originally announced.

• Number one launches occurred in almost every market, led by $10.4m in Japan from 332, $7.6m in the UK from 806, $6.3m in Germany from 930, $5.8m in France from 483 and $3.6m in Australia from 284.
• Elsewhere This Is It took $3.2m in China from 2,100, $2.9m in Italy from 526, $2.6m in Spain from 378 in a number two launch, $2.1m in Holland from 107, $1.6m in Mexico from 402, and $1.58 in Brazil from 202.
• In other notable results the film took $1.5m in Sweden from 82, $1.2m in Denmark from 63, $1.1m in Belgium from 63, $1.04m in Poland from 86, $1.03m in Switzerland from 79, $1.02m in Norway from 59, $1m in Russia from 171 in third place, $835,000 in New Zealand from 76.
• Venezuela generated $825,000 from 65, Austria $780,000 from 119, Greece $710,000 from 80, the Czech Republic $655,000 from 47, the Philippines $615,000 from 104, and Hong Kong $495,000 from 34.

Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs added $4.9m from 2,645 screens in 43 markets for $52.2m, The Ugly Truthboosted its score by $3.4m from 1,710 in 57 to $107.4m, and Julie & Julia added $2.1m from 975 in 40 for $24.6m. District 9 has amassed $84.5m through all distributors.

Any disappointment Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures International (WDSMPI) chiefs may have felt after Up was usurped from its number one spot by This Is It will not have been long-lived as the Pixar release continued its magnificent run and crossed $350m.

• Up added $12.8m from 4,700 screens in 27 territories for $352.7m with Japan still to come in December. The film will overtake Angels And Demons by Monday to become the year’s fourth biggest overseas release behind Ice Age 3, Harry Potter 6 and Transformers 2.
• Up stayed top in the UK for the fourth straight weekend in a row as $5.4m from 770 raised the tally to $47m and confirmed it as the sixth biggest Disney animated release of all-time. It ranked fourth in Italy on $2.5m from 739 for $18.6m after three weekends and has grossed nearly 40% more than the entire run of Wall-E.
• A further $1.2m from 334 in the Benelux raised the running total to an excellent $11.4m. Up ranked fourth in Germany and has taken $27.5m there after seven.

WDSMPI releases amassed more than $30m in total this weekend. G-Forcegrossed a further $6.1m from 2,735 screens in 32 territories for $148m internationally and $267m worldwide. The family action-adventure generated a further $2.5m in France from 510 for $9.6m after three, $1.5m in Germany from 536 for $10.8m after three, and $980,000 in Spain from 446 for $10.7m after 0ne month.

G-Force is set to launch in China on November 24, South Korea on January 21 2010, and Japan on March 20, 2010.

Surrogates added $6.1m from 1,963 screens in 38 territories for $60.3m with German-speaking Europe, Italy and Japan still to come. The sci-fi thriller opened as the top US title in France on $3.7m from 425.

WDSMPI reported an excellent debut for Disney’s first local Russian production Book Of Masters. The fantasy adventure is in the vein of the Chronicles Of Narnia films and opened top on $5.2m from 750 sites for the biggest family oriented release in history and the 12^th biggest debut for a Russian title.

Universal/UPI’s Inglourious Basterds will cross $300m worldwide any day now after the wartime saga added $3.9m from 2,400 venues in 50 territories to bring the international tally to $179.5m and the global result to $299m.

Quentin Tarantino scored a personal best in South Korea as the film debuted in third place on $970,000 from 211. There are five territories to go including Japan on November 20.

The comedy Couples Retreat grossed $2.3M from 1,010 in 11 for $21.9m and has 50 territories to release go. The key driver thus far have been Australia on $8.3m after four weekends and the UK on $7.7m after three.

Cirque Du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant grossed $1.9m from 987 in four for an early total of $7M.  The fantasy adventure took $500,000 from a third place launch in 300 Mexican theatres and stands at $3.7m in fifth place in the UK after two weekends.

The animated adventure 9 opened in eighth place the UK on $750,000 from 300 and Universal’s running total from the UK and earlier releases in Russia, Ukraine and others is $6.1m. Universal holds rights in the upcoming territories of Spain (January 1, 2010), Germany (February 25) and Italy (April 16).

Fast & Furious has amassed $9.3m after two weekends in Japan and the international total stands at $205.3m. Local title De Storm grossed a further $300,000 in the Netherlands from at 96 sites for $5.7m after seven and ranked fourth. The international total from the Netherlands and Belgium is $5.9m. The Invention Of Lying has taken $9.6M after five weekends in the UK and reaches Australia and New Zealand on November 26.

• Confirmed results from Fox International reveal that Fantastic Mr Fox snatched a further $2.5m from 486 venues in its second weekend in the UK for $9.1m and ranked third. The Japanese version of Sideways grossed $408,413 from 183 in its debut weekend in Japan.
• Jennifer’s Body added $2.2m from 677 screens in 24 markets for $10.4m and opens in the UK next weekend. Local Spanish hit Agora raised its tally in Spain to $24.9m after grossing a further $2.3m from 470 screens in its fourth weekend.
• 500 Days Of Summer added $1.3m from 630 screens in 19 markets for $19.6m. In its final major market debut, Aliens In The Attic took $442,206 in France from 210 screens and added $525,276 from 643 in 13 markets for the weekend and has grossed $33.7m internationally. Local title Wuestenblume added $370,000 in its sixth weekend in Germany for $8.5m.

The Final Destination added a further $3.5m from 1,230 screens in 45 Warner Bros Pictures International and New Line International market through for a $113.3m running total, according to final figures issued in Monday (November 2).