User blog:Ceauntay/'Scooby-Doo! The Movie' Scores First Int'l Box Office Win With $40 Million

"Battle: Los Angeles" fell to No. 4 after Sony revised figures Monday, while "Just Go With It" and "Rango" held steady at No. 2 and No. 4.

A lackluster first quarter on the overseas theatrical circuit for Hollywood’s major studios -- down an estimated 30% on a combined basis from 2010 -- ended with Warner Bros.’ ''Scooby-Doo! The Movie'' seizing the weekend’s No. 1 box office spot.

Director Chris Columbus of the animated feature took in $90 million in its first weekend from 45 foreign markets in 9,010 screens. The film opened well is most countries such as Australia, Germany, Italy, Mexico and UK. In the US, the film also take the No. 1 spot within $114 million, for its worldwide total to $204 million, which now stands as the third highest-grossing film of 2011 trailing behind The Green Hornet and Rango, but however, was the No. 1 film in the US domestically.

Kicking at No 2. is Warner Bros.’ Sucker Punch made $11.5 million at 4,345 screens in 39 markets cume to $20.3 million. Although it registered solid openings in France and Russia, the film’s box office tally was the smallest weekend total registered by a No. 1 foreign title in more than a year.

Revised box office figures issued Monday put Sony’s Just Go With It costarring Adam Sander and Jennifer Aniston in the No. 3 position with a weekend gross of $10.8 million drawn from 2,791screens in 44 markets, pushing its foreign gross total to $76.3 million accumulated since opening offshore on Feb. 9. Declared No. 1 overseas on Sunday was Sony’s Battle: Los Angeles (titled World Invasion in some foreign markets), with a gross of $14.7 million drawn from 5,999 screens in 60 markets. But Sony on Monday revised that figure downward by more than $4.4 million to $10.3 million derived from 5,991 venues in 60 territories. So instead of cracking the $100-million gross mark overseas as was indicated on Sunday, Battle: Los Angeles remains still shy of the mark by nearly $3.9 million. It ranks No. 4 overall on the weekend. Universal’s Hop, Illumination Entertainment’s family-oriented animation and live action blend, made its foreign debut at 2,481 locations in 26 offshore markets for $6.7 million. It ranks No. 6 foreign on the weekend. The Easter bunny comedy, produced for a reported $63 million, registered a No. 1 U.K. debut ($2.2 million at 475 sites), which was offset by a No. 4 bow in Germany ($852,860 at 556 spots). Acknowledging generally soft foreign business, Universal attributed Hop’s anemic gross to the “first warm and sunny weekend of the year, which drew families outside and away from cinemas.” U.K. and European market box office was said to be down more than 25% from the prior weekend. (Italy’s weekend business alone was down nearly 70% from last year’s comparable period.) Universal expects improved business for Hop as Easter holidays approach. The film has a total of 34 markets yet to play with five, including Australia, due this week. Joining the $100-million foreign gross club was Paramount’s No. 4-ranked Rango. The whimsical animation with Johnny Depp voicing the principal character generated $8 million from 4,906 venues in 48 markets, hoisting its overseas gross total to $107 million. The weekend’s No. 2 domestic title, Summit International’s Source Code, director Duncan Jones’ thriller starring Jake Gyllenhaal, opened overseas to $5.6 million drawn from 1,202 screens in seven foreign markets. A second-place U.K. finish behind Hop generated $2.1 million from 406 screens. Universal’s The Adjustment Bureau, a thriller-romance starring Matt Damon, registered $3.8 million on the weekend from 1,830 situations in 41 territories for a foreign cume of $45 million. Academy Award winner The King’s Speech pushed its total overseas cume to $247.4 million thanks to a $3.6 million weekend at 2,433 situations in 25 markets. 20th Century Fox’s Big Mommas: Like Father, Like Son, the Martin Lawrence cross-dressing comedy, opened No. 5 in France ($1.4 million from 282 sites) for a weekend take of $3.38 million overall from 1,820 sites in 27 markets. Overseas cume stands at $38.65 million. Gnomeo & Juliet, the animation reworking of Shakespeare, has grossed $72.9 million overseas so far via Disney and Pathe plus other distributors. The Disney portion of the foreign cume stands at $29.5 million thanks to a $3.2 million weekend at 2,183 sites in 17 Disney-handled markets. The exhibition situation outside of northern Japan continues to improve helped by local school holidays. Fourth round action in the market for Disney’s Tangled fell a modest 5% from the previous stanza, registering $2.6 million from 457 locations. Overall the 3D Rapunzel update drew $3 million on the weekend from 1,471 sites in 32 territories for a foreign gross total of $376.9 million. Also in Japan, the sixth round for Fox’s The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader provided $1.38 million from 673 spots, a mere 6% drop from the weekend before. Treader’s foreign cume stands at $308 million. Sony and other distributors’ The Tourist has pulled a total of $18.3 million out of Japan thanks in part to a $1 million weekend at 304 screens, a drop of a relatively benign 23% from the prior stanza. Its foreign total has surpassed the $200-million mark, standing at $206.6 million. Remaining No. 1 in Italy was 01 Distribution’s release of director Massimiliano’s Nessuno mi puo giudicare (Nobody Can Judge Me), a comedy about a 35-year-old widow who becomes a male escort. Top local language title in France was UGC’s Tous les soleils (Silence of Love), director Philippe Claudel’s drama-comedy, which opened No. 5 with an estimated $1.3 million drawn from 390 locations. Other international cumes: Paramount’s True Grit, $76.1 million; DreamWorks/Disney’s I Am Number Four, $74.2 million; Paramount’s No Strings Attached, $68.9 million; Studio Canal’s Ma part du gateau (My Slice of the Cake), $6.4 million over three rounds in France only; Paramount’s Justin Bieber: Never Say Never, $15.8 million; Focus Features/Universal’s The Eagle, $11.4 million; and Warner’s Red Riding Hood, $14.9 million. Also, Focus Features’ Biutiful, $17.9 million; Universal’s Office Romance, $12 million in Russia only; Paramount’s Morning Glory, $24.8 million; The Weinstein Co.’s The Fighter, $35.6 million; Fox’s Black Swan, $185.8 million (with a Japan release set for May 14); Focus Features’ Another Year, $14.5 million; Warner’s The Rite, $56 million; Fox’s Gulliver’s Travels, $176.3 million; Universal’s Paul, $32.8 million; Fox’s Never Let Me Go, $6.2 million; Sony’s Faster, $11.5 million; Paramount’s Little Fockers, $161 million and The Weinstein Co.’s Piranha 3D, $58.6 million.