Site design by: Dolphin Webpage Designs © 1996-2002

"Sky," "Spy" on high at foreign box office submitted by: Lisa D. source: Variety Date: January 29, 2002 By Don Groves SYDNEY - The romantic pairing -- on and off screen -- of Tom Cruise and Penelope Cruz ensured lusty but not exceptional bows for "Vanilla Sky" over the weekend, while the Brad Pitt /Robert Redford combo gave "Spy Game" a decent liftoff in Australia. "Vanilla Sky," a remake of Spanish hit "Open Your Eyes," wooed $14.3 million from debuts in 21 markets and holdovers in seven territories, elevating its foreign haul to $50.1 million. (The North American total is $96 million.) The key question for the Cameron Crowe-helmed pic will be whether it's sustained by positive word of mouth, mirroring Japan, where it has amassed a terrific $23 million through its sixth weekend; or falls sharply due to overwhelmingly negative buzz, as in Oz, where it's picked up a weak $3.7 million in five weeks. The thriller brought in $4.2 million in the U.K., $2.6 million in France, $440,000 in Belgium and $347,000 in the Netherlands. It had similarly solid debuts in Sweden, Greece, Hungary, Portugal and South Africa. Director Tony Scott's "Spy Game" launched Down Under in third spot with $1.2 million in five days. Its foreign total is estimated at a handy $52.6 million. "Ocean's Eleven" cruised to $62.3 million, propelled by an estimated $10.4 million weekend heist in 17 territories. The casino caper retained pole position in Spain, where it has pocketed a terrific $5.5 million to date. Among its other stellar scores are Germany's $15.3 million through its third outing, Australia's $8.2 million after its third (still No. 1 in both markets) and Sweden's $1.5 million in its second. Fantasy duo "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring" and "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" are far from done. New Line's "Rings" rang up an estimated $23 million, hoisting its total to $364.3 million. Among the drivers are Italy's $11.3 million and Taiwan's $3.7 million, both in 10 days. (The North American total is $258.5 million.) WB's "Harry Potter" raked in about $9.7 million, sending its foreign total to a dizzying $578.6 million. Japan's $140.8 million is the top earner, followed by Blighty's $89 million, Germany's $65.1 million, France's $43.3 million and Italy's $25.4 million. (The North American total is $311.6 million.) Remarkably, "Monsters, Inc." has overtaken both "Harry" and "Rings" in Mexico, making $18 million through its seventh weekend, to rank as that market's second-highest grosser of all time, trailing "Titanic." The cartoon's foreign total reached $50.3 million. On the last stop on its tour of duty, "The Princess Diaries" whistled up $650,000 in Japan, a fair result for a film whose genre often doesn't play anywhere near as well abroad as at home, as evidenced by its $45.5 million haul overseas. Fox's "Behind Enemy Lines" touched down in Spain as a distant No. 6, mustering $528,000, and slid by 48% after a potent premiere in Mexico, capturing $1.7 million to date. "Black Hawk Down" slipped by an acceptable 36% in the U.K., eraning a fine $5.2 million in 10 days. In its first foreign tryout, Miramax's "Birthday Girl" celebrated with a pretty good $933,000 in three days in Italy, coming in second behind "Rings." That shaded French import "Amelie," which shone with an estimated $800,000 in four days on 133 screens (vs. 232 for "Birthday Girl"). "In the Bedroom" collected a promising $123,000 on 16 screens in the U.K., including previews, and $98,000 through its second lap in Oz, expanding from five theaters to eight. Miramax's "Iris" eased by a mere 13% in the U.K., penning a strong $1.4 million in 10 days on 85. Site design by: Dolphin Webpage Designs © 1996-2002