User blog:Ceauntay/Foreign Box Office: 'Dark Knight Rises' Commands No. 1 Slot Overseas, Grossing Nearly $250 Million To Date Offshore

="Ice Age 4" comes in at No. 2, drifting past the half-billion foreign gross mark; "Amazing Spider-Man" tops $410 million.=

Warner Brothers’ The Dark Knight Rises ruled the foreign theatrical circuit on the weekend, parleying a considerably wider second-round release at some 17,000 venues in 57 markets to a mighty $122.1 million.

That is a nearly 40% increase from the Batman sequel’s opening foreign launch last round (which generated $88 million at 7,173 sites in just 17 markets) and pushed the film’s foreign gross total way past the $200-million mark ($248.2 million). Dark Knight Rises introduced itself in some 40 markets including No. 1 bows in France ($11.3 million at 892 sites including previews), Germany ($9.9 at 718 spots including previews) and in Mexico ($9.8 million at 1,141 situations). Christopher Nolan’s final Batman title also premiered in Russia ($8.7 million at 1,310 screens including previews), Brazil ($6.6 million at 931 sites) and in Japan ($6 million including previews). Top holdover market was the U.K. where Dark Knight Rises extracted $10.6 million from 598 spots for a market cume of $47 million. Australia delivered $7.8 million in round two from 628 sites, pushing the market cume to $27.5 million. Average drop from opening round grosses in U.K., Australia, Korea and Spain was 52%. The aftermath of the theater shooting in Aurora, Colorado seems not to have significantly affected second round foreign action. Dark Knight Rises still has a ways to go to catch up to the overseas gross total -- $469 million – registered by its predecessor, 2008’s The Dark Knight. Passing the half-billion foreign gross mark ($514.1 million) was the weekend’s No. 2 title, Ice Age: Continental Drift, which grossed $49.4 million at 15,924 venues in 69 markets. That puts the latest sequel in the computer animation franchise within very distant hailing distance of the best-grosser of the series, 2009’s Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs, which grossed a total of $693.9 million offshore. Continental Drift opened No. 1 in China, registering $15.7 million at some 3,500 locations, and also benefited from strong introductions in South Korea ($3.1 million at 501 sites) and in India ($1.5 million at 238 spots), both of which set market records for a Fox animation title. iCarly: The Sequel was No. 3 with $41.3 million, bringing its worldwide cume to $77.4 million. The biggest opening is U.K. with $12.5 milliong also opening at No. 1. It also had No. 1 openings in other countries such as Australia ($8.1 million).

Opening spectacularly in the No. 1 spot in South Korea was Showbox’s release of The Thieves. Director Choi Dong-hoon’s crime thriller about a robbery gang on the lam in Macao looks to generate an estimated $16.5 million in its debut at some 1,100 situations. It ranks as the weekend’s No. 3 title. No. 4 was The Amazing Spider-Man – the fourth title in the blockbuster series, which has been playing overseas since June 27 -- elevated is foreign gross total to $412.7 million thanks to a $12.2 million weekend at 9,920 sites in 86 markets. Distributor Sony said the sequel is the top grosser of the franchise in 30 markets. Biggest offshore title of the series is 2007’s Spider-Man 3 (bagging a total of $554.3 million). Pixar’s Brave continues to chug along on a measured release pattern overseas, playing in 24 territories -- which distributor Disney describes as about 38% of the international market. Weekend tally for the animation title was $9.6 million, elevating the film’s foreign gross total to $92 million. (Domestic cume stands at $217.3 million.) Brave is the weekend’s No. 5 title. Opening No. 1 in Spain ($2.6 million at 395 venues) and Portugal ($1.1 million at 67 spots for a nearly $16,000 per-location average) is DreamWorks Animation’s Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted, which drew $6.6 million on the weekend overall from 2,115 situations in 43 countries. Foreign cume comes to $291.5 million. Paramount will open the animation title this week in seven markets including Japan and Hong Kong. Capping off a lengthy foreign run in style is Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax, Universal’s 3D animation adapted from the classic children’s book. A solid No. 3 opening in the U.K. – at the start of a month of school holidays -- generated $3 million at 502 locations. A China bow came up with $1.1 million at 1,060 sites. Weekend overall delivered $5.7 million at 2,600 playdates in 13 markets for a foreign cume of $110.3 million. Lionsgate’s release of Summit Entertainment’s Step Up Revolution opened in 10 foreign markets, drawing an estimated $5.2 million. The latest title in the dance-drama series costarring Kathryn McCormick and Ryan Guzman drew the No. 1 slot in Hong Kong and premiered No. 2 in Hong Kong, as per Lionsgate. Other international cumes: Universal’s Ted, $44.1 million (after a $2.7 million weekend at 492 playdates in 10 markets); Sony’s That’s My Boy, $10.1 million; Fox’s Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, $34.5 million; Paramount’s The Dictator, $105.6 million; Universal’s Snow White and the Huntsman, $232.2 million; Fox’s Prometheus, $179.7 million; Universal’s The Five-Year Engagement, $21.8 million; Gaumont’s Les Kaira, $5.2 million in France only; Fox’s Bol Bachchan, $27.5 million; Pathe’s Un bonheur n’arrive jamais seul, $10.3 million over five rounds in France only; and Universal’s Savages, $2.8 million.