Around the World Roundup: 'Ice Age 2' Boils Over Easter Weekend
Exploding over the Easter holiday, Ice Age: The Meltdown skyrocketed to $275.9 million through Monday in less than three weeks of release. For the three-day weekend alone, the computer-animated sequel grossed about $56 million from 57 territories.
In Germany, Ice Age: The Meltdown raked in an incredible $12.4 million from 1,111 screens in its second weekend, down 29 percent and bringing its total to a whopping $39.4 million. The United Kingdom was in the same ballpark, with a $6.4 million weekend and $35.9 million tally. France followed suit with a $7.4 million weekend and $26.6 million. In Australia, the movie fended off opening pictures, Scary Movie 4 and Failure to Launch, down 18 percent to $3.2 million for a $9.3 million tally.
Other impressive totals for Ice Age: The Meltdown include Mexico's $25 million, Russia's $17.8 million, Brazil's $12.6 million and Belgium's $5.8 million. The picture also opened well in Hong Kong ($829,000 from 45 screens) and Thailand ($516,000 from 110).
Yet to cool off, Ice Age: The Meltdown has a good chance at ultimately becoming the highest grossing movie of the year. With no Harry Potter on the schedule, the annual race is wide open, and, in the near future, The Meltdown needs to stay ahead of the internationally-appealing titles, Mission: Impossible III and The Da Vinci Code. Distributor 20th Century Fox has tentatively scheduled to open The Meltdown in China on July 13, which could have a big impact.
Also benefiting from the Easter holiday was Inside Man, which nabbed just over $12 million for a $51 million total through Sunday. In France, the heist thriller bowed to $2.5 million from 347 screens, marking director Spike Lee's biggest yet and the best of the year for distributor United International Pictures. Results were equally impressive in Spain, where the movie yielded $2.1 million from 252 screens. In an Ice Age-free Italy, Inside Man remained No. 1 with a strong $1.7 million from 209 screens, up 19 percent for a $4.1 million total.
Direct competition with Ice Age: The Meltdown certainly hurt The Wild's international debut, which amounted to a moderate $9.3 million from 24 markets. The computer-generated cartoon had decent openings in major markets Spain ($2.2 million), Mexico ($1.9 million), Italy ($1.3 million) and France ($1.2 million). Smaller territories failed to resonate, however, with Brazil ringing in with $480,000 while Argentina and Belgium yielded $365,000 and $260,000, respectively.
The Scary Movie franchise is still kicking as the fourth installment opened in between Scary Movie 2 and 3 in most markets. Scary Movie 4 debuted in second place in the U.K., grossing $3.4 million from 385 screens. In Australia, it was on par with the last movie, making $2.1 million from 222 screens, while, in the Netherlands, it saw a five percent improvement over the third, with $726,000 from 80 screens. Scary Movie 4 broke distributor Miramax's opening weekend record in Russia with $2.2 million from 250 screens. Overall, it grossed $9.5 million over the weekend from seven territories.
Final Destination 3 had a meaty launch in Germany, drawing $2.1 million for a second place finish and beating Final Destination 2 by 82 percent. The overall tally stands at $42.2 million.
Harrison Ford flexed some of his star power in China as his thriller, Firewall, bowed to $1.2 million from 305 prints in first place. Overall, Firewall had a $3 million weekend and improved its total to $27 million.
The Exorcism of Emily Rose finished its foreign campaign with a stop in South Korea with a mediocre $593,376 opening from 122 screens. The horror drama was potent in Catholic markets and recorded admirable numbers elsewhere. With a foreign tally of $68.5 million, Mexico ($7.2 million), Spain ($7.1 million) and the U.K. ($6.5 million) are the picture's top markets.
In Germany, Ice Age: The Meltdown raked in an incredible $12.4 million from 1,111 screens in its second weekend, down 29 percent and bringing its total to a whopping $39.4 million. The United Kingdom was in the same ballpark, with a $6.4 million weekend and $35.9 million tally. France followed suit with a $7.4 million weekend and $26.6 million. In Australia, the movie fended off opening pictures, Scary Movie 4 and Failure to Launch, down 18 percent to $3.2 million for a $9.3 million tally.
Other impressive totals for Ice Age: The Meltdown include Mexico's $25 million, Russia's $17.8 million, Brazil's $12.6 million and Belgium's $5.8 million. The picture also opened well in Hong Kong ($829,000 from 45 screens) and Thailand ($516,000 from 110).
Yet to cool off, Ice Age: The Meltdown has a good chance at ultimately becoming the highest grossing movie of the year. With no Harry Potter on the schedule, the annual race is wide open, and, in the near future, The Meltdown needs to stay ahead of the internationally-appealing titles, Mission: Impossible III and The Da Vinci Code. Distributor 20th Century Fox has tentatively scheduled to open The Meltdown in China on July 13, which could have a big impact.
Also benefiting from the Easter holiday was Inside Man, which nabbed just over $12 million for a $51 million total through Sunday. In France, the heist thriller bowed to $2.5 million from 347 screens, marking director Spike Lee's biggest yet and the best of the year for distributor United International Pictures. Results were equally impressive in Spain, where the movie yielded $2.1 million from 252 screens. In an Ice Age-free Italy, Inside Man remained No. 1 with a strong $1.7 million from 209 screens, up 19 percent for a $4.1 million total.
Direct competition with Ice Age: The Meltdown certainly hurt The Wild's international debut, which amounted to a moderate $9.3 million from 24 markets. The computer-generated cartoon had decent openings in major markets Spain ($2.2 million), Mexico ($1.9 million), Italy ($1.3 million) and France ($1.2 million). Smaller territories failed to resonate, however, with Brazil ringing in with $480,000 while Argentina and Belgium yielded $365,000 and $260,000, respectively.
The Scary Movie franchise is still kicking as the fourth installment opened in between Scary Movie 2 and 3 in most markets. Scary Movie 4 debuted in second place in the U.K., grossing $3.4 million from 385 screens. In Australia, it was on par with the last movie, making $2.1 million from 222 screens, while, in the Netherlands, it saw a five percent improvement over the third, with $726,000 from 80 screens. Scary Movie 4 broke distributor Miramax's opening weekend record in Russia with $2.2 million from 250 screens. Overall, it grossed $9.5 million over the weekend from seven territories.
Final Destination 3 had a meaty launch in Germany, drawing $2.1 million for a second place finish and beating Final Destination 2 by 82 percent. The overall tally stands at $42.2 million.
Harrison Ford flexed some of his star power in China as his thriller, Firewall, bowed to $1.2 million from 305 prints in first place. Overall, Firewall had a $3 million weekend and improved its total to $27 million.
The Exorcism of Emily Rose finished its foreign campaign with a stop in South Korea with a mediocre $593,376 opening from 122 screens. The horror drama was potent in Catholic markets and recorded admirable numbers elsewhere. With a foreign tally of $68.5 million, Mexico ($7.2 million), Spain ($7.1 million) and the U.K. ($6.5 million) are the picture's top markets.
