Sunshine wilts European box office
Tentpoles' absence felt
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Crowds took advantage of the suddenly hot weather to hit the beaches, parks and other outdoor recreation areas.
In Italy, the soaring temperatures hurt the hotly anticipated bow of Daniele Luchetti's political drama "Mio Fraletto e figlio unico" (My Brother Is An Only Child).
The debut of $1.9 million off 482 screens was good enough for top spot but down on bookers' pre-release expectations. Eleventh-hour nerves from local exhibs saw the pic's screens cut from 559 to 482.
Male menopause laffer "Wild Hogs" roared into second spot in Italy with $1.2 million at 292, besting "The Good Shepherd," which spied $975,000 at 320.
"Hogs" triumph over "Shepherd" on fewer screens was something of a surprise to local industryites given that "Shepherd" helmer Robert De Niro has a firm following in Italy.
Universal release "Mr. Bean's Holiday" wilted in the summery Italian weather, drooping 51% to $571,000 on 274. Danny Boyle's sci-fi pic "Sunshine" also suffered from sunstroke, managing $427,000 at 238 in its fifth-placed bow.
As gloomily predicted by some Brit bookers, no pic cleared the modest £1 million ($2 million) bar over the weekend. The weather and a lack of any keenly anticipated product combined to send overall trade down 3% on last weekend (also very warm) and down 22% on the same weekend last year.
"Mr. Bean's Holiday" is finally bowing to box office gravity on home turf. The Rowan Atkinson starrer nosedived 46% in its fourth frame in the U.K.; cume is $39.5 million.
But there were some bright spots.
"Wild Hogs" showed good legs in the U.K., dipping just 23% in its soph sesh to $1.9 million at 416, good enough for the top spot.
German auds also displayed a big appetite for "Wild Hogs," which was No. 1 with $3 million at 583. "Hogs" displaced "Mr. Bean's Holiday," which slipped 48% in its fourth frame for a $19.7 million running cume.
Local product dipped as the French headed to the polling stations in droves.
"Mr. Bean's Holiday" finally arrived in Gaul and predictably nabbed top spot in a soft frame with $2.6 million at 496 through StudioCanal.
"Holiday" did more than twice as much as second-placed "Shooter," which managed $1.2 million at 248 for Par in its first five days.
In Spain, psychological thriller "The Number 23" took $1.1 million at 295, which put it just behind "Music and Lyrics." But "Sunshine" left Spanish cinemagoers cold, taking $939,583 at 300 and third spot in the charts.
(Ed Meza in Germany, David Hayhurst in France, Matt Griffin in Spain and Bernhard Warner in Italy contributed to this report.)
