International - Canine and able

Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures International's Beverly Hills Chihuahua was the highest new entry at number seven in Screen's international chart for the October 3-5 weekend, debuting just one place ahead of new Japanese crime thriller Suspect X.

The talking-dog family comedy, follows the titular Chihuahua, Chloe (voiced by Drew Barrymore), and her journey back to Hollywood after getting lost on a holiday in Mexico. It opened in five territories day-and-date alongside North America where the film took the top spot with a $29m gross.

Internationally the film took $5.3m from 835 engagements, including $1.5m from Australia, and just over $2m from 450 screens in Mexico, which placed it in first position, with a 20% bigger opening than Alvin And The Chipmunks in the same territory.

The film is scheduled for a staggered international release over the rest of 2008 and into early 2009, with France, Germany and the UK seeing the film debut in March.

Hiroshi Nishitani's Suspect X took first place in its home territory, easily outperforming the other new entry, Toei's Masked Rider Den-O: Final Countdown, which, with $1.7m takings, had to settle for second place. The Japanese chart was dominated by home-grown films, with eight local films accounting for 83.1% of the $15m top 10.

With Toho distributing, Suspect X grossed $5.2m from 410 screens, taking the highest average of the chart, with almost $13,000 per screen. The company has predicted a final cumulative gross for the film of approximately $40m.

Now in its 14th international week, Universal's Mamma Mia! The Movie was once again top of the table, with a mere 9% drop in week-on-week takings across 48 territories. The film grossed $14.3m from 4,222 screens for a $3,000 average. With the international cumulative now at $377m, and eight further territories in which to open, the film should easily pass the $400m marker.