The international box office is expected to take another heavyknock this weekend as the World Cup enters the crucial quarter-final stages withEngland, Germany, Italy, France and Brazil all in action.

However there will be plenty of action inside theatres as well ason the German turf as Warner Bros Pictures International (WBPI) launches SupermanReturns day-and-datewith North America in 11 markets.

Buena Vista International (BVI) is also looking forward to a busyweekend as it launches Cars in five markets, however results may suffer as three of thecountries - Brazil, Argentina and Portugal - are still involved in the footballtournament.

By the time the weekend comes around Superman Returns should have consolidated its first-day$2.2m haul from the first four markets, a result that promises to invigorate theinternational arena at a time when X-Men: The Last Stand and The Da Vinci Code are winding down.

The Man of Steel crushed the competition in Australia,South Korea, the Philippines and Thailand in a series of mighty first-daydebuts that drew more than 389,513 admissions from in excess of 955 prints.

Australia produced a superb $919,000 from 407 prints for theeighth biggest opening day for a Warner Bros or Warner Bros/Village Roadshow titlebehind the three Matrix pictures and the first four Harry Potter releases.

The other three results were also impressive: South Koreaproduced $654,000 and 103,405 admissions from 263 prints; the Philippines producedthe second biggest opening day in industry history and the biggest debut for aWarner Bros picture on $408,000 and 195,421 admissions from 81; and Thailandgenerated $265,000 and 90,687 admissions from 204 prints.

Superman Returns waspreparing to take off in Indonesia, Malaysia, New Zealand, Puerto Rico,Singapore, and Taiwan on Jun 29, followed by India a day later.

Poseidon,which stands at more than $84.7m, had no major releases scheduled for theweekend.

BVI's Carshas grossed $27.8m to date and executives will be looking to build on thatamount this weekend with releases in Mexico and Brazil on Jun 30 and Japan onJul 1. Cars was alsoset to open in Argentina and Portugal on Jun 29. BVI's Scary Movie 4 stands at $77.5m.

Fox International's X-Men: The Last Stand has a shot at passing $200m this weekendsince it currently stands at $197.6m.

Horror remake The Hills Have Eyes opens in Spain on Jun 30 and has grossed$18.3m so far. Teen romance Just My Luck goes out in Russia on Jun 29 and the UK a day later. Itcurrently stands at $5.2m.

The Omen,another horror remake from the Fox stable, has taken $58m, while family sequel Garfield:A Tale Of Two Kitties standsat $3.4m in its early stages.

Paramount's animated feature Over The Hedge opens in the UK through UIP on Jun 30; ithas crossed $25.2m including South Korea, where UIP is not handling therelease. Saturday receipts in the UK are likely to take a dent given England'slate afternoon World Cup game against Portugal.

Universal's comedy The Break-Up, which stands at $14.5m, goes out inBrazil on Jun 30 while the studio's action sequel The Fast And The Furious:Tokyo Drift is expectedto build on its $17.6m international running total when it debuts in Mexico onJun 30.

Comedy horror Slither opens in Italy on the same day and will be overshadowed on Fridayby the country's World Cup game against Ukraine. The picture has taken $1.4m todate.

New Line International's Take The Lead has grossed $22.5m and Final Destination3 stands at $54.2m.

Information was unavailable from Sony Pictures ReleasingInternational at time of writing.