'Pirates' crunching booty in new markets
Pic sets opening records, second-best launches of all time
Plundering 18 new markets, "Pirates" easily proved Kryptonite for "Superman Returns," which took in $38.1 million from 36 territories.
"Superman" has now flown to $77 million overseas, well under "Pirates'" haul of $124 million.
Showing its muscle, "Pirates" set opening records in Singapore ($1.8 million), Malaysia ($1.1 million) and the Ukraine ($1 million), while adding second-best launches of all time in half a dozen other markets.
In ever more important territory Russia, "Pirates" raked in $11 million in four days from 536 screens. That made for the biggest opening ever there, topping "Ice Age 2's" $7.7 million.
Pic should be the first U.S. film to cross $20 million is Russia.
"Superman" showed off No. 1 finishes in territories including Mexico ($5.2 million), France ($4.1 million), Brazil ($2.8 million), Hong Kong ($1.4 million), Colombia ($809,000) and Belgium ($373,000).
Rounding out the top five at the international wickets were the CG-animated pics "Over the Hedge" and "Cars" -- proving that animation is still a potent draw overseas -- while UIP's "The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift" pulled into fifth with No. 1 finishes in Austria, Germany and Italy.
The top five reflected that Hollywood is firing on all cylinders over the frame, using a mix of live action and animated tentpoles, as well as a lower-budgeted, genre pics to draw auds.
With "Pirates" in its second frame, overall biz in Blighty's off 32%, but still managed to inch up 7% from the same weekend last year.
But "Pirates'" holdover and "Superman's" bow kept U.K. summer biz ticking along, despite the heat wave. Alas, "Superman" was no match for "Pirates" which commanded top spot despite dipping 47%.
In the U.K., "Pirates" is playing well in the week as well as through the weekend and is appealing to all audience profiles. One booker called it, "a genuine four-quadrant movie."
Just so-so reviews clearly haven't dissuaded "Pirates" fans from supporting the blockbuster and its various Brit stars.
Meantime, Blighty exhibs were hoping for a £5 million ($9.2 million) "Superman" opening, but got $8 million. Pic received only mediocre reviews in Blighty: U.K. crix complained that it was overlong and unoriginal.
In other area B.O. showdowns, UIP's "Hedge" slipped 58% in its third frame, and Ken Loach's Cannes Palme d'Or winner "The Wind That Shakes the Barley" continued to defy expectations, thanks largely to strong support in Ireland.
The Man of Steel also let down expectations in Spain, though "Pirates" won't bow till Aug. 11.
"Superman Returns" made a first five-day $4.8 million off 560, flying high July 12, exhibs reported. But the pic was dipping over the weekend: $3.4 million was soft, two bookers lamented.
"It seems really hard for films, even big films playing 500-plus prints, to climb over $3.2 million," one said, attributing this squarely to street piracy and illegal downloading. "Cinemagoing just isn't a priority any more in Spain."
Bookers there were hoping for $7,500 per print, or $3.8 million-$4.4 million over the weekend.
But the pic did finish in the No. 1 spot, over "Cars," which turned on a 10-day cume of $7.9 million in Spanish play.
Down Under, "Pirates" proved a powerhouse in its soph sesh, based on the strength of the franchise's popularity, rather than reviews, which were ho-hum.
In Oz, "Pirates" is playing broadly: one exhib noted "I'm amazed how many young kids are going" despite the M-rating, which recommends mature viewing.
He added that the pic's "main age group is 10- to 20- year-olds, but the 25-45 is very strong," and "even old grannies are seeing it!"
Away from the tentpole jousting, "Tokyo Drift" easily sank "Poseidon" to lead the German scene and boost biz by 28%. And it also raced to the top of the charts in Italy, where "Superman" and "Pirates" has yet to land.
The boffo early numbers for "Mission: Impossible III" had UIP predicting the pic will break the ¥1.0 billion ($88 million) mark in Japan -- making it the highest grosser this year, foreign or domestic.
Nationwide preview screenings of the pic on June 24-25 and July 1-2 yielded $7.3 million with 640,000 admissions. Meanwhile B.O. for opening day, July 8, was $4.39 million on 400,000 admissions, for a grand total of $11.7 million.
Six years ago "MI2" grossed ($12.2 million) on its opening weekend and a similar number of preview screenings. It went on to earn $84.9 million.
(Michaela Boland in Australia, Archie Thomas in the U.K., Mark Schilling in Japan, Ed Meza in Germany, Sheri Jennings in Italy and John Hopewell in Spain contributed to this report.)
