Actor Bill Paxton's directorial debut, Frailty, showed strength as it launched on the international circuit this week. Starting out in sparsely-populated Iceland, the thriller opened on just one screen for local distributor Myndform, grossing $3,869 (ISK 362,300). Its admissions of 645 outperformed Hollywood releases including John Q and Blade II, which both played more screens - John Q played two screens with admissions of 504 over the weekend; Blade II sold 463 tickets on three screens.

The film also debuted in Spain for Filmax where, strong competition from fellow openers The Scorpion King and Ali as well as chart leader Blade II held Frailty to a three-day gross of $291,639 (Eu324,594) on 150 screens from admissions of 68,948. The film's screen average in Spain exceeded bigger budget US films such as Warner Bros' Showtime, and matched that of Columbia TriStar's popular Panic Room.

Frailty, which stars Paxton and Matthew McConaughey, received largely positive reviews in the US where it has taken a $10.2m in its first three weeks. It next opens in France on May 15 for CTV International. International sales are handled by Lions Gate Films International