'Pearl,' 'A.I.' break records in Japan
Spielberg pic is topping records of notable blockbusters
But the most impressive perf in Japan was the notable hold exhibited by ''A.I. Artificial Intelligence." Pic slipped by a mere 19% in its soph session in Japan, conjuring up an estimated $6.7 million Saturday through Sunday on 526 screens, selling 522,360 tickets.
Warner Bros. Sunday hailed that as an industry record, surpassing the second weekends of ''Mission: Impossible 2'' by 24% and ''Jurassic Park'' and ''Star Wars: Episode 1-- The Phantom Menace'' by 25%.
WB execs in L.A. did not have figures for last Friday, but said ''A.I.'s" eight-day total already had surpassed the nine-day scores of ''MI:2," "Jurassic Park" and ''Independence Day.''
'Pearl's foreign cume at $130 mil
"Pearl Harbor" racked up about $12.5 million from five markets and holdovers, hoisting its foreign cume to $130 million, BVI estimated Sunday.
Michael Bay's pic fetched approximately $1.7 million in three days on 290 in Spain, and while that was 18% up on ''Armageddon's'' bow, it isn't in the gangbusters category.
''Pearl'' delivered relatively stronger figures in Sweden ($850,000 on 105, 55% better than ''Armageddon,'' ranking among the territory's top 5 debuts of all time), Norway ($550,000 on 65, beating the Bruce Willis starrer by 50%) and Portugal ($175,000 on 65, 30% ahead). Poland's $425,000 on 100 was on par with ''Armageddon.''
''Lara Croft: Tomb Raider'' claimed pole position in the U.K. with a good but not out-of-the-box $3.8 million estimate Friday through Saturday on 443 locations, including Thursday night previews.
'Atlantis' booms in Mexico
Shrugging off its indifferent perf domestically, ''Atlantis: The Lost Empire'' captivated Mexico with an estimated $2 million in three days on 400, on par with ''A Bug's Life,'' almost doubling ''Mulan'' and ''Hercules'' but below ''Dinosaur'' and ''Tarzan. ''Atlantis'' surprisingly outshone ''Tomb Raider's'' $862,000 debut in two days on 254. However the Angelina Jolie starrer kicked butt in Argentina, nabbing roughly $322,000 on 71.
''Shrek'' opened at No. 1 in Germany with an unexceptional $1.3 million Thursday through Saturday on 617, just ahead of the second lap of ''Tomb Raider'' ($1.2 million on 667) and held remarkably well in its second in the U.K., elevating the nine-day tally there to $10.8 million.
''Dr. Dolittle 2'' had to settle for third place in Australia, whistling up about $1 million in four days on 271 plus $417,000 in sneaks.
'Shrek' streaks through Oz
The pacesetter ''Shrek'' eased by a trifling 5% in Oz, boosted by school vacations, amassing a terrif $9.2 million through its third weekend, while ''Swordfish'' dipped by a reasonable 26%, fetching a smart $3.5 million in 11 days.
Baz Luhrmann's ''Moulin Rouge'' danced into Singapore with a high-kicking $420,000 estimate in four days on 25.
Ivan Reitman's ''Evolution'' topped the chart in depressed Italy with $260,000 Friday through Saturday on 298 prints, but could only manage third spot in Holland ($110,000 in three days on 75), behind ''Pearl Harbor" and the fifth outing of ''Bridget Jones's Diary.''
