Oscar nominees benefit from pre-awards hype

With a week to go before theOscar winners dominate the charts, the films nominated for best picture wereenjoying their status at the international box office.

Leading the pack TheAviator, now on $76.6m internationally, added seven Asian and smaller Europeanterritories including South Korea, Hong Kong and Poland. Handled by KoreaPictures in South Korea the film finished fourth over the weekend but playedfewer screens than local titles, Running Boy (still at the top afterfour weeks in the territory and currently 17th on the international table) andnew release Cracked Eggs And Noodles, as well as Hollywood holdover Constantine.

Over 48,000 admissions wererecorded in Poland for Martin Scorsese's latest film which was the highest newopener of the week, finishing second to Meet The Fockers.

Finding Neverland ranks second on the chart, among the five nomineeswith $41.5m, having added just four new territories this week. Strong holdoversin Spain (slipping 17% in its second week) and Italy (21% in its third) helpedcontinue its powerful run.

Sideways ($14.5m to date) saw the biggest boost with launchesin 14 territories including South Korea and European majors Spain and Italy.

Alexander Payne's filmscored a strong (fifth placed) limited release in Argentina and ranked fifth inSpain and sixth in Italy. Although 13th on the table, a limited (15 screen)release in The Netherlands netted a good $4,357 screen average, second only to Fockers,while the film scored Sweden's best average of week also opening in 13th placewith a $5,814 average at 12 screens. South Korea was disappointing, however,with the film opening tenth.

Million Dollar Baby's jump came with seven new countries including Italy,Poland and Mexico. 01 Distribuzione released Clint Eastwood's boxing drama inItaly for the highest new opening of the week in fourth place. It has taken$13.3m internationally to date.

Finally Ray(currently $17.1m) added eight new territories, mostly amongst the smallerEuropean countries.

At the top of the internationalchart Meet The Fockers enjoyed a slew of number one openings (Germany,Austria, Hungary, Switzerland and Belgium) to hold the lead.

Warner Bros' Constantinebegan its European assault with a first place in Spain and second places(behind Fockers) in France and Germany.

French-UK co-production TheMagic Roundabout saw a 13% rise week-on-week in the UK counter a drop inFrance to bring its total to $12.5m so far.

The Phantom Of The Opera opened in Argentina ($41,442) and the Czech Republic($16,741) but it's continued dominance in Japan is serving the musical well andit has now grossed $84.4m internationally.

German family sequel DieWilden Kerle 2 launched in Germany and German-speaking Switzerland andbecame the highest new entry on the international table. The film had to settlefor third place at home due to Fockers and Constantine's rivallaunches.

Howl's Moving Castle teeters on the edge of $200m internationally, with a$199.97m total from four territorites - Japan, South Korea, Singapore and France.

For the international box office chart, click here