'Mummy' reigns in Spain

'Wall-E' opens big in France

By ARCHIE THOMAS

LONDON — A strong Euro limited territory debut for action sequel “The Mummy: Tomb of the Emperor” and solid holdover perfs by “The Dark Knight,” “Mamma Mia!” and “Wall-E” kept summer Euro box office biz ticking along nicely.

Will Smith starrer “Hancock” – another superhero actioner which has worked well in Europe – became the top grossing pic in Germany this year with $35 million after five frames.

But it wasn’t all plain sailing for Hollywood fare in European shores this weekend. “X-Files: I Want to Believe” faced a choppy reception in its U.K. and French launches. Mike Myers comedy “The Love Guru” also generated little excitement at Euro wickets after a sickly U.S. bow.

In the U.K., recent standout performers “The Dark Knight,” “Mamma Mia!” and “Wall-E” retained the top three spots comfortably. “Mamma Mia!” performed particularly well, rising 12% from 9% more screens in its fourth frame. The pic based on the Abba stage musical has now banked $62.7 million in Blighty.

As expected, none of the U.K. openers did boffo biz. Top-placed newbie was “X-Files: I Want to Believe,” which came in fourth with a modest $1.7 million at 402 screens via Fox. “The Love Guru” did not have Brits rolling in the aisles. The Paramount release managed just $975,000 at 301 in its weakly bow.

Doc “Man on Wire,” about a daredevil Gallic tightrope artist who walked a high wire between the Twin Towers in the 1970s, connected with arthouse auds, taking $192,432 at 41 at a $4,694 screen average.

Local helmer Gurinder Chadha’s teen-skewed “Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging” is showing good legs on home turf. The Paramount release dipped just 23% in its soph sesh to $1.4 million and a $5.6 million running cume.

In Spain, Universal's “The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor” powered into top slot in its opening weekend with an impressive $6 million opening on 552 screens, representing virtually 50% of the total Spanish weekend box office. Exhibitors expect “The Mummy” to reign supreme over the Spanish box office until “The Dark Knight” bows on August 13.

Previous box-office champ, “Hancock,” now in its third week, slipped into second place with a 53% drop and grossed $1.8 million on 556 screens. “Get Smart” and “X Files: I Want to Believe,” suffered significant drops in their second seshes, dropping 53% and 62% respectively.

In Germany, “The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian” opened at number one with $3.9 million from 758, giving the local box office a much needed weekend-on-weekend boost of 25.7%.

Disney’s fantasy epic may have knocked “Mamma Mia!” off the top spot, but with the summer lull in full swing and scores of Teutons away on holiday, “Prince Caspian” performed well below its much stronger predecessor.

“The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” took in more than Euros 5 million ($7.9 million at today’s exchange rate) on its opening weekend in December 2005, usually the ideal month for tentpole productions in Germany.

“The film would have undoubtedly performed better in the fall or winter,” noted one booker. “Families are either traveling on holiday or enjoying the summer outdoors. It’s not an ideal time for the movies.”

In its third frame, “Mamma Mia!” held tight, slipping less than 5% to $2.8 million for a total of $15.7 million. “Hancock” followed in third with $1.3 million towards a five-week cume of $35 million, surpassing Universum/Disney’s hit docu “Earth” as the year’s most successful film so far.

The only other top-10 opener in Germany was Jan Kounen’s French comedy “99 francs,” which took in $253,835 from 50 via Alamode Film/24 Bilder. Based on Frederic Beigbeders popular novel, pic enjoyed considerable name recognition here.

In Italy “The Dark Knight” dominated, as expected, while “The Love Guru” bombed, and thriller “Untraceable” barely left a trace. Italy's start of August weekend is always lame due to a massive beach holiday exodus.

The Warner Bros. Batman pic produced a $1.5 million second-frame take, a 51% drop, for a still solid $8.5 million running cume.

Diane Lane-starrer “Untraceable,” which was the biggest opener, pulled a paltry $100,000 on 55 via 01 Distribuzione. Universal’s “The Love Guru” did a lot worse, managing only $43,000 off 48 screens for a not funny $883 per-screen average.

The only real standout in the predictably flat frame was late Russian helmer Eldar Ryazanov's biopic "Andersen. A Life Without Love," which scored the frame’s highest per-screen average – $5,670 – albeit on just 17 screens, for a $97,000 take via Medusa.

Hollywood blockbuster fare continues to boss biz in France. Pixar toon “Wall-E” opened big for Disney, taking $6.9 million on 736 in its first five days. “Kung-Fu Panda” is showing good legs. Down only 14% in its fourth frame, it’s now cumed $20.4 million for Paramount. Bowing at the same time, “Hancock” is a winner for Sony, down only 19% on the week for a cume of close to $23 million.

But not all flawed superheroes have won over the Gallic auds. “The Incredible Hulk” was down 50% in its second frame for a cume of $6.8 million for SND. “We are quite satisfied, but we had hoped for more,” said rep Henry Hamelle.

“The X-Files: I Want to Believe” does not look likely to enjoy much better returns in Gaul than in most other territories. Its first five days netted Fox a paltry $1.8 million on 485.

Additional reporting by Ed Meza (Germany), Martin Dale (Spain), Nick Vivarelli (Italy) and David Hayhurst (France)