User blog:Ceauntay/Foreign Box Office: 'The Smurfs' Beat the Heat and Emerge No. 1

=Weather is hotter than the box office in Europe this weekend as 'Apes' and 'Harry Potter' take No. 2 and No. 3 spots.=

Bucking torrid temperatures across Europe, which depressed overall weekend box office on the foreign theatrical circuit, The Smurfs captured the No. 1 spot overseas with a gross of $35.3 million – down 34% from the prior stanza – at 10,590 screens in 54 markets.

The family-oriented 3D outing from Sony animation about those lovable blue creatures finished in the top spots in at least nine territories including Poland ($1.45 million drawn in its debut round at 129 venues), Colombia, Israel, Chile, Portugal, Austria and in Brazil ($3.9 million in the third round from 507 locations for a market cume of $22.2 million). The Smurfs, which topped the foreign circuit for the second consecutive weekend, has accumulated total offshore gross of $211.4 million since it opened overseas on July 27. Worldwide, the tally is $329 million. PHOTOS: 8 Billion Dollar Babies: Movies That Have Crossed The 10 Figure Mark The weekend’s No. 2 was, again, 20th Century Fox’s Rise of the Planet of the Apes, which collected $29.6 million from 6,271 venues in 48 markets. A No. 2 bow in South Korea generated $7 million from 525 situations. The seventh installment of the 47-year-old feature film series has amassed a total of $123.7 million so far overseas. Landing at No. 3 once again was Warner Bros.’ Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2, which generated $14.3 million on the weekend from 60 territories. Foreign cume for the eighth title in the lucrative franchise stands at $900 million, with $110.6 million coming from the U.K., making HP8 the market’s fourth biggest box office hit ever. PHOTOS: Summer Movie Guide Debuts in six markets including a No. 2 bow in France ($3.5 million from 480 locations) lifted the overall weekend tally for Marvel Studios’ Captain American: The First Avenger to $12 million from 4,718 venues in 51 territories, and elevated the 3D superhero comic book adaptation’s overseas cume to $147 million. A No. 1 Germany introduction for the Paramount release provided $2.2 million from 460 sites. It ranked No. 4 on the weekend. PHOTOS: 10 Top Summer Superheroes of All-Time

Fifth was Paramount's Jane Hoop Elementary: The Final Rush - Part 2 2, generating $13.2 million from the weekend from 58 territories. Foreign total is $894 million, marking it distributor's biggest title ever. It past the $100-million-mark in UK with $102.2 million, including AUS's $112 million, marking it top earner in history. Sixth was Warner’s Green Lantern, which is picking up some steam overseas. The weekend generated $11.4 million from about 4,200 venues in 35 territories. A Brazil opener provided $3.3 million from 352 sites. Foreign cume: $78.6 million. Pixar’s Cars 2 from Disney drew $10 million on its ninth round on the foreign circuit, lifting its overseas cume to $314.4 million. Global take is $501.3 million. Since its offshore opening on June 9, Super 8, director J.J. Abrams’ sci/fi-adventure co-produced by Steven Spielberg, has finally crossed the $100-million mark in foreign box office ($108.2 million). The weekend came up with $9 million from 3,271 screens in 55 territories. A No. 1 debut in Spain provided $4.1 million from 386 sites. PHOTOS: Best and Worst Alien Movies' Dominating a generally soft U.K. market was The Inbetweeners, a comedy costarring Simon Bird, James Buckley and Blake Harrison about four South England 18-year-olds on a Crete holiday. The Entertainment Film Distributors ‘ release opened No. 1 with an estimated $9 million drawn from some 455 locations. Paramount’s Cowboys & Aliens, the 3D sci/fi-western hybrid costarring Daniel Craig and Harrison Ford, maintained its low box office profile overseas with a $8.1 million weekend at 2,376 locations in 22 territories. Accumulated foreign gross since Aug. 9 came to $18 million. A No. 4 U.K. premier generated $3 million from 476 venues while an Australia debut provided $2.2 million from 229 sites. Coming in at $6.7 million on the weekend at 2,300 screens in 46 markets was Warner’s comedy-drama Horrible Bosses. The film opened No. 1 in Italy while a No. 3 France bow provided $1.7 million from 258 locations. Foreign cume stands at $45 million. Paramount’s Transformers: Dark of the Moon, the action extravaganza from director Michael Bay upped its offshore box office total to $747 million – the distributor’s best grossing foreign hit ever – thanks to a $6.1 million weekend at 5,882 situations in 62 markets. Japan market cume so far is $44.4 million while total China box office stands at a sensational $159.1 million. Although DreamWorks Animation’s Kung Fu Panda 2 has been playing the foreign circuit since May 26, the 3D animation sequel keeps on chugging at the box office. A No. 4 Japan debut generated $3.2 million from 305 venues. Weekend overall came up with $5.5 million from 1,522 situations in 61 territories for an international cume of $459 million. Weekend foreign action for a pair of female-oriented comedies -- Universal’s Bridesmaids costarring Kristen Wiig and Sony’s Bad Teacher starring Cameron Diaz – appears to be tied at $3.4 million each. Bridesmaids played at 2,150 sites in 40 territories for an overseas gross total of $104.8 million. Bad Teacher was booked at some 1,400 locations in 37 markets for an offshore cume of $98.8 million. Opening No. 1 in Australia was Sony’s Friends With Benefits, a romantic comedy costarring Mila Kunis and Justin Timberlake, which grossed $3 million in the market at 245 locations. Overall weekend take came to $3.3 million derived from 480 screens in 10 territories. Early foreign total gross stands at $13.4 million. Zookeeper, the talking animals comedy from Sony starring Kevin James, had a soft France debut, coming in at No. 15 in the market with $450,000 derived from 252 screens. Weekend overall drew $2.8 million from 1,850 screens in 40 territories for an overseas cume of $62.2 million. In France, four of the market’s top five titles were American films with the exception of Pathe’s release of The Skin I Live In from Spanish director Pedro Almodovar, which grabbed the No. 5 spot with an estimated tally of $101,000 from some 235 screens. Other international cumes: Warner’s Crazy Stupid Love, $5.1 million (after a $4.2 million weekend at 1,150 screens in 12 markets); Fox’s X-Men: First Class, $206.8 million; Universal’s Hop, $76.5 million; Fox’s Mr. Popper’s Penguins, $97 million; Universal’s Senna, $7.6 million from seven markets; Fox’s Monte Carlo, $8.1 million; Universal’s Fast Five, $396.8 million; and Fox’s Glee: The 3D Concert Movie, $2.9 million.