Itproved another great weekend for UIP at the international box office as thecompany's animated hit, Shark Tale, held the top spot narrowly ahead ofGerman comedy smash 7 Dwarfs, a UIP pick-up.

Thedistributor also claimed the highest new entry for the week from a filmtechnically yet to open anywhere in the world. Bridget Jones: The Edge OfReason played two full days of previews in the UK taking $4.7m, enough toplace it eighth on the international chart a week ahead of actual launch.

UIP alsocelebrated The Grudge's first appearance on the table. Although thecompany only holds theatrical rights on the horror remake in the UK it was thatterritory's number one debut of the film (with $4.2m) that was largelyresponsible for its international chart entry.

7Dwarfs' strongholdover was not the only German success story this week. Germany's submissionfor the best foreign language film Oscar, The Downfall, saw its firstnon-German language territory openings this week with record starts in theNetherlands and Poland.

In theNetherlands the film, about the final days of the Third Reich, opened in secondplace through A-Film Distribution with $200,815 (Euro 155,525) at 21 screens -including $12,952 of previews.

Polandsaw local distributor Monolith sell 43,000 tickets for a $205,894 (ZLO682,663), including previews. The film is screening in its original Germanversion with Polish subtitles at 30 venues in the country.

InGermany, Constantin Film has already sold more than 4.2 million tickets for a$36m (Euro 27.9m) total gross after eight weeks.

The USremake Shall We Dance' continues to play well internationally in itsthird week, echoing its strong performance in the US. The romantic drama, whichstars Richard Gere, Jennifer Lopez and Susan Sarandon, launched in Germany lastweekend for a $3.1m debut weekend in third place. The film gained first placein Switzerland where it took $639,872.

ShallWe Dance' is alsomirroring its holdover strength in the US (it has taken $42m in four weeks inNorth America) in international territories. In Italy, where 01 Distribuzionehandles the title, the film's second weekend slipped just 20% and it moved upinto first place on the Italian chart with a 10-day total gross of $8m.Meanwhile in Australia, where the film has grossed $5.2m (A$6.9m) to date, thefilm dropped a paltry 17% in its third weekend.

Led by asecond-placed $1.1m (A$1.5m) launch in Australia Columbia TriStar's TheForgotten opened in a handful of new territories as its internationalroll-out continued.

ResidentEvil: Apocalypsereceived a renewed surge from openings in Italy, Spain and South Korea.

Despitelaunching internationally six weeks ago, in Mexico, The Manchurian Candidatesaw its first week on the table following a host of openings led by France ($1.1m).

For full international chart, click here

The international table is compiled each week by LeonardKlady for Screen International