Film runs over competition two weeks in a row
By IAN MOHR
Sony's
"Ghost Rider" scared off the competish at the foreign B.O. over the latest frame, driving home just under $17 million in 43 markets.
As in the U.S., the Nicolas Cage vehicle, despite tepid reviews, has rolled into the No. 1 spot for two weeks in a row.
"Ghost" has scared up more than $40 million overseas to date and still has yet to ride in the U.K. and Japan, two markets that should add further significant coin to its tank.
Pic scored key No. 1 rankings in its first German frame, as well as its second Spanish foray. Notably, "Ghost's" rise to the No. 1 spot in some Euro territories even baffled some bizzers.
In Germany, the "Ghost Rider" character is unfamiliar to auds, and bookers were pinning the pic's initial success on its Stateside buzz, and to Nicolas Cage. One booker speculates that less-traditional U.S. comicbook characters are more attractive to Teutonic auds, pointing to the failure of "Superman Returns" and the success of the most recent "X-Men" pic.
Spanish bizzers also debated "Ghost's" freewheeling ride at the B.O. "The pic held at the top, thanks to the absence of new players of the same size," says one Spanish exhib. "Otherwise it would have lost the lead, because audiences aren't enjoying the film that much."
Meantime, the Jim Carrey thriller
"The Number 23" had the same trouble breaking through internationally as it did domestically.
Pic, which stars Carrey, accustomed to comic roles, as a dog catcher obsessed with a creepy crime novel, opened in the No. 3 spot in its U.K. bow, behind local sensation
"Hot Fuzz," which was playing its second weekend, and kiddie pic
"Charlotte's Web," in its third frame.
"Number" added up $2.3 million in its U.K. debut for local distrib Entertainment, for a per-screen average of $7,354. As in the U.S., the pic suffered from largely poor reviews from crix.
Blighty exhibs now project a final cume close to $8 million for "23." By comparison, Fox's
"Epic Movie" has taken in $8.9 million in the U.K. after three weekends in release.
Another pic that didn't stand up in the U.K. was Paramount's
"School for Scoundrels," which bowed to just under $670,000 at No. 8 in Blighty.
Back at the top of the world chart, Fox's international phenom
"Night at the Museum" continued to collect big biz overseas, suffering only slight dips each weekend: The Ben Stiller-starring f/x heavy comedy took in another $11.2 million, and now has reached $268.7 million overseas.
"Night" was catapulted into the No. 2 spot, in part by its perf in Hong Kong, where the pic was No. 1 over the Chinese New Year holiday, bringing in more than $3.2 million from 45 screens. Already a hit in Europe, pic is now making headway in the Latin American market: It's still No. 1 after more than a month in release in Chile and in Argentina.
Apart from supernatural motorcyclists and museum exhibits, the story of the weekend was cop spoof "Fuzz, which is only playing a single market, but tied for the No. 3 spot on the charts. Playing only in its native U.K. for Universal, "Fuzz" shot down $6.5 million from 432 theaters. After just over a week in release, its cume has hit $23.3 million. It remains to be seen whether the buzz for "Fuzz" will translate to the U.S. Pic opens domestically for Rogue Pictures in April.
Reflecting "Fuzz's" potential in the U.K., the laffer dipped just 24% in its second frame, and its cume after just two weekends is already almost double the final cume banked by "Shaun of the Dead" ($12.8 million), which also starred "Fuzz" duo Simon Pegg and Nick Frost.
Bookers attribute "Fuzz's" monster success to the huge popularity of "Shaun" on DVD, and liken the pattern to the performance of the "Austin Powers" franchise in Blighty.
Pic opens Down Under later this month.
Another U.K.-centric pic, the Hugh Grant-starring romantic comedy
"Music and Lyrics" is continuing a solid overseas run in just 12 markets for Warner Bros. Pic, which stars Grant as a washed-up pop star and Drew Barrymore as his lyrically gifted but reluctant composing partner, tied with "Fuzz" for third on the international charts.
Sony also was riding high with holdover
"The Pursuit of Happyness," the Will Smith starrer that remained in the top five by taking in $6.2 million from 54 markets. Feel-good pic's cume is now $115 million abroad.
But away from the top five pics overall, local productions ruled the roost again in many key markets as auds resisted Hollywood fare.
In France, Olivier Dahan's
"La Vie en Rose," a biopic of legendary thrush Edith Piaf, was tops once again. Pic has cumed $20.1 million off 718 after two weeks for TFM, meeting the distrib's already high expectations.
Another Gallic production,
"Taxi 4," scribed by Luc Besson, took second place for Europa. Pic has cumed $23.4 million in two frames.
French crix have been unkind to "Ghost Rider," and the pic puttered into third place in its opening there. Mark Steven Johnson movie, being distribbed in France by SND, took in $3.4 million off 426 in its first five days.
"Letters From Iwo Jima" had its best international launch over the frame in France, with $744,500 at 153. Also in France,
"Dreamgirls'" first screenings took in $15,168 on 20 for Paramount.
In Italy, local films were also king.
"Night Before Finals -- Today" held onto the top spot, as expected, pulling $3.2 million off 589 in its second frame for a $13 million cume via distribber 01. Ensembler
"Saturn in Opposition" nailed a No. 2 finish with a better-than-predicted $3 million on 379.
Timely "Saturn" -- depicting the bereavement pains of a bunch of friends, including a gay couple, just as debate over gay marriages rages in Italo parliament -- scored a stellar $8,000 per-screen average via Medusa.
As for Hollywood fare in Italy, "Music and Lyrics" launched in third place, ringing up $1.7 million on 325 via Warner Bros.
In Germany, where "Ghost" haunted the No. 1 spot, the No. 2 pic was local sensation
"Die wilden Kerle 4" (The Wild Soccer Bunch 4). Kiddie comedy, in its fourth weekend, got a second wind, and has the highest cume in the top 10 there -- $12.4 million off 720 prints.
"La vie en rose," which opened the Berlin Film Festival, was seen as a disappointment at No. 3. Pic, being distribbed by Constantin, sang to just over $944,000 off 205.
"Letters From Iwo Jima," Clint Eastwood's war epic, opened in the No. 24 spot in Germany.
Over in Spain, "Ghost" was tops again, despite losing 51% of its biz, which left some exhibs scratching their heads. Nicholas Cage starrer took in $1.5 million, off 419, for a $3,710 per copy average.
Fox's "The Last King of Scotland" opened solidly in Spain with $318,067 at 90, pushing its foreign cume past $15.5 million -- 60% of that from the U.K.
Additional reporting by Nick Vivarelli (Italy), Christian Koehl (Germany), David Hayhurst (France), Gorka Bilbao (Spain), Archie Thomas (U.K.) and Dave McNary (Hollywood).
$ 1,133,234. Down 82.9 % from last Monday. Down 77.1% from yesterday.
