Deathly premonitions ruled the overseas boxoffice during the weekend as “The Final Destination” in 3D emerged as the international circuit’s No. 1 boxoffice title for the second consecutive round, extracting $17.7 million from 2,880 screens in 28 territories.
A 10-territory increase in markets played by the fourth title in New Line’s horror-thriller franchise resulted in a $2.2 million boost from the previous weekend’s gross. Even so, the weekend take for the tale of young people’s lethal forebodings was the eighth lowest this year for a No. 1 title, indicating a generally slow post-summer session overseas.
Warner Bros. is handling “Destination” overseas along with independent distributors. A No. 1 Russian opening yielded $6.5 million from 600 sites for a mighty $10,833 per-screen average. Accumulated U.K. boxoffice over three rounds is $17.5 million.
“Destination’s” international cume from all distributors is $55.6 million; worldwide, the gross is $113.9 million. Korea opens Oct. 1 and a Mexico debut is set for Oct. 9.
No. 2 on the weekend was a German-language title, Constantin/Film Verleih’s “Wickie und die starken Manner,” director Michael Herbig’s family adventure about a timid Viking youth taking to the sea. Its mighty opening round in Germany generated $9.8 million from 746 locations. A first place Austria debut produced another $2.3 million from 97 sites for a total weekend take from the two markets of $12.1 million.
Third was Quentin Tarantino’s “Inglourious Basterds,” which is expected to cross the $100 million foreign boxoffice mark today. The World War II drama drew $10.3 million during the weekend at 2,714 locations in 36 territories.
In France, it finished No. 1 with $2 million from 519 sites. Its foreign cume is $99.9 million after four rounds overseas.
Universal said “Basterds” has 26 markets still to play including such key territories as Italy, Spain, Brazil, Mexico, Japan and Korea. “Basterds” opened No. 1 in Poland during the weekend with $678,00 from 78 sites for a nearly $8,700 per-screen average. This week will see debuts in Israel, Lebanon, Singapore and Spain.
In fourth place was Pixar/Disney’s animated “Up,” which continued it marathon overseas push with a $8.4 million weekend from 3,114 screens in 21 territories. Its total overseas cume is $181.3 million. This week, the film rolls out fully in Australia and opens in German-speaking markets.
No. 5 was the sci-fi drama “District 9” — being handled by Sony and other distributors — which landed $8.1 million during the weekend to push its foreign cume to $35.7 million. It opened No. 1 in Spain ($2.9 million from 355 sites) and remained on top in its second U.K. round with $1.9 million from 552 situations for a market cume of $7.8 million.
Summit International introduced slasher-horror title “Sorority Row” starring Rumer Willis (daughter of Demi Moore and Bruce Willis) in three markets (U.K., Australia and Mexico) for a total weekend tally of $1.6 million from 659 screens. The U.K. opening gross was $1.3 million from 345 locations.
Thanks to a No. 1 third round in Italy ($4.8 million from 884 screens), Fox’s “Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs” came up with $7 million overall during the weekend from 3,521 screens in 35 markets. Its international cume stands at $670.4 million.
Sony’s “The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3” lifted its foreign gross to $56.4 million thanks to a $4 million weekend at 2,061 locations in 52 markets. The subway suspense title opened at No. 1 in Venezuela and Chile and No. 2 in Colombia and New Zealand.
A pair of romantic comedies generated similar weekend grosses: Sony’s “The Ugly Truth,” starring Katherine Heigl, remains No. 1 in Mexico and drew $3.7 million overall from 1,371 screens in 28 territories for a cume of $33.7 million. Disney’s “The Proposal,” starring Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds, elicited $3.6 million from 2,191 screens in 44 markets for a cume of $130.2 million.
Universal is releasing Focus Features’ “9” in eight markets, with openings in Russia, Ukraine and Estonia during the weekend. Its tally was $2.7 million from 488 sites. Paramount’s “G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra” boosted its cume to $144.7 million thanks to a $3.2 million weekend at 3,506 spots in 57 markets.
Japan’s dominant No. 1 title was Toho’s release of “20th Century Boys – Chapter 3,” a manga-based live action thriller, which grossed $3.6 million from 374 locations. In just three rounds “Boys” has compiled a single-market total of $31 million.
In France, Lionsgate/Lakeshore Entertainment’s virtual reality outing “Gamer” starring Gerard Butler opened at No. 5 with $1.3 million derived from 342 screens. Market-wide, the best local-language title was Mars Distribution’s “Le Coach,” a comedy directed by Olivier Doran. Its No. 2 opening weekend across the market provided $1.8 million from 345 locations.
Meanwhile, TFM’s “Neuilly sa Mere,” the No. 3 market tile during the weekend, has taken in a total of $15.4 million over five frames. Director Jacques Audiard’s prison drama “The Prophet,” which finished No. 4, has made off with $6.2 million over three stanzas.
Other international cumes: Universal’s “Funny People,” $9.1 million (after a $2.2 million weekend at 743 sites in seven territories); Sony’s “Julie & Julia,” $3 million (after a $1.5 million weekend at 763 screens in five markets, including a No. 6 bow in the U.K.); Universal’s “Public Enemies,” $96.9 million; Fox’s “X-Men Origins: Wolverine,” $187.7 million (thanks to a second place $2 million Japan opening at 514 sites); Disney’s “G-Force,” $80.1 million (after $2.7 million from 2,668 sites in 28 territories); Warners’ “The Hangover,” $174.5 million (thanks to a $3.8 million weekend from 2,140 screens in 52 markets); Fox’s “Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian,” $236 million; DreamWorks/Universal’s “The Soloist,” $1.2 million; Fox’s “Aliens in the Attic,” $23.2 million; Warner’s “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince,” $624 million foreign and $922.4 million worldwide; “Drag Me To Hell,” $11.8 million (from five Universal territories only); “Bruno” (handled overseas by three distributors), $77.8 million; Summit International’s “Knowing,” $101.2 million; Paramount’s “Dance Flick,” $3.9 million’ Fox’s “High Security Vacation,” $16.3 million (Russia only); Paramount’s “Case 39,” $5.2 million; and Fox’s “(500) Days of Summer,” $4 million.
