International - Cliff scales the heights

Nine new entries wrestled their way into Screen's international chart this week, with Japan, South Korea, India, Germany, China and France providing new films alongside the big Hollywood blockbusters.

Japanese films continue to make their mark with two further entries opening in their home territory this week.

Ponyo On The Cliff - Hayao Miyazaki's animated feature about a young boy's relationship with a goldfish princess who longs to be human - jostled its way to ninth position, taking $9.6m from 481 screens.

Japan's second new offering the week is the latest instalment in the Pokemon franchise, Pokemon 2008, which follows three places behind Ponyo at number 12, taking $6.6m from 359 screens.

The two films also took the second and third-highest screen averages of the week, with $19,965 and $18,320 per screen, respectively.

Both films are released by Toho, which is responsible for distributing four of the six Japanese films in this week's chart.

Korean outlaws ride high

South Korea provided the highest non-US entry with The Good, The Bad, The Weird which charted at number eight.

Set in the 1930s, the film follows three Korean outlaws and their encounters with the Japanese army and Chinese bandits.

The film took $10.6m in its opening weekend, averaging $13,028 from 816 screens. CJ Entertainment is distributing the film, and is also handling the other South Korean film in the chart, Public Enemy Returns, which dropped to 35th place.

UTV Communication's Indian title Kismet Konnection began its first week in the chart at number 15. The film stars Shahid Kapoor as a down-on-his-luck architect, who is told by a gypsy fortune-teller he needs someone to be his lucky charm. The film opened in 18 territories, taking $5.7m from 831 screens.

In the middle of the table, a trio of new entries narrowly missed out on top 20 rankings, with Freche Madchen (Germany), Storm Rider - Clash Of Evil (China) and Nos 18 Ans (France) charting at 21st, 24th and 25th respectively.

Teen drama Frechen Madchen, which is based on a popular series of books, took $1.9m from 401 screens and was released by Constantin Films.

Shanghai Media's Storm Rider took $1.3m from 200 screens, with TF1's Nos 18 Ans following closely with $1.2m from 272 screens.

Czech period drama Bathory retains the highest screen average accolade, after debuting in the chart last week (review p21). The film, which is based on the legends surrounding the Countess Erzsebet Bathory and directed by Juraj Jakubisko, had a $21,059 screen average from just 38 screens in Slovakia and its home territory, adding $800,243 to its cumulative gross of $2.3m.

Space Chimps fly

Two US entries enter the chart this week, albeit at opposite ends of the table. Space Chimps (review p22) made its international debut four places from the bottom at number 36. The simian space animation took $621,689 from 274 screens, in three territories.

The Dark Knight made a predictably high debut in the chart, but had to settle for second place as Hancock still holds onto the international chart crown.

Will Smith's film, about a flawed superhero, took $45.7m from 71 territories, its widest release to date. With weekend takings, the film easily surpassed the $250m mark in its third week on release.

Christopher Nolan's sequel to Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, opened in 20 territories this week and took $37.5m from 4,064 screens - less than half the number of screens Hancock played. With previews included, the film's cumulative gross has already crossed $40m.