LONDON — The arrival of Oscar contenders "Blood Diamond" and "Dreamgirls" caused a ripple rather than a wave of excitement in Europe, where family favorites "The Pursuit of Happyness" and "Night at the Museum" and local pics such as "Manual of Love 2" continue to dominate the box office.
Producer Aurelio De Laurentiis' latest homegrown hit "Manual of Love 2" held top spot in its soph sesh in Italy, taking $5.3 million at 588, and has now scored $17 million on home turf.
WB's "Blood Diamond" took fourth spot in its first frame with a decent $1.55 million at 264.
As predicted by local exhibs last week, "Dreamgirls" did not click with Italo auds. Musicals rarely prove popular with Italian auds and "Dreamgirls" took just $360,000 at 172 despite its leading eight Oscar noms.
"Blood Diamond" opened boldly in the U.K., taking $2.9 million at 371; good enough for second spot in the charts. The opening frame was helped greatly by the pic's five Oscar noms and the Jan. 23 London premiere, which was attended by Oscar hopefuls Leonardo DiCaprio and Djimon Hounsou and their co-star Jennifer Connelly.
The opening haul was a touch above the estimations of bookers, who were slightly concerned that the hard-hitting subject matter might prove a box office turn off. Reviews were mixed.
BVI's 195-screen "Venus" launch proved over-optimistic; the film managed $623,428 at 195 for a $3,197 screen average. "Perhaps it should have gone out on its 70 best sites. That way the screen average would have been twice as healthy," suggested one booker.
News of Peter O'Toole's eighth Oscar nom got lots of column inches in the quality newspapers but the pic did not attract large auds outside London's West End and upmarket urban theaters.
Other Oscar hopefuls currently on release in the U.K. held well. Paramount's "Babel" followed up on its good opening frame with a decent 28% drop off in its soph sesh en route to a $2.6 million running take.
Invigorated by red hot buzz surrounding Forest Whitaker's turn as Idi Amin, "Last King of Scotland" dipped 27% in its third frame and has now grossed $5.9 million.
"The Pursuit of Happyness" fell 29% in its third weekend and has now taken $14.1 million.
"The outstanding result once again proves that Will Smith is the most bankable Hollywood star on the planet," enthused one London-based exhib.
Eros release "Salaam-E-Ishq" took $575,610 at 49 for a chart-topping screen average of $11,746. But the seemingly big bow did not delight Brit bookers who said "it did no more than meet expectations." The 215 minute running time limited the Bollywood release to one evening show and 11th spot in the charts.
Local product continues to punch its weight in France where four of the top five films are Gallic productions. But it was the opening of "Rocky Balboa" that topped the charts. Multiplying the admissions figures by the average ticket price of $6.38, the Stallone-starrer bowed to $3.8 million at 493 in its first five days.
Topping the local offerings was Regis Wargnier's second-placed opener "Pars vite et reviens tard," which took $2.2 million on 495 for Gaumont Columbia Tristar.
Expectations had high at Pathe for Laurent Boutonnat's big-screen adaptation of a popular 1970s kid's TV show, "Jacquou le Croquant," which occupied third place. It has cumed $3.8 million after two weeks.
Luc Besson's "Arthur and the Invisibles" remains in the top five, cuming $38.8 million for EuropaCorp after seven weeks.
In fifth spot, Eric Barbier's thriller "Le Serpent" remains a nice little earner for Wild Bunch; after three weeks it has cumed $4.2 million.
In line with its previous openings across Europe, Fox's Ben Stiller comedy "Night at the Museum" opened huge in Spain, raking in $5.4 million at 453.
The top-placed pic benefited from a distinct lack of family fare in the Spanish marketplace.
The boffo "Museum" Spanish bow obliterated most of the competish although Oscars contender "Babel" continues to do solid trade. The Universal release slipped just 12% in its fifth frame and has now chalked up $9.3 million in the territory.
"Dreamgirls" fared better in Spain than it did in Italy. The pic scored $595,556 at 176 — not bad in a territory where, like in Italy, musicals often flop.
After a surprisingly strong opening of $1.3 million off 241 last weekend, Spanish "A Team" spoof "JA Team," distribbed by DeAPlaneta, fell off 58% in its second frame. The steep drop off meshed with bookers' expectations.
Word of mouth among teen auds is echoing the very negative reviews. "It's cack-handed, tacky, and devoid of wit and originality," thundered the Metropoli leisure guide.
In Germany, "The Pursuit of Happyness" held top spot in its second frame, nabbing $2 million at 517 for a cume of $5.8 million. The result put it ahead of the "Blood Diamond" opening of $1.65 million at 493. Tobis' "Arthur and the Invisibles" opened in third with $1.07 million, below expectations in view of local pop stars Bill Kaulitz, Tokio Hotel and New Wave icon Nena lending their voices to the locally dubbed version.
Constantin Film's "Schwere Jungs" followed in fourth with $653,161 from 250 on its way to a $1.8 million total. German helmer Marcus H. Rosenmueller's latest hit about an Olympic bobsled team comes on the heels of last year's hugely successful Bavarian laffer "Grave Decisions."
Down to number five was Dani Levy's Adolf Hitler satire "Mein Fuhrer," which dropped off 50% to $651,000 from 390. The controversial laffer opened impressively but is now fading fast.
Swiss director Reto Salimbeni's English-language thriller "One Way," starring German thesp Til Schweiger as a highflying ad exec blackmailed into covering up a rape, opened to a respectable $621,508 at 304.
Fox releases in Germany suffered badly this weekend as leading cinema chains Cinestar and Cinemaxx followed through on threats not to carry any the distributor's films in objection to Fox's proposed DVD launch of "Eragon" just three months after its theatrical release. "Night at the Museum" plummeted 76% as a result but will be back packing the multiplexes next weekend as the spat has now been resolved, with Fox agreeing to push back the "Eragon" DVD date.
Additional reporting by Ed Meza (Germany), Nick Vivarelli (Italy), David Hayhurst (France) and John Hopewell (Spain).
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