Box Office Report: ‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2’ Sets Opening Record Abroad

A record-smashing debut ends a record-setting foreign run.

The most successful film series in history rolled out its eighth and concluding chapter as Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 opened at some  20,000 overseas screens in 59 foreign territories, grossing an eye-popping $312.3 million — $5.3 million more than Sunday’s estimate — over a five-day opening surge.

It was a record opening on the foreign theatrical circuit, handily beating the overseas kickoff of Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides in late May, which drew $260.4 million over five days from 18,210 screens in 65 markets.

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Deathly Hallows – Part 2’sforeign box office was nearly double its record domestic opening gross of $169.2 million. Worldwide, the latest Harry Potter installment – the first in 3D – drew $481.5 million, also a record. 

Significantly, 60% of the revenue offshore was derived from 3D venues (which totaled about 46% of the total screen count) in contrast to the 43% 3D slice registered in the U.S. and Canada. While 3D is losing steam domestically, the format (and its higher admission prices) continues its strong appeal on the foreign circuit.

As per figures from distributor Warner Bros.,Deathly Hallows –Part 2  is obviously off to the best offshore start of any title in the 10-year Harry Potter franchise. That’s critical since the first seven Harry Potter titles grossed significantly higher amounts offshore than in the U.S. and Canada – of the total of $6.4 billion amassed worldwide, $4.4 billion came from foreign playoff.

Top overseas franchise earner to date is 2010’s Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1, which grossed $659 million offshore, more than double its domestic take.

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Deathly Hallows – Part 2 drew double-digit openings in 10 major markets with debut records established in the U.K. ($38 million from 582 venues), Australia, ($27.1 million from 754 sites), Russia ($19.5 million from 1,563 spots) and Italy ($15.7 million from 988 situations). The Germany opening tally was $26 million from 1,641 locations.  France kicked in $24.5 million from 1,195 spots, Japan recorded $21.9 million from 922 spots while Korea came up with $11.3 million from 636 sites. A China opening is set for Aug. 4.

 After just three rounds of playtime on the foreign theatrical circuit, Paramount’s Transformers: Dark of the Moon in 3D has eclipsed the total overseas box office action recorded by 2007’s Transformers and 2009’s Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.  It ranks as the weekend’s No. 2 foreign title.

A $37.5 million stanza at 8,475 venues in 53 markets hoisted Dark of the Moon’s foreign cume to $459.4 million — $69.6 million more than the franchise original’s offshore gross and $25.2 more than the sequel’s final tally. A China debut is due July 21.

No. 3, Pixar/Disney’s Cars 2, grossed $12.4 million in its fourth weekend on the foreign circuit, down 52% from the prior round.  Director John Lassiter’s animation comedy has registered a total overseas tally of $146.6 million thus far with openings in the U.K. and South Korea due this week.

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Fourth was DreamWorks Animation’s Kung Fu Panda 2 in 3D, which has grossed $422.3 million so far overseas thanks to a $9.46 million weekend at 4,578 locations in 45 territories. No. 5 was 20^th Century Fox’s Mr. Popper’s Penguins, the Jim Carrey comedy, which drew $7.1 million from 2,501 screens in 38 territories for a foreign cume of $40 million.

Sony’s Bad Teacher starring Cameron Diaz, drew $6.9 million from 2,153 sites in 31 markets, pushing the comedy’s offshore total to $58.6 million. Zookeeper, Sony’s talking animals comedy starring Kevin James laughed all the way to $5.8 million drawn from 1,552 situations in 17 markets, pushing the foreign total so far to $16.5 million.

Universal’s Bridesmaids, continues to draw respectable numbers overseas, grossing $5.4 million at 1,147 screens in 16 territories. The female-oriented comedy has registered a total of $58.9 million so far offshore. Openings in about 15 markets including Germany and  Austria are due this week.

Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides pushed its foreign box office total to $791.4 million thanks to a $3.1 million weekend, down 52% from the prior session.  Worldwide gross stands at $1.029 billion, making the fourth Pirates sequel starring Johnny Depp the sixth biggest release of all time.

Top local language title in France for the second consecutive weekend was Mars Distribution’s Case Depart about a pair of half brothers. Holding the No. 2 spot, the time-shifting comedy drew $2.9 million from 411 screens for a market cume of $8.3 million over two rounds.

Other international cumes: Paramount’s Super 8, $54.4 million; Focus Features’ Beginners, $2.9 million; Universal’s Honey 2, $3.9 million; Fox’s X-Men: First Class, $204.6 million; Focus Features’ Biutiful, $19.7 million; Universal’s Barney’s Version, $1.39 million in Spain and Germany only; Mars Distribution’s Midnight in Paris, $15 million in France only; Focus Features’ Jane Eyre, $1.9 million; Universal’s Hop, $72.4 million; Europa’s Tree of Life, $6.8 million over 10 rounds in France only; Universal’s Fast Five, $393.8 million; Paramount’s Thor, $266 million; Universal’s The Adjustment Bureau, $64.9 million; Fox’s Monte Carlo, $3.2 million; and Universal’s Senna, $8.1 million.