John Woo's "Red Cliff: Part II" grossed $6.7 million from 789 playdates in Japan over the April 10-12 weekend in a fortuitous start for the second half of the filmmaker's big-budget period epic.
"Red Cliff," released last year, earned virtually the same amount when it bowed in Japan on its way to cuming north of $50 million in that country. Japan was by far the most lucrative territory for the pic, which cumed $78.2 million internationally.
Counting its first-day take, "Part II" earned $8.7 million in its first three days in Japan. The second installment started its run in January in a handful of Asian territories. Foreign cume to date is $30.1 million, with $3 million in South Korea, $1.2 million in Hong Kong and $893,000 in Singapore.
Ancillary markets also should prove lucrative for "Part II." Broadcast on Japan's TV Asahi network on April 12, the first part scored a high 19.9 rating and has sold 200,000 units on DVD and Blu-ray since its March 11 release.
The sequel's Japanese launch was good enough to place the pic No. 5 at the international box office for the sesh.
Placing No. 1 for the frame was Universal's actioner "Fast and Furious," which nabbed the best weekend gross of the year so far with $45.9 million from 5,075 playdates in 54 markets for a foreign cume of $91 million. Domestic tally through April 12 was $116.5 million, putting the worldwide tally at a sizzling $207.5 million.
"Fast and Furious" opened in 18 additional international markets over Easter weekend and placed first in each. Russia led with $8.6 million from 545 playdates, for the ninth biggest opening of all time. That was followed by France, where the film earned $8.4 million from 488 locations. In the U.K, it grossed $7.5 million from 362 runs.
Film scored the biggest opening on record — $1.1 million from 25 playdates — in the United Arab Emirates.
It also showed good staying power in holdover markets. Germany, where the franchise has always performed well, turned in $3 million at 614 for an 11-day cume of $10.7 million, even though overall ticket sales dropped 31% because of sunny skies and the Easter holiday.
The pic also held at No. 1 in Mexico ($2.3 million from 458), Brazil ($1.6 million at 193) and moved up to No. 2 in Argentina ($455,000 from 47). The film has been a favorite among Latino auds, both domestically and overseas.
International studio execs say the reason "Fast and Furious" has worked so well is that it is the first pure action film in some time. Action pics are consistently strong performers overseas.
Also contributing to the movie's appeal was the reteaming of Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Michelle Rodriguez and Jordana Brewster for the first time since the original "The Fast and the Furious."
The latest sequel has already grossed nearly as much internationally as "2 Fast 2 Furious" and "The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift" did in their entire runs, at $109.2 million and $96 million, respectively.
The other title underscoring the increasing importance of international B.O. to Hollywood studios was 20th Century Fox's "Dragonball Evolution."
"Dragonball" opened at the domestic box office over Easter weekend to $4.8 million. That was good enough to place only No. 8. But the film's foreign run is helping to make up for its lackluster domestic performance.
"Dragonball," which opened five weeks ago overseas, grossed $10.3 million over Easter weekend for a foreign cume of $36.9 million and worldwide tally of $41.7 million. Much of the foreign coin has come from Asian markets. The pic landed at No. 4 on the international B.O. chart for the weekend.
Coming in No. 2 internationally was DreamWorks Animation/Paramount's 3-D toon "Monsters vs. Aliens," which grossed a sturdy $33.5 million in its fourth weekend from 7,467 playdates in 47 territories for a foreign cume of $88.8 million and worldwide total of $229.8 million.
Summit Entertainment's sci-fi disaster pic "Knowing" continued to be a contender, coming in No. 3 overseas. The Nicolas Cage pic grossed $11.9 million from 2,824 playdates in 27 markets for a foreign cume of $40.4 million and domestic tally of $68 million. Worldwide haul is $108.4 million.
Zac Efron starrer "17 Again" got off to a strong start as it opened in four territories a week ahead of its debut Stateside. The film grossed $6.5 million from 625 playdates, led by the U.K. with $3.8 million and followed by Australia with $2.2 million.
David Hayhurst in Paris, Emilio Mayorga in Madrid, Ed Meza in Berlin, Mark Schilling in Tokyo and Nick Vivarelli in Rome contributed to this report.
Contact Pamela McClintock at
pamela.mcclintock@variety.com