O'seas auds 'Harbor' reservations
B.O. iffy on WWII drama
In the all-important German market, the pic bettered "Armageddon" in terms of box office but not in terms of admissions (1,155,566 against 1,086,521 in their respective opening weekends).
"Men in Black" remains by far the best four-day start of all time in Germany, while BVI's own "What Women Want" remains the best start of the year with DM15.5 million box office. "Pearl Harbor," in comparison grossed DM15.3 million ($6.8 million).In Italy, too, "Pearl Harbor's" opening was strong but not exceptionally so.
Its $3.2 million debut week was beaten by "Meet the Parents" with $3.5 million and "Hannibal" with $5.6 million, both in February. To be fair, that's a much fatter month in moviegoing in Italy, where B.O. slackens off when the weather gets warm.
But even in its second week, "Hannibal" took $3.5 million. "Titanic" also was stronger with $5.3 million in its debut week, as were Italian hits such as "Fireworks" and "Ask Me If I'm Happy."
To make a fair comparison with films that also opened during the warm-weather period, "Gladiator" bowed in May last year on 140 fewer screens with a first-week total of $2.8 million, while "Mission: Impossible 2" opened July 7, taking in $3.8 million.
Business for the pic dropped by a respectable 34% during its second weekend and the film stood to take a hit this past weekend from the wide opening of "Shrek."
"Pearl Harbor" reviews were no kinder in Italy than anywhere else.
Leading daily la Repubblica called it a film produced rather than directed, comparing it unfavorably to the anti-military take of "From Here to Eternity," criticizing the ceaseless gung-ho flag-waving and p.c. depictions of noble Japanese soldiers.
In the U.K., "Pearl Harbor" has posted a strong but not record-breaking performance with a cume to date of almost $10 million.
BVI's Stuart Salter called the U.K. opening weekend "very strong" but about 15% below internal expectations. The second weekend was very encouraging, with a 21% drop -- a good hold considering the picture fell by twice that much in the same period in the U.S.
Good reviews of "Pearl Harbor" in the U.K. were nonexistent. Peter Bradshaw at the Guardian deemed it "big, loud, dumb and boring" and asked, "What can be done about this film? I would suggest some sort of campaign of civil disobedience."
But the reactions of the critics didn't dissuade auds from checking it out.
The pic showed on 455 screens in total and was No. 1 in the U.K./Ireland three-day weekend B.O. June 8-10.
As for France, Pearl Harbor -- the event as well as the pic -- is very far from the collective consciousness; it just doesn't mean that much to French people. There hasn't even been a discussion about the film's historical accuracy: Most Gauls simply don't know, or care, enough about it.
French people don't want to go and see war movies right now. They turned up their noses at Jean-Jacques Annaud's "Enemy at the Gate," about the siege of Stalingrad.
In Paris theaters, "Pearl Harbor" was down 65% on its opening-day first screening the previous week.
It did, however, snag the No. 1 slot in the French box office in its first week to June 12, taking home $4.5 million on 771 screens.
A spokesperson for Gaumont BVI allowed that while they were "very happy with the results," the numbers weren't as high as they had hoped.
Pic has yet to open in Spain, where it will go out July 6 on 282 prints. Over recent years, B.O. is normally stronger in July than June there. The bow is a wide but not record-breaking print run.
A month before it opens, "Pearl Harbor" has huge buzz, thanks largely to BVI's massive TV ad campaign.
(Elizabeth Guider compiled from European staff reports. Liza Foreman, Christoph Hargreaves-Allen, David Rooney, Lisa Klausmann and John Hopewell contributed.)
