Animation legend HayaoMiyazaki's latest film, Howl's Moving Castle, broke all records for aJapanese film in Japan last weekend selling 1.1m tickets and leapt straightinto second place on the international chart. Miyazaki's previous film, theOscar-winning Spirited Away, grossed $265m internationally and remainsthe highest grossing Japanese film of all time and the only film ever to grossover $200m from a single international territory.
Bridget Jones: The Edge OfReason continued its lead at thetop of the chart for a second week following new openings in nine territoriesled by Spain's $2.7m and strong holdovers including the UK's $9.4m, a mere 29%week-on-week drop (excluding previews).
Romantic comedy Shall WeDance' continued unabated in third place and now has a $41.9m cumulativegross with many key territories still to come in the new year. It is yetanother international hit for star Richard Gere.
Romantic titles featuringGere, whether romantic comedies (Runaway Bride), romantic dramas (Sommersby)or romantic thrillers (Unfaithful), consistently prove more popularinternationally than domestically. Unfaithful grossed $66.4m frominternational territories, 56% of its worldwide cumulative. Romantic drama AutumnIn New York, in which he co-starred with Winona Ryder, took $53m in themarket representing 58% of worldwide gross. Runaway Bride, the 1999re-team of Pretty Woman director Gary Marshall with stars Gere and JuliaRoberts, took 51% of its worldwide receipts internationally with $157.2m. PrettyWoman grossed $285m, 62% of worldwide grosses, internationally.Sommersby grossed $90m internationally in 1993, 64% of the worldwide total.
Turkish title G.O.R.A.saw a $3.1m gross from 457 screens for Warner Bros in Turkey in its secondweekend. This week it was supported by limited releases in Germany (Solo Film),Belgium (MTone) and the UK (Diva Films).
A leading debut in Italy($1.6m) and runner-up placing in Spain ($2.5m) were at the head of a host ofnew European territory launches for Fox's franchise tie-up Alien Vs Predator.The film has grossed $67.5m to date from international territories and hasJapan yet to open.
A second placed launch inAustralia gave a new boost to horror remake The Grudge. Handled byRoadshow in the territory the film claimed $1.5m from 184 screens.
Multiple European openings,including France, Germany and Italy, saw Bad Santa jump 106% in itsfifth international week, although the critically acclaimed black comedy ishaving difficulty making much impact in the busy marketplace.
For full international chart,
The international table is compiled each week by LeonardKlady for Screen International.
No comments yet