Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures International unleashes the sci-fi drama starring Hugh Jackman as a robot boxing trainer who reconnects with his young son – but does Steel have the mettle to beat the fluffy blue champs?

A lot is riding on Real Steel this weekend. It opens in North America too and DreamWorks needs a hit after disappointing performances by Cowboys & Aliens and Fright Night.

WDSMPI opens Real Steel opens in 32 markets and it should make the biggest dollar dents in Jackman’s native Australia, Russia, Mexico, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Argentina and Singapore.

The Lion King re-release has reached $20.5m and ventures into the UK, Japan, Switzerland and Argentina, while The Help – a domestic success story for DreamWorks that is in the early stages of international roll-out – arrives in South Africa and has grossed $9.1m so far.

Cars 2 stands at $364.7m, Pirates 4 has amassed $801.9m and Winnie The Pooh is at $18.2m.

Sony Pictures Releasing International’s remarkable The Smurfs has dominated the international box office for the past eight weekends and has grossed more than $380m. It surely cannot hold on for another session… can it?

Fox International opens the Anna Faris comedy What’s Your Number? in around 11 new territories including France, Taiwan and South Africa.

Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes stands at $236.9m and opens in Japan. Mr Popper’s Penguins has reached $117.9m.

Warner Bros Pictures International’s Final Destination 5 stands at $18m and ploughs into Italy this weekend, while Crazy, Stupid, Love. on $48m arrives in Spain. Horrible Bosses has grossed $93m.

Universal’s Johnny English Reborn has taken $39.5m and should soar past $45m this weekend with launches through UIP set for Rowan Atkinson’s native UK as well as Germany, Switzerland and German-speaking Switzerland.

Intruders opens in Juan Carlos Fresnadillo’s native Spain, The Change-Up on $18.2m arrives in Brazil and The Debt on $8.8m enters South Korea.

PPI rolls out the Footloose remake in Australia and New Zealand one week before it lands in North America.