Japanese animated sequels came up trumps this weekend with two entries from Toho entering the top 15 and generating a combined $6.5m in their home territory.
Detective Conan: Full Score Of Fear came in at number seven with a $4m take over 335 screens for an enormous $12,087 screen average - the biggest of the weekend. The 12th instalment of the manga series is directed by Yasuichiro Yamamoto and voiced by Akira Kamiya and Minami Takayama. It follows last year's instalment, Detective Conan: Jolly Roger In The Deep Azure, which went on to generate $20.1m in Japan.
Toho continues to bask in glory with Crayon Shinchan 16, which opened with a $2.4m weekend take. The latest version of yet another manga and anime series, written by Yoshito Usui, opened at number two in Japan, playing across 317 screens for a $7,667 screen average. Its voice talent includes Keiji Fujiwara and Satomi Koorogi.
A third Japanese film, Masked Rider: Den-o & Kiva, based on the popular television drama Karmen Rider Den-O, fell 40% in its second weekend with a $1.1m weekend take. The special-effects film played on 136 screens and still enjoyed a sizable screen average at $8,307. It has generated $3.6m to date and is distributed by Toei.
Gallic flair
French cinema continues to show its strength in the international arena - five films, including two new entries, generated a collective $14.6m and accounted for 13.1% of the top 40 revenue.
Three holdover titles led the field, headed by Dany Boon's triumph Welcome To The Sticks. The comedy still sits proudly in the top 10, falling a modest 27% in its eighth weekend with a $5.3m take on 963 screens. The film has made $187.1m to date in France, Switzerland, Belgium and the UK.
Studio Canal's Disco, starring Gerard Depardieu, fell 33% in its third weekend with $3.3m from 830 screens for a $3,920 screen average. The comedy fell just outside the top 10 and has generated more than $20m from three territories.
And Europa Corp's thriller Taken was up 9% after opening in Belgium. The Liam Neeson-starrer grossed $2.6m from 547 screens for a $4,840 screen average. It has taken nearly $16m after eight weekends on release.
New entry Sans Arme, Ni Haine, Ni Violence opened at number 20 with a $1.9m take in France and Belgium. The film, based on the 1976 Societe Generale bank heist in Nice, played across 293 screens for a $6,454 screen average. It is directed by Jean-Paul Rouve, who had local success with The Maiden And The Wolves, which took $3.5m in France. It is distributed by Warner Bros.
And Passe-Passe, directed by Tonie Marshall (France Boutique) opened with a $1.5m take on 294 screens in three territories. The comedy, starring Nathalie Baye and Guy Marchand, is distributed by Warner Bros.
Sommer lovers
Meanwhile, love story Sommer went straight to the top of the German box-office chart with a $2.1m take from 407 screens. The SamFilm production, which is released through Walt Disney, grossed $2.4m overall on 511 screens for a $4,726 screen average. It stars Jimi Ochsenknecht and is directed by Mike Marzuk.
Russia had a top 40 hit with Real Dad, which took $1.2m from 264 screens for a $4,442 screen average. The film, distributed by Cascade, came in number two in Russia and Ukraine, where it took $1m and $145,000 respectively.
Elsewhere, Fox's Street Kings was up a whopping 629% and took $8.8m over the three-day period after expanding in major territories such as Australia, Germany, Russia, South Korea and the UK. The film took $1.4m in Australia and $1.2m in the UK, and has a $10.5m cumulative total to date from 37 territories. Sony's blackjack film 21 hit the $21m mark this weekend, after remaining in the top slot with a $10m weekend take. The top 40 international films generated $110.9m across 38,186 screens for the period of April 18-20.
| Analysis: International box-office Weekend April 18-20 | ||||||
| (Last | 3-day | |||||
| week) | Film (origin) | gross $ | Scrs | Cume $ | Terr | |
| 1 | (2) | 21 (US) | $10,015,896 | 1,731 | $21,165,571 | 21 |
| 2 | (1) | Horton Hears A Who! (US) | $9,466,440 | 5,567 | $116,469,728 | 40 |
| 3 | (43) | Street Kings (US) | $8,823,351 | 2,461 | $10,509,780 | 37 |
| 4 | (5) | Step Up 2 The Streets (US) | $5,717,663 | 1,716 | $76,869,944 | 22 |
| 5 | (7) | The Spiderwick Chronicles (US) | $5,677,446 | 2,877 | $74,246,798 | 48 |
| 6 | (3) | Welcome To The Sticks (Fr) | $5,330,436 | 963 | $187,126,288 | 4 |
| 7 | New | Detective Conan: Full Score Of Fear (Jap) | $4,049,096 | 335 | $4,049,096 | 1 |
| 8 | (6) | Nim's Island (US) | $3,920,145 | 1,165 | $11,529,483 | 10 |
| 9 | (22) | Fool's Gold (US) | $3,543,482 | 1,065 | $19,780,988 | 32 |
| 10 | New | The Forbidden Kingdom (US-Chi) | $3,262,029 | 399 | $3,262,029 | 5 |
| 11 | (4) | Disco (Fr) | $3,253,380 | 830 | $20,503,180 | 3 |
| 12 | (29) | Superhero Movie (US) | $2,893,798 | 748 | $8,899,853 | 12 |
| 13 | (16) | Taken (Fr) | $2,647,644 | 547 | $15,954,546 | 4 |
| 14 | (8) | Three Kingdoms: Resurrection... (HK-S Kor) | $2,453,048 | 923 | $20,259,944 | 6 |
| 15 | New | Crayon Shinchan 16 (Jap) | $2,430,543 | 317 | $2,430,543 | 1 |
| 16 | New | Sommer (Ger) | $2,414,910 | 511 | $2,414,910 | 3 |
| 17 | (9) | Shutter (US) | $2,181,725 | 948 | $10,135,240 | 14 |
| 18 | (10) | The Game Plan (US) | $2,161,429 | 1,293 | $50,642,152 | 14 |
| 19 | (32) | Never Back Down (US) | $2,008,746 | 895 | $9,542,518 | 6 |
| 20 | New | Sans Arme, Ni Haine, Ni Violence (Fr) | $1,891,002 | 293 | $1,891,002 | 2 |
| 21 | (18) | Untraceable (US) | $1,840,745 | 1,167 | $17,286,808 | 20 |
| 22 | New | Forgetting Sarah Marshall (US) | $1,761,640 | 215 | $1,761,640 | 2 |
| 23 | New | The Ruins (US) | $1,535,858 | 553 | $1,794,161 | 9 |
| 24 | (12) | Jumper (US) | $1,468,198 | 1,344 | $137,854,509 | 15 |
| 25 | New | Passe-Passe (Fr) | $1,467,549 | 294 | $1,467,549 | 3 |
| 26 | (14) | Krazzy 4 (Ind) | $1,441,616 | 697 | $5,457,967 | 15 |
| 27 | (15) | The Kite Runner (US) | $1,403,825 | 739 | $53,879,359 | 23 |
| 28 | (13) | Vantage Point (US) | $1,377,415 | 1,074 | $75,252,647 | 47 |
| 29 | * | In Bruges (UK) | $1,315,799 | 290 | $6,029,628 | 2 |
| 30 | (24) | The Other Boleyn Girl (UK-US) | $1,304,989 | 695 | $35,113,315 | 21 |
| 31 | (11) | 10,000 BC (US) | $1,295,283 | 1,683 | $162,940,649 | 52 |
| 32 | (35) | Fuera De Carta (Sp) | $1,277,215 | 228 | $3,162,337 | 1 |
| 33 | (17) | Leatherheads (US) | $1,210,446 | 523 | $4,712,215 | 5 |
| 34 | (19) | Juno (US) | $1,210,057 | 948 | $81,557,606 | 15 |
| 35 | New | Real Dad (Rus) | $1,172,753 | 264 | $1,172,753 | 4 |
| 36 | (36) | Son Of Rambow (UK-Fr) | $1,170,585 | 311 | $6,810,911 | 1 |
| 37 | * | Lions For Lambs (US) | $1,166,208 | 314 | $43,604,615 | 1 |
| 38 | (33) | Die Welle (Ger) | $1,149,002 | 510 | $20,122,074 | 2 |
| 39 | (30) | The Bucket List (US) | $1,130,701 | 617 | $64,987,113 | 31 |
| 40 | (27) | Masked Rider: Den-O & Kiva (Jap) | $1,129,821 | 136 | $3,558,763 | 1 |
| *Re-entry (c) Screen International, compiled by Leonard Klady | ||||||
No comments yet