'Singer's' tune sour
'eXistenZ' enjoys animated French debut
Among the few highlights, David Cronenberg's futuristic adventure "eXistenZ" had a reasonably strong world preem in France, Pedro Almodovar's "All About My Mother" wowed Spain and "Enemy of the State" had a solid, but not world-beating, launch in Japan.
"The Matrix" continued on a roll after socko bows Down Under, abating by a moderate 33% in Australia (where the end of school vacation saw the overall B.O. slide by 37%) and 18% in New Zealand (amassing $998,000 to date).
Battling high-ratings classifications and dire reviews, Joel Schumacher's "8MM" began snappily in Italy (retitled "8MM: Red Light Murder"), Spain, Mexico and Argentina. But the Nicolas Cage vehicle struggled in "Matrix's" slipstream in Australia after a critical hammering. "8MM's" estimated cume in 26 territories was $21.8 million.
Tony Scott's "Enemy of the State" ($124.5 million cume) seized pole position in Japan, its last major market, roughly on a par with "Con Air" and Face/Off."
The Jennifer Jason Leigh-Jude Law starrer "eXistenZ" attracted glowing reviews and sizable crowds in France, where "Romance," Catherine Breillat's pornlike saga with a female protagonist, stirred plenty of controversy and want-to-see."Payback" ($59 million cume) reigned in its third lap in France.
"All About My Mother" topped the chart in Spain, generating especially favorable reactions from women.
Amid soft biz in the U.K., the new version of Oscar Wilde's "An Ideal Husband," featuring Cate Blanchett, Minnie Driver and Rupert Everett, registered effectively in the capital but weakly in the provinces. "The Faculty" clung to the top spot in Blighty, dipping just 17% in its soph sesh; it has accumulated $10.1 million in eight countries.
In Germany, where lowbrow laughers often click, exhibs said the combo of football, comedy and Sandler (who's not a major draw there) added up to three strikes against "Waterboy." BVI's pic has scored a fine $8.9 million in Australia and is yet to play in most of Europe, Latin America and a few Asian territories.
Italian auds' appetite for crass spoofs is waning, judging by last week's demise of "Jane Austen's Mafia!" and recent casualty, Leslie Nielsen starrer "Wrongfully Accused."
In its first Far East operation, "Patch Adams" prescribed a spry $343,000 in five days on 51 in Taiwan and held steady in its second in France. Cume is $49.3 million.
