'Dead Man's Chest' joins billion $ club
Pic becomes just one of three to reach milestone
"Chest" also will help 2006's total sail past the even higher 2004 mark of $8.5 billion, as the pic becomes just one of three to take in more than $1 billion worldwide, joining "Titanic" and "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King."
Also keeping the overseas B.O. biz jumping this summer have been Sony's "The Da Vinci Code," UIP's "Mission: Impossible III" and Fox's "X-Men: The Last Stand," which performed well even up against World Cup play.
With a string of nine straight No. 1 finishes at the overseas wickets, "Pirates" managed to sail away with a pole-position finish again in its latest frame, easily beating runner-up "Miami Vice," followed thisclose by BVI's "Cars," and family entries "Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties" from Fox and "Monster House" from Sony.
Continuing to kick serious booty with little late summer competish in its way, "Dead Man's Chest" managed to raise its overseas cume to $579.5 million by taking in another $11.6 million from 49 territories around the globe.
Pic was No. 1 in France after 33 days in release, beating out newcomers "Snakes on a Plane" and "The Sentinel."
"Miami" and "Cars," meantime, seemingly tied for second with $7.1 million each. But when updated tallies were reported, the Michael Mann tropical cop pic eked out a slight lead as it moved to $7.7 million from 37 territories.
"Vice" has so far cumed $64.5 million abroad. That's just a smidge ahead of the pic's U.S. take to date ($62.8 million), which has been seen as a big disappointment for a big-budget bigscreen adaptation.
BVI's "Cars" has lapped up $172 million to date overseas, and is now one of five summer pics expected to zoom past the $200 million mark in foreign grosses. "Cars" next gears up for a German release.
However, toon has played much better in the U.S., where it passed the checkered flag with $242 million. Some foreign engagements have been seen by B.O. analysts as weak, including the U.K., where the pic puttered out below estimates, at less than $30 million. Elsewhere it has seemed low-octane following such massive Pixar hits as "Finding Nemo" and "The Incredibles."
"Cars" stuck around in Blighty, however, and cleaned up as few fresh top-grade pics came into the frame.
That helped overall biz finish up 11% from the previous frame, and 17% from the same weekend last year. Upticks also were driven by the end of school holidays, as parents took the rugrats out for one last summer treat.
Sony's screwball comedy "Little Man" opened above expectations in the U.K., taking in more than $2 million.
Exhibs attributed its strong bow to its trailer, which tweaked interest of kids. Matinee performances were stronger than expected, but biz should dip steeply now the kids are back at school.
Another new entry in the U.K., Lionsgate's "The Wicker Man," limped into third place: Bookers reported Lionsgate was hoping the horror remake would take the No. 1 spot from UIP's "You, Me & Dupree," which took the lead with a mere 29% drop in its soph sesh. (Owen Wilson is not guaranteed box office in Blighty, but his fan base is growing steadily.)
"The Sentinel" (No. 4) and "Crank" (No. 8) opened pretty much bang on expectations, meantime.
Germany's B.O. biz was off 29% compared with the previous weekend, despite a slew of new releases.
"Miami Vice" saw a 50% drop, but remained at the top of the heap.
"There's a certain mystique about Miami and Florida for a lot of Germans," observed one exhib of the pic's perf. "And it's the only serious cop thriller out there with practically no strong competition."
M. Night Shyamalan's latest supernatural tale, "Lady in the Water," took in just over $374,000 from 125 theaters in Germany.
After falling fast in other foreign territories, Warner Bros.' "Superman Returns" performed 30% under expectations, according to Italo bookers. Even with the caped crusader on the scene, the Italian B.O. registered a scant 6% increase over last weekend's tallies.
"Superman" did finish No. 1 there, with $2.1 million from 574 screens.
Pic was followed in Italy by "Cars," Moviemax's "Lucky Number Slevin," "Garfield" and Lucky Red's "Thank You for Smoking."
Italo exhibs are looking toward the upcoming Rome Film Festival as a means to boost biz.
Spanish biz was bolstered by local fare on a slow weekend. Fox's "Alatriste" trounced the competish, taking in $5.8 million and beating second-place pic "Pirates' " take of $1.34 million.
In Latin American action, Sony's "Click" clicked into the top spot in Mexico, Brazil and Chile. Pic now has a foreign cume of $35.5 million, without any European bows.
In Asia, UIP's Al Gore docu "An Inconvenient Truth" grossed $11,119 from just one location in Thailand in its premiere foreign showing: That set a record as the nation's biggest opening ever for a docu.
(Sheri Jennings in Italy, Archie Thomas in the U.K., Liza Klaussmann in France, Esther De Prado in Spain and Ed Meza in Germany contributed to this report.)
