Eat Pray, Despicable lead international pack

Julia Roberts drama Eat Pray Love, from Sony Pictures Releasing International (SPRI), produced a weekend total of $17.4m from 4,280 screens in 56 markets, for an international total so far of $64.1m.

The non-fiction book adaptation opened top in Australia with an estimated $3.6m from 328 screens. That was 5% better than the Australian openings of Hitch, The Devil Wears Prada and 27 Dresses, said SPRI.

The film opened at number two in Russia (local entry Dark World was top) with $1.6m from 225 screens (72% better than Hitch, said SPRI, and 91% better than 27 Dresses).

And it held up well in markets including Germany, where it was down 27% in its third week with $1.5m from 525 screens; Brazil, where the second-week drop was 38%, to $1.3m from 236; and Spain, where a 43% third-week drop led to $730,000 from 316.

The Social Network, also from SPRI, made its international start with an estimated $3.2m from 452 screens in seven markets.

The Facebook drama took $2.4m from 338 screens in Germany, good enough for second place in the local chart. It was also second in Austria, but it topped the chart in German-speaking Switzerland with $400,000 from 45 screens.

Universal/UPI’s Despicable Me grossed an estimated $16.6m from 3,500 dates in 35 territories over the weekend, raising its international total to $135.5m.

The animated comedy opened at number one in France with a strong $5.3m from 655 dates. It opened top in Spain with $3.1m from 575 dates.

The film stayed top in Germany with $3.8m (down only 29%) from 797 dates, for an 11-day total of $10.6m, and it slipped only 31% in Korea, with $500,000 from 224 dates, for a 25-day total of $8.1m.

Legend Of The Guardians: the Owls of Ga’Hoole, from Warner Bros Pictures International (WBPI), generated an estimated $11.3m (representing nearly 2m admissions) from over 4,500 screens in 35 markets, bringing its international total to $25.8m.

The animated adventure opened top by a wide margin in Mexico with $2.2m from 969 screens and second in Brazil (behind local entry Tropa De Elite) with $1.5m from 223.

In Australia, where it was made, Legend was down just 31% in its second weekend with $906,000 from 350 screens, for a local total of $3.4m.

Fox International’s Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps took an estimated $10.3m from 3,526 screens in 58 markets this weekend, for an international total to date of $37.1m.

The Oliver Stone sequel opened top in the UK with $2.9m from 438 screens and second in Spain with $2m from 330.

Among holdover territories, the film took $917,000 from 410 screens in France, $716,000 from 254 in Australia, and $460,000 from 223 in Russia.

Longtime international leader Resident Evil: Afterlife took an estimated $8m this weekend, including $4.5m from 2,640 screens in the 45 markets in which SPRI is distributing. The franchise installment’s best market was Japan, where it slipped just 34% in its fifth week to take $2m from 657 screens. The film’s international total (including non-SPRI markets) now stands at $198.7m.

Fox International’s Knight & Day had a late-run surge this weekend, with a big opening in Japan and an overall estimate of $7.3m, for an international total of $161.6m.

In Japan, the Tom Cruise/Cameron Diaz action romp opened top with nearly $6m from 589 screens. In Italy it took $1.3m from 413 screens, for fourth place.

Fox’s Vampires Suck earned $2.4m from 1,299 screens in 16 markets this weekend, for an international total so far of $30.8m. The studio’s Diary of a Wimpy Kid took $648,000 from 209 screens in Australia and $237,000 from 315 in the UK, for an international total of $10.3m.

Avatar Special Edition added $555,000 - from 268 screens in 9 markets - to the massive total for Fox’s $2bn-plus international behemoth while the studio’s Marmaduke scratched out another $346,000 from 435 screens in the UK and Sweden, bringing its international total to $48.5m.

Fox’s Brazilian production, Nosso Lar added $632,000 from 343 screens in its home market, for a total in the territory of $16.4m. And Indian production Khichdi took $253,000 from 194 screens in its home market, for a local total of $1.6m.

WBPI’s The Town generated an estimated $4m (500,000 admissions) over the weekend from over 1,300 screens in 12 territories, for an international total to date of $18.8m. The crime drama opened in Italy with $1.2m from 259 screens and reached local totals of $6.6m in France, $6m in the UK, and $2m in Germany.

The Other Guys, from SPRI, came out of the weekend with $3.6m from 1,400 screens in 35 markets, for an international total so far of $28.1m. The buddy comedy opened top in Sweden and was down only 32% over its fourth weekend in the UK, to $1.1m from 408 screens and a total of $11.1m.

Also from Sony, Grown Ups added $2.3m from 1,245 screens in 45 markets, becoming star Adam Sandler’s biggest international performer with $102.3m to date.

Universal/UPI’s Charlie St Cloud took an estimated $3.2m from 1,568 dates in 23 territories for an international total of $8m. The drama opened at number three in the UK with $1.1m from 373 dates and at number six in Germany with $780,000 from 270 dates.

Also from Universal/UPI, Devil grossed an estimated $1m from 912 dates in 17 territories, raising its early international total to $11.2m; re-release Back to the Future grossed $325,000 from 241 dates over its second weekend in the UK, for a total of $1.5m; and Senna, a Working Title/Midfield Films documentary about Brazilian Formula One legend Ayrton Senna, debuted in Japan with an estimated $240,000 from 23 screens.

From Paramount/PPI, The Last Airbender grossed an estimated $2.2m from 1,346 locations in 60 markets, for an international total of $180.5m, and DreamWorks comedy Dinner for Schmucks took $1.5m from 776 locations across 20 territories, for a total of $11m.

PPI’s local pick-up Made in Dagenham was down only 15% for its second weekend in the UK, grossing $911,000 from 360 locations, for a $3m total in the market.

And the studio’s Australian action thriller Tomorrow, When the War Began grossed $515,000 from 253 locations in Australia and New Zealand, for a total so far in those markets of $12.8m.

Toy Story 3, from Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures International (WDSMPI), earned another $1.1m this weekend, for an international total of $644.4m, making the animated sequel the ninth biggest international performer ever, according to the studio, and Disney’s third biggest.

WDSMPI also reported a $1m weekend take for The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, pushing that film’s international total to $149.9m.