It was not surprising afterall the media buzz surrounding the portrayal of Hitler's last days in thebunker that Constantin Film's release of Oliver Hirschbiegel's The Downfall(Der Untergang) should come in at number one.

The $ 4.3m four-day grossfrom 405 screens was the second strongest opening for a German film this yearfollowing the sci-fi spoof (T)Raumschiff Surprise, another filmdistributed by Constantin.

After having its title as topGerman independent usurped last year by X Verleih, Constantin is back on topagain this year with a market share of 13.4% up until the beginning ofSeptember and in fourth position only behind Warner Bros., Buena VistaInternational and UIP.

This weekend saw threeConstantin titles in the top ten - T)Raumschiff Surprise and Frenchblockbuster Les Choristes with the second best screen average of $3,199.

The distributor also hasother strong films lined up for the coming weeks starting with ResidentEvil: Apocalypse (Sep 23), and following with the family film Bibi BlocksbergUnd Das Geheimnis Der Blauen Euelen (Sep 30), The Motorcycle Diaries (Oct28) and Alexander (Nov 18).