The big international story this weekend may have been Walt Disney Smpi's High School Musical 3: Senior Year (see review, p24, and box office, p31) but a number of diverse openers also managed to scare up big business at the box office. Mandate International's fifth instalment in the Saw franchise opened in nine international territories, ranking number five in the chart.
Saw V sees serial killer Jigsaw, aided by his murderous assistants, continue his reign of terror with his deadly traps and games. The film took $6.8m internationally from 930 screens, including a second-place UK opening of $3.7m from 367 screens. The film will open in a further 11 territories for the Halloween weekend (October 31-November 2). It has also opened second place in the US, when it grossed $30.1m, slightly down on the three previous sequels.
The highest non-US entry this weekend is Pathe Distribution's Public Enemy Number One: Part One. A France-Italy-Canada co-production, Jean-Francois Richet's film follows the rise of notorious French criminal Jacques Mesrine. The film opened in France, Belgium and French-speaking Switzerland, with a three-day gross of $5.8m from 527 screens, earning the second-highest screen average of the week (after High School Musical 3) with a per-screen figure of $11,000.
Paramount Pictures International's Ghost Town made its international debut in the UK, charting in fourth position behind new entries High School Musical 3, Saw V and holdover title Burn After Reading. The film stars comedian Ricky Gervais as a dentist who suddenly develops the ability to see ghosts. It took $2.2m from 342 screens for an average of $6,400. The film is scheduled to open in further territories in the coming months, reaching France and Spain in February 2009.
Other new entries this week include India's Heroes, South Korea's My Wife Got Married and Japan's The Homeless Student, with $2.4m, $2.2m and $1.2m respectively.
| ANALYSIS: INTERNATIONAL BOX-OFFICE WEEKEND OCTOBER 24-26 | ||||||
| (Last | 3-day | |||||
| week) | Film (origin) | Gross $ | Scrs | Cume $ | Terr | |
| 1 | New | High School Musical 3: Senior Year (US) | $40,682,022 | 3,165 | $40,682,022 | 19 |
| 2 | (5) | Max Payne (US) | $9,045,450 | 2,355 | $17,706,216 | 44 |
| 3 | (2) | Burn After Reading (US-UK-Fr) | $8,315,285 | 2,033 | $48,634,597 | 25 |
| 4 | (1) | Eagle Eye (US) | $6,776,261 | 2,927 | $57,343,460 | 51 |
| 5 | New | Saw V (US) | $6,758,307 | 930 | $6,792,017 | 9 |
| 6 | New | Public Enemy Number One: Part 1 (Fr-It-Can) | $5,796,604 | 527 | $5,796,604 | 3 |
| 7 | (6) | Vicky Cristina Barcelona (US-Sp) | $4,980,213 | 1,088 | $29,998,489 | 12 |
| 8 | (9) | Tropic Thunder (US) | $4,831,205 | 1,482 | $66,217,903 | 44 |
| 9 | (4) | Wall-E (US) | $4,672,359 | 2,061 | $254,115,465 | 22 |
| 10 | (7) | Mamma Mia! The Movie (US-UK) | $4,471,631 | 2,707 | $409,034,460 | 44 |
| 11 | (3) | Admiral (Rus) | $3,841,500 | 1,059 | $33,156,264 | 3 |
| 12 | (8) | Nights In Rodanthe (US) | $3,621,138 | 1,601 | $17,718,040 | 23 |
| 13 | (12) | Suspect X (Jap) | $3,183,629 | 410 | $32,365,005 | 1 |
| 14 | (32) | Journey To The Center Of The Earth (US) | $2,706,860 | 831 | $103,774,148 | 27 |
| 15 | New | Heroes (Ind) | $2,409,836 | 823 | $2,409,836 | 17 |
| 16 | New | My Wife Got Married (S Kor) | $2,313,118 | 439 | $2,787,348 | 1 |
| 17 | New | Ghost Town (US) | $2,199,100 | 342 | $2,199,100 | 1 |
| 18 | (14) | Hellboy II: The Golden Army (US) | $2,136,621 | 1,000 | $72,073,244 | 23 |
| 19 | * | Space Chimps (US) | $2,132,911 | 1,068 | $21,677,540 | 11 |
| 20 | (26) | Body Of Lies (US) | $2,116,965 | 703 | $9,077,313 | 9 |
| 21 | (19) | Le Crime Est Notre Affaire (Fr) | $2,035,247 | 364 | $5,062,736 | 2 |
| 22 | (11) | The House Bunny (US) | $2,000,529 | 1,357 | $16,813,196 | 32 |
| 23 | * | Babylon AD (Fr) | $1,754,443 | 667 | $45,298,436 | 16 |
| 24 | (17 | Wanted (US) | $1,750,496 | 993 | $205,963,995 | 14 |
| 25 | (13) | Righteous Kill (US) | $1,664,167 | 814 | $29,356,238 | 15 |
| 26 | (15) | Open Season 2 (US) | $1,649,780 | 382 | $5,491,619 | 2 |
| 27 | (18) | How To Lose Friends & Alienate People (UK) | $1,625,214 | 926 | $10,815,861 | 5 |
| 28 | (21) | The Baader Meinhof Complex (Ger) | $1,540,042 | 679 | $21,931,065 | 4 |
| 29 | (22) | Death Race (US) | $1,465,987 | 1,107 | $25,533,829 | 26 |
| 30 | (10) | Mirrors (US) | $1,460,902 | 1,091 | $33,028,645 | 24 |
| 31 | (33) | Die Geschichte Vom Brandner (Ger) | $1,434,224 | 187 | $3,273,089 | 2 |
| 32 | (29) | Krabat (Ger) | $1,397,529 | 386 | $6,429,669 | 1 |
| 33 | (28) | The Class (Fr) | $1,320,109 | 616 | $14,753,244 | 4 |
| 34 | (20) | Coluche, L'Histoire D'Un Mec (Fr) | $1,279,328 | 505 | $4,181,396 | 3 |
| 35 | (16) | Painted Skin (HK-Ch) | $1,249,388 | 654 | $35,628,406 | 5 |
| 36 | (24) | Beverly Hills Chihuahua (US) | $1,225,975 | 956 | $15,718,117 | 9 |
| 37 | New | The Homeless Student (Jap) | $1,219,738 | 309 | $1,219,738 | 1 |
| 38 | (34) | PS I Love You (US) | $1,183,657 | 279 | $97,356,906 | 1 |
| 39 | * | Nordwand (Ger) | $1,125,652 | 280 | $1,469,708 | 3 |
| 40 | * | Adventures Of Alyonushka And Yeryoma (Rus) | $1,123,724 | 496 | $2,682,117 | 2 |
| *Re-entry (c) Screen International, compiled by Leonard Klady | ||||||
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