At the same time Disney slashed jobs, Buena Vista Intl.'s
"Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest" carved up the international wickets over the weekend: Pic easily won its fourth straight frame overseas.
Pic has crossed $300 million abroad, after adding another hefty $55.3 million to its war chest.
Worldwide cume now sits at almost $665 million, making it the 25th highest grosser of all time.
What's scary for the competish is that "Pirates" -- already playing on 7,601 screens across 42 territories -- still has some major openings left: It's set to sail in France and Hong Kong next.
Latest sequel has easily overtaken the final cume of "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl" by a whopping $10 million.
Pic has become the fourth biggest BVI title worldwide, trailing "Finding Nemo," "The Lion King" and "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe."
The "Pirates" sequel stormed Germany, enjoying the second best start of the year in the territory after "Ice Age: The Meltdown."
"Dead Man's Chest" slashed $17.4 million in Germany, well above the $13.4 million the first "Pirates" pic made in its bow there.
"Dead Man's Chest" provided BVI with its best-ever start in Germany and -- with 1,330 prints screening -- its widest Teutonic rollout. (BVI even enjoyed biz from a re-release of the original "Pirates" in Germany, which landed at No. 5 on the charts and generated more than $500,000 on 310 screens.)
Thanks to "Dead Man's Chest" returns, local B.O. in Germany soared 184% from the prior frame.
Thanks to its largely British cast, "Pirates" continued to pillage Blighty's B.O. as well. Pic slipped just 32% in its fourth frame, and bookers are thrilled with the run.
Pic is set to clear the £50 million ($93.5 million) mark in the territory.
"Pirates' " first midweek showing in France attracted more than 10,000 viewers in Paris. Some Gallic exhibs are predicting the film will have the best first week in France of the year for a Hollywood title, ahead of current record-holder "Ice Age 2," which sold more than 2.1 million in its first week here in April.
Whether it can beat the No. 1 film of the year, cult Gallic laffer "Les Bronzes," which sold 3.9 million-plus in its first week, remains to be seen.
In other holdover territories, "Pirates" remained healthy in Japan, with a 31% decline in its soph sesh to $6 million. The second Mexican frame fell 51% to $2.8 million at 791 and the Brazilian soph sesh slid 40% to $1.7 million.
Still running No. 2 behind "Pirates" was Warner Bros.'
"Superman Returns," which muscled $11.6 million, lifting its international total to $130.8 million.
The Man of Steel has yet to land in Germany, Italy and Japan, having already opened in 50 markets.
BVI's
"Cars," meanwhile, was the No. 3 finisher, but it skidded badly in the U.K.
The CG-animated pic crashed in with $4,993,905 from 513 prints, for a per-screen average of $9,735.
Opening frame for "Cars" in Blighty was a full 50% below bookers' expectations, one of whom said he was in a "state of shock" at the poor opening.
Exhibs felt the overtly male-skewed title and subject matter put off young girls. Pic's length also was blamed for the below-par bow.
Bookers did not criticize BVI's campaign, however, and some blame U.K. crix for being overly harsh on the Pixar pic.
U.K. bookers feel the pic will struggle to do $35 million, whereas pre-release expectations pegged it at $45 million.
But other pics without "Pirates" in their titles had trouble in the U.K., too. After being billed as a homegrown blockbuster,
"Stormbreaker" stumbled into its soph sesh with a 37% dip.
Bookers are skeptical whether the kid adventure pic is doing enough biz to launch a proposed series. Blighty exhibs are projecting an $11 million final cume.
Sequel "Garfield: A Tale of Two Kitties" from Fox held very well in the U.K., dropping just 24% in its second weekend.
It opened meekly, but exhibs now have high hopes that it can stick through the summer. It may be easier to keep in cinemas, as the kitty pic is shorter in length than other summer blockbusters.
In France, feline tale performed well in its second frame, dropping a negligible 9%.
UIP's
"Over the Hedge," another CGI pic aimed at families, remains a solid player.
Pic has crossed $121 million, and added $6.7 million to its take over the frame. It barely edged out "Garfield" as the No. 4 finisher of the weekend overseas, and is beating out "Cars" by a full $8 million internationally.
"Miami Vice" from UIP launched day-and-date with No. 1 finishes in a trio of Asian markets: Taiwan, Thailand and Indonesia. "Vice" opens next in Mexico, Russia and the U.K.
Sheri Jennings in Italy, Archie Thomas in the U.K., Liza Klaussmann in France, Esther De Prado in Spain, Ed Meza in Germany and Michaela Boland in Australia contributed to this report.
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