The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" remained ruler of the international box office for the second consecutive weekend with $31 million in 50 markets.
"Button" has sewn up $118.6 million in foreign grosses -- less than $4 million from matching the domestic total -- with Warner Bros. taking full advantage of the romancer's 13 Oscar nominations plus Brad Pitt's star power outside the United States.
The pricey "Button" scored first-place launches of $4.6 million in Italy and $2 million in South Korea. Holdover biz stayed solid in the second frame for major markets as France declined 17% to $4.6 million; Spain was off 36% to $3.3 million; Japan slid only 11% to $3.1 million; and Brit takings decreased just 21% to $2.6 million.
Awards season favorite "Slumdog Millionaire" stayed sensational in the U.K. with about $2.5 million in its sixth weekend to push its Brit takings to $28 million and its foreign cume to around $55 million.
Paramount's "Revolutionary Road" added $3.3 million at 2,817 to lift its foreign total to $43 million -- more than double its Stateside cume. Other awards season contenders remained in limited release with "Doubt" pulling in $1.8 million at 900 for a $10.3 million international take; "Frost/Nixon" with $700,000 at 623 for a $6.4 million total; and "Milk" with $625,000 at 430 for a $7.5 million cume.
Disney's "Bolt" finished a distant but decent second to "Button," fetching $16.5 million at 3,696 playdates -- most of that from its U.K. launch of $7.8 million (including previews) and its second French frame, which saw grosses edge up 2% to $4.3 million.
"Bolt" has cumed $131.8 million outside the United States as the Mouse House opted for a staggered release pattern aimed at individual markets. The toon should stay a player as both the U.K. and France are entering school holiday periods.
"Valkyrie" continued to generate respectable rather than blockbuster biz in foreign markets with $11.9 million at 4,500 in 55 territories to push international cume to $72 million -- $10 million short of the domestic total for the Tom Cruise thriller. "Valkyrie" has performed far better than "Lions for Lambs," which managed a meager $63 million from domestic and foreign combined.
Female moviegoers showed decent support for "He's Just Not That Into You" with $11.4 million at 2,087 in 16 markets, led by a $3.7 million Australian debut and an impressive hold in its second U.K. frame, down 4% to $2.7 million.
"Friday the 13th" scared up $10.4 million at 2,172 in 30 day-and-date market launches, led by $2 million in the U.K., $1.7 million in Russia and $1.1 million in Italy. Paramount reported that the opening represents the biggest foreign debut in the Jason Voorhees series, outperforming "Freddy Vs. Jason" in key markets.
By contrast, Disney opted for a much smaller day-and-date launch of "Confessions of a Shopaholic" with $2.8 million at 540 in five markets, led by $1.7 million in Russia. Similarly, Sony saw "The International" gun down $2.7 million at 570 from debuts in Austria, Germany and German-speaking Switzerland.
Sony also saw moderate returns on its first foreign launches of "Pink Panther 2" with $3.8 million at 960, led by $1.3 million at 400 in the U.K.
Fox's "Australia" continued to show traction internationally with $2.5 million at 2,200, led by a $1.4 million Russian launch. Baz Luhrmann's epic has cumed $146 million outside the United States -- triple its domestic gross.
Uni's "Mamma Mia!" added $2 million from its third Japanese frame to take its foreign total to a stunning $446.2 million -- 25th on the all-time list.
Contact Dave McNary at
dave.mcnary@variety.com