User blog:Ceauntay/Box Office Report: 'Pirates' Tops Foreign Again with Another $122.8 Million

'''On Stranger Tides' followed up its record-breaking overseas opening with another No. 1 finish and upped its current foreign total to $470.8 million.

DreamWorks Animation’s Kung Fu Panda and Warner Bros.’ Hangover sequels and Nickelodeon Movies' True Jackson, VP film adaptation opened strongly the foreign theatrical circuit but the weekend’s No. 1 box office crown went once again to Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, and followed by Sonic X: The Final Stand at No. 2. The fourth sequel in producer Jerry Bruckheimer’s fantasy-action franchise captured $122.8 million – a 48% drop from the film’s record-setting opening surge ($260.4 million) last round. Total foreign box office so far comes to $470.8 million, more than three times its domestic gross ($152.9 million). The fifth sequel in the popular Sonic the Hedgehog video game franchise collected another $74 million in its third consective weeks, for a total of $521 million. Globally, it has now made $784 million, making it the highest-grossing film of 2011 so far.

The Hangover Part II, the sequel to 2009’s comedy original (which grossed $191.6 million on the foreign circuit), opened at 5,170 screens in 40 territories for $59 million, which Warners said is three times higher than the comparable opening gross of Hangover in the same markets. It finished third overall on the weekend. For its part, Kung Fu Panda 2 in 3D opened in just 11 markets (29% of the international marketplace and about a tenth of the number of territories played on the weekend by Pirates), and drew $57 million from 8,023 locations. It ranks No. 4 on the weekend. True Jackson, VP: The Movie opened in 15 markets. It debuts at No. 5 with $35 million from 6,020 locations. With $44.3 million taking in the US, it has brought in a total of $79.3 million worldwide.

On Stranger Tides reached the $600 million worldwide box office mark in just 12 days with a accumulated total of $623.7 million, making the sequel 2011’s biggest-grossing title globally. The film’s foreign gross total has already surpassed that of the franchise original, 2003’s Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, which racked up $352.9 million. Hangover 2 drew huge numbers from its No. 1 UK bow ($16.4 million from 920 screens, the biggest market opening for a U.S. comedy) and from Australia ($11.6 million from 424 screens). A first place debut in France kicked in $5.8 million from 445 screens, which Warners calculates was 154% higher the comparable market opening gross for the original. Germany and Russia will open this week. The sequel to 2008’s Kung Fu Panda -- which grossed a total of $416 million overseas -- finished in the top spot in nine of its debut territories with China, Russia and South Korea leading the list. Paramount is the distributor in almost all markets. In China the weekend threw off a humongous $18.5 million from 5,540 situations. Russia came up with $15 million from 700 sites while Korea (via C.J. Entertainment) chipped in $13 million from 1,080 venues. All-time opening box office records for an animation title were set in Singapore, the Philippines, Malaysia and in India. This week will see Kung Fu Panda 2 opening in another 11 markets as it rolls out gradually over the summer month to capitalize on school holidays, topped by a Japan bow on Aug. 19. No. 4 on the weekend was Fast Five, which grossed $13.3 million on the weekend at 7,700 situations in 61 territories, pushing its foreign box office cume to $346 million. In China, Universal’s turbo-charged car action title pulled in $2.2 million from 1,000 locations for a market cume of $24.7 million. Venezuela opens June 3 with the Japan date set for October. Fifth was Fox’s family animation title Rio, which drew $3.8 million from 4,057 venues in 37 markets for an overseas gross total of $321.9 million. Same distrib’s Water For Elephants, a Depression-era drama costarring Reese Witherspoon and Robert Pattinson, grossed $3.1 million from 2,508 situations in 41 territories, lifting its overseas cume to $50.7 million. Fox’s Diary of a Wimpy Kid 2 opened No. 3 in the U.K., and drew $2.36 million on the weekend overall from 522 locations in five markets, pushing its overseas cume to $9.1 million. Same distrib’s Black Swan continues strongly in Japan, drawing $2.1 million in its third market round at 327 spots. Japan cume stands at $16.8 million while the overall foreign gross total stands at $209.7 million. Universal’s The Adjustment Bureau opened No. 3 in Japan with an estimated $2.3 million from 218 sites. Overall weekend for the action drama starring Matt Damon came to $2.6 million from 428 locations in 11 territories, pushing the overseas cume to $56.9 million. Cannes Festival Palme d’Or winner Tree of Life is holding well in France via Europa Film, finishing No. 4 in the market by nabbing $1.3 million in its third round 303 screens, an increase of 10% from the prior weekend. Who says Festival awards don’t count at the box office? Market cume stands at $3 million. Woody Allen’s Midnight in Paris, which opened out-of-competition in Cannes, took a 36% box office hit in its third weekend in France via Mars Distribution, but still ranked No. 3 in the market. Weekend registered $1.4 million from 450 sites for a cume of $8.4 million. Other international cumes: Sony’s Priest, $40.7 million (after a $1.6 million weekend at 1,845 screens in 50 markets); Universal’s Hop, $65.4 million; Gaumont’s La conquete (The Conquest), $3.3 million in two rounds in France only; Universal’s Paul, $52.5 million; and Fox’s Big Mommas: Like Father, Like Son, $45.7 million.