'Avatar' still dominating overseas boxoffice

Now the second-highest-grossing title ever worldwide, "Avatar" wound down a month of total foreign theatrical domination on the weekend with a boxoffice tally of $151 million – $8 million more than was reported Sunday and a 10% increase from the prior weekend -- from 15,301 screens in 111 markets.
 
"Avatar's" overseas cume of $915 million significantly outpaces comparable domestic action, more than double its $430.7 million domestic take in the U.S. and Canada.
 
In addition, director James Cameron's mega-budget, 3D epic is approaching the $1.242 billion overseas boxoffice record established by the director's 1997 smash "Titanic."
 
Distributor 20th Century Fox said that at "Avatar's" current torrid overseas boxoffice pace, the film will "cross the $1 billion (offshore) barrier by Thursday or Friday of this week, with 'Titanic's' 13-year record cume in its sights."
 
Worldwide, the boxoffice total for James Cameron's sci-fi epic is now $1.346 billion, $497 million behind the $1.843 billion all-time worldwide record set by "Titanic."
 
Maintaining a blazing pace on the overseas circuit -- grossing an average of nearly $28 million per day from last Monday through Wednesday, the slowest days of the week -- "Avatar" added a record-setting opening week in China to its offshore boxoffice luster.
 
An opening seven-day surge there generated a whopping $41.4 million from 2,474 screens, which Fox called the market's biggest opening-week gross ever. The Saturday tally in China came to $8.3 million, a single-day market record.
 
In France, the latest round realized $12.6 million from 1,111 sites, with the market cume topping the $100 million mark ($101.4 million), the first offshore territory to do so. Russia weighed in with $11.1 million from 927 sites for a market cume of $78.4 million. Germany generated $9.8 million from 994 screens for a cume of $73.4 million.
 
The U.K. cume stands at $67 million thanks to a $7.75 million weekend from 854 locations. (Severe winter weather in the U.K. inhibited boxoffice generally in the market.) Other big market cumes include Australia ($57.9 million), Spain ($60.1 million), South Korea ($54.7 million) and Japan ($50.8 million). An Italy opening begins Friday.
 
Because of its uniquely must-see-in-digital-3D factor, "Avatar" is drawing the vast majority of its overseas boxoffice from 3D venues, which charge higher admission prices. Through its third weekend, per Fox, conventional 2D sites generated 36% of the film's overseas gross total, while 3D locations produced a full 64%.
 
By comparison, 2009's biggest overseas grosser, Fox's "Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs," which was also released in 3D, drew only 41% of its $691.2 million offshore take from 3D venues.
 


"Up," the Pixar 3D animation feature and Disney's top-grossing release of 2009, realized 44% of its $430.4 million overseas cume from 3D venues vs. 56% derived from 2D sites. ("Up" is still playing in Japan, where the market cume through the weekend stands at $46.6 million.)
 
Imax Corp. reported that "Avatar" grossed $4.6 million from overseas Imax theaters on the weekend, up 13% from the prior round. The company described action at its China sites as "staggering and record-breaking. In fact, in a great part due to China, Saturday was the single biggest international day in Imax history with $1.65 million" in grosses.
 
There are a total of 179 Imax venues playing "Avatar" in the U.S. and Canada and another 82 sites overseas.
 
Worldwide cume for "Avatar" from Imax venues is about $91 million as of Sunday night, with the $100 million mark to be passed this week, per Imax. This would "be a first for us for a Hollywood feature."
 
Warner Bros.' release of "Sherlock Holmes," director Guy Ritchie's version of Arthur Conan Doyle's detective fiction, finished a distant second on the weekend with $26.9 million derived from 5,380 screens in 45 territories. The film, co-starring Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law, has accumulated $131.3 million overseas thus far, with $25.1 million coming from the U.K., $24.3 million from Italy and $16.4 million from Australia.
 
Finishing third on the weekend was Fox's family-oriented "Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel," which lured $21.8 million from 6,248 screens in 56 territories for an overseas cume of $136.2 million and a worldwide total of $314.3 million. A No. 1 Brazil opening provided a lusty $3.5 million from 298 locations for a per-screen average of $11,745.
 
No. 4 was Sony's romantic comedy "Did You Hear About the Morgans?" which showed boxoffice traction overseas with an $8.2 million weekend from 1,887 screens in 18 markets for an early foreign cume of $15.5 million. The Hugh Grant-Sarah Jessica Parker vehicle opened in at least 10 territories, with a No. 2 bow in Germany leading the pack ($2.25 million from 500 sites).
 
Finishing fifth was Universal's "It's Complicated," writer-director Nancy Meyers' romantic comedy with Meryl Streep, which generated $7.8 million from 1,760 situations in 17 markets, raising its overseas take to $23.3. A strong Australia opening provided $3.1 million from 304 sites.
 
Making a big Italy splash was Warner Bros.' local-language production "Io, loro e Lara" (I, They and Lara), director Carlo Verdone's ensemble comedy about a missionary priest and his family. The film opened at No. 1 in the market, grossing $7.1 million from 670 screens on the weekend. The full opening Italy launch produced $12.4 million.