Milestones will be reached this weekend in the internationalmarkets as The Lord Of The Rings: The Return Of The King will pass $1bn in worldwide ticketsales, while The Last Samurai is expected to slice through $300m in international and Something'sGotta Give should racepast $50m.

New Line International's The Return Of The King, which on Wednesday (18) was declaredthe second biggest worldwide release ever on $981.9m, should cross $1bn on theback of a strong second weekend in Japan and steady holds elsewhere.

It opened in Japan through Nippon Herald on $14.7m last weekend(including previews) and has a current international running total of $624.2m.

Warner Bros' epic The Last Samurai has no major bows but will rely onholdover business to take it past the $300m barrier from its current $298.7m,while the romantic comedy Something's Gotta Give is poised to pass the half-century markfrom its current $43.7m.

Elsewhere, the distributor opens Mystic River, currently on $53.1m, in Russia thisweekend and the racing thriller Torque, which is on $8.4m, in France.

Buena Vista International (BVI) unleashes Miramax's ColdMountain in severalmajor markets, including Germany on Feb 19 and Korea, Mexico and Spain on Feb20. The drama has grossed $22.6m to date.

The Haunted Mansion opens in France on Feb 18 and has taken $30.3m to date and BVIalso opens Scary Movie 3 in Italy on Feb 20. The comedy sequel has taken $25.3m from BVImarkets so far.

Columbia TriStar Film Distributors International (CTFDI) opens thedrama Big Fish inRussia on Feb 19 on 86 prints and in Brazil on Feb 20 on 100. It has grossed$12.2m to date.

The horror picture Gothika, currently on $16.4m, opens in Mexico on Feb 20 on 220prints, while Mona Lisa Smile will be hoping for a strong Australian bow on Feb 19 on 237 toelevate its $50.6m running total.

Fox International's comedy Cheaper By The Dozen opens in Spain on Feb 20 on 250 printswhich should increase its current international total of $19.2m, while MGM'scanine comedy Good Boy!Goes out in Mexico the same day on 175.

Elsewhere, horror picture The Sin Eater aka The Order opens in Australia on Feb 19 on 20prints and comedy Uptown Girls goes out in Germany on Feb 19 on 50 and Japan on Feb 21 on 70.

Universal opensthe romantic comedy Along Came Polly in Brazil on Feb 20 on 140 screens and the picture hasgrossed $7.1m from international markets to date.