Paramount Pictures International's Watchmen dominated the global box office over the March 6-8 weekend, taking $55.2m from 3,611 screens domestically and $26.6m from 5,149 screens internationally after opening day-and-date in 45 territories.

Zack Snyder's comic-book adaptation opened top in several key territories including the UK, which led the pack with an opening of $4.5m from 419 screens, after a strong marketing campaign in the territory. The top spot was also taken in Russia (with $2.3m from 582 screens), Australia ($2.3m from 356), Italy ($1.5m from 344) and South Korea ($1.4m from 293).

In France, Watchmen had a second-place debut of $2.5m from 498 screens, denied first position by Gran Torino's strong holdover performance ($4.8m from 445). Watchmen opened third in both Spain ($1.9m from 426) and Germany ($2m from 367).

Japanese films enjoyed a good week, with four new entries in Screen's chart including the highest non-US debut: Takashi Miike's Yatterman in eighth place.

Based on a 1970s anime television series revived in 2008, Nikkatsu's comedy opened on 312 screens in its home market, grossing $4.6m and recording a screen average of $14,800, the highest of the week. The film led the Japanese box office in a week where local market share stood at more than 82%, and the top five films were all local.

One place behind Yatterman in Japan, and coming tenth internationally, is the latest film in the Doraemon series, Doraemon The Movie: The New Record of Nobita: Spaceblazer. A remake of a 1981 animation in the series, the film follows the eponymous robotic cat and his owner Nobita as they journey through space. With Toho distributing, the film grossed $3.8m from 364 screens.

Toho's The Triumphant Return Of General Rouge and Kadokawa's Sergeant Keroro: The Super Movie 4 were the other Japanese new entries, taking $1.5m from 301 and $1m from 168, respectively.

Analysis: International box-office Weekend March 6-8
(Last3-day
week)Film (origin)gross $ScrsCume $Terr
1NewWatchmen (US)$26,632,6675,149$26,632,66744
2(1)Slumdog Millionaire (UK)$14,253,3262,970$119,333,64943
3(3)Gran Torino (US)$12,158,5591,672$34,811,37318
4(53)Marley & Me (US)$8,164,6201,459$32,978,65423
5(2)The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button (US)$7,196,5524,109$188,261,32547
6(7)The Reader (US-Ger)$5,143,4521,169$28,351,77217
7(4)Bolt (US)$5,047,6712,811$172,750,04930
8NewYatterman (Jap)$4,631,173312$4,631,1731
9NewNo Love In The City (Rus)$3,871,524538$3,871,5242
10NewDoraemon The Movie: The New... (Jap)$3,770,210364$3,770,2101
11(6)The Pink Panther 2 (US)$3,679,5192,555$27,510,15657
12(8)Confessions Of A Shopaholic (US)$3,482,2311,217$24,138,30717
13(9)He's Just Not That Into You (US)$3,424,9851,765$46,270,06233
14(13)The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (Swe)$3,310,759275$10,727,1042
15(30)Bedtime Stories (US)$3,183,7461,179$96,176,98622
16(5)Valkyrie (US-Ger)$2,879,0412,405$99,551,66929
17(38)Milk (US)$2,755,350779$15,029,36325
18(16)LOL (Laughing Out Loud) (Fr)$2,656,829543$28,139,6762
19(14)Hotel For Dogs (US)$2,607,0191,914$32,133,24233
20(17)Departures (Jap)$2,600,705219$48,055,5033
21(12)The Unborn (US)$2,152,966796$14,809,27717
22NewKochaj I Tancz (Pol)$1,981,858152$1,981,8581
23(29)The Wrestler (US)$1,976,0211,081$13,113,78319
24(10)The International (US-Ger)$1,966,9051,561$14,614,45931
25(11)Underworld: Rise Of The Lycans (US)$1,747,8931,076$32,477,03622
26(19)Change Of Plans (Fr)$1,704,102547$12,491,1943
27(20)Cyprien (Fr)$1,608,993356$4,972,3962
28(21)Changeling (US)$1,536,2171,112$70,865,84835
29*Last Chance Harvey (US)$1,529,972388$2,392,6175
30NewThe Triumphant General Rouge (Jap)$1,497,473301$1,497,4731
31(18)Yes Man (US)$1,487,6311,203$127,216,76729
32(25)Lilly The Witch: The Dragon And... (Ger)$1,465,990617$6,812,6184
33New13B (Ind)$1,386,507588$1,386,50714
34(23)District 13: Ultimatum (Fr)$1,221,387414$8,750,2392
35(26)Twilight (US)$1,143,7641,137$191,045,66722
36(15)Bride Wars (US)$1,116,823925$51,357,17515
37NewDhoondte Reh Jaoge (Ind)$1,058,773241$1,058,77311
38(22)Delhi 6 (Ind)$1,007,560579$11,071,3459
39(24)Seven Pounds (US)$996,398766$94,848,47138
40NewSergeant Keroro: The Super Movie 4... (Jap)$993,112168$993,1121
*Re-entry (c) Screen International, compiled by Leonard Klady