"The Beach" may be all but washed up in the U.S., but Leonardo DiCaprio is still the prince of tides overseas, judging by the Fox meller's openings and holding power in its initial foreign engagements.
Danny Boyle's pic netted $13.3 million last weekend from handsome bows in eight markets -- claiming pole position in each -- and holdovers in six territories. Cume is $25.2 million.
The presence of Gallic thesps Guillame Canet and Virginie Ledoyen undoubtedly contributed to the film's strapping $4.9 million bounty on 521 screens in France.
Next best opener was Germany's solid $2.3 million on 616 (a 30% market share), followed by Brazil's $681,000 on 256 and Belgium's $673,000 on 68. Equally impressive were Switzerland's $545,000 on 62, Austria's $234,000 on 74 and South Africa's $211,000 on 61 (commanding 35% of the market).
Indicating that word of mouth is a lot stronger abroad than at home, "The Beach" dipped by a reasonable 20% in the U.K., collaring $3.2 million on 329 prints for a 10-day cume of $9.7 million.
If it can sustain this kind of momentum, an eventual tally north of $100 million seems attainable.
"Toy Story 2" continued on a tear as the weekend's top grosser, collecting $22.2 million as its score raced to $125.1 million. Pic notched $306,000 on 132 in Holland (on a par with the original) and $245,000 on 49 in Finland (the second-biggest animated preem ever, behind "Tarzan").
After its record-shattering preem in the U.K., "Toy" fell by just 18%, minting $10.2 million on 498 prints as territory cume soared to $27.3 million. Other standouts include France's $14.2 million (up 3%), Germany's $8.7 million (off 29%), Spain's $6.6 million (down 16%), all in its third lap, and Italy's $3.9 million in 10 days (dropping 33%).
The super-resilient "The Sixth Sense" ascended to $211.3 million in the BVI markets plus an estimated $120 million in the Spyglass territories.
B.O. data from most other studios was sketchy or unavailable due to the Monday holiday. "The Blair Witch Project" galvanized auds in Italy, scaring up $4.8 million in three days in 430 forests, eclipsing the launches of "Star Wars: Episode I -- The Phantom Menace" and "Titanic." "Blair Witch" scored the second-highest opening weekend of all time behind local click Leonardo Pieraccioni's "Fireworks."
Cashing in on its Academy Award noms, "American Beauty" amassed $11.7 million from 21 territories, elevating cume to $65.4 million. Pic took a classy $316,000 in three days at 26 'burbs in Greece, $256,000 on 31 in Turkey and had similarly dazzling debuts in Hungary, Denmark, the Czech republic/the Slovak republic and New Zealand. "Beauty's" rich pickings include the U.K.'s $15.2 million, Italy's $10.8 million, Germany's $10.5 million, Australia's $6 million and France's $5.3 million.
"The Green Mile" had sturdy soph sessions in Germany (tallying $4.6 million, abating by 16%) and Australia ($3.2 million to date, slipping 23%). "The World Is Not Enough" hit $214.4 million after a $3.5 million frame in 19 markets, driven largely by Japan's splendid $11 million in 16 days.
Contact the Variety newsroom at
news@variety.com