'Pirates' swashbuckles way to top o'seas
'Superman' still flyin' at No. 2 with $16.4 mil
Eleven of those territories were new, and accounted for more than half of "Pirates'" haul during the frame.
Pic opened No. 1 in all new markets in which it set sail, and has now become the 20th Buena Vista Intl. title to cross the $200 million barrier abroad, and the 10th to hit more than $500 million worldwide.
Perhaps the only real surprise would've been if "Pirates" had been beaten bloody in any of its new openings, which included Japan, Mexico and Brazil. (There are still major openings to come, including Spain, Germany, Italy and France.)
In head-to-head square-offs, "Pirates" made Warner Bros.' No. 2 finisher of the frame, "Superman Returns," walk the plank.
But "Superman," with no new major openings, still flew to $16.4 million during the frame, bringing its cume to $110 million.
In Japan, "Pirates" swashbuckled its way to over $17 million, scoring the third biggest opening of all time. Pic managed to quadruple the first "Pirates" in the Land of the Rising Sun.
Mexico coughed up $5.8 million for "Pirates," and Brazil poured in another $3.1 million, doubling the first pic's take.
"Pirates" was the biggest opener of the year in Poland ($1.5 million), Argentina ($1.3 million) and Chile ($1.1 million).
But in holdover markets, "Pirates" also continued to shiver the timbers of the competish.
In Blighty, "Pirates 2" held top spot in its third frame comfortably.
Pic dipped 36% to reach a cume of $62 million, and shows little sign of letting up. Bookers attributed boffo B.O. to the popularity of the "sexy" cast and the big homevid success of the first "Pirates" pic.
Exhibs are looking for a final cume of over $80 million in Blighty. Before "Pirates"' release, most had it penciled in for $73 million.
In other U.K. action, UIP's "The Break-Up" took second spot in its opening frame. And "Superman Returns" nose-dived 46% in its third frame.
Verdict is that the superhero pic hasn't really clicked with U.K. auds, but has performed acceptably. A booker suggested that the film "has fallen between generations to some extent. Although it is getting nostalgic support from twentysomethings who remember it from their childhood, it lacks a bit of edge for younger auds brought up on the tougher 'X-Men' franchise and the like."
"Superman Returns 3-D," however, has done boffo biz at the two Imax sites in the U.K. (Pic sold out all 12 shows on its opening weekend at the British Film Institute Imax cinema on it's way to an all-time European Imax best opening weekend of $111,596.)
On waters where no "Pirates" sailed, CG-animated pics "Cars" and "Over the Hedge," racked up more bucks. Both pics crossed the $100 million mark.
In Germany, UIP's "Over the Hedge" was back on top, besting Constantin Film's much ballyhooed live-action/animated spookfest "Hui Buh: The Castle Ghost," which opened in second with 244,000 viewers.
While "Hui Buh" performed below expectations, it did boast the second best opening of the year for a German pic, behind BVI's tyke comedy "The Wild Soccer Bunch 3."
"Pirates" will storm Germany next, no doubt perking up a difficult season for packing auds into theaters.
UIP's "The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift," fell to third place in Germany, but the pic had some highlights around the rest of the globe.
Pic -- which targets teen gearheads -- skidded into No. 1 in its Spanish bow, even edging out "Superman" in the hero's second sesh.
"Fast" moved $1.6 million in ticket sales in Spain from 224 screens.
Pic's take of $9.1 million overseas brought its cume to $54.9 million and put the pic in the No. 4 spot on the international charts, sandwiched between "Hedge" at No. 3 and "Cars," which brought up the rear for the top five finishers.
Below the top five, "Break-Up" grossed $5.3 million at 1,314 screens, spanning 20 territories. Movie has hit $31 million to date.
In other action, Sony's "The Da Vinci Code" discovered $1.9 million more from 1,800 screens across 50 markets, bringing its overseas tally to $525.1 million. Pic is now the No. 10 highest-grossing film ever overseas, passing "Finding Nemo" at $525 million.
After falling flat in its domestic bow, Fox's "My Super Ex-Girlfriend" took in about $1 million from 210 screens overseas.
Archie Thomas in the U.K., Ed Meza in Germany, and Esther de Prado in Spain contributed to this report.
