International Box Office: ‘Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows' beats out chipmunks and Tom Cruise to the top with $43.4M

By Sterling Wong

Warner Bros' Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows won the international box office battle this weekend, earning an estimated $43.4M from 50 markets, which includes 12 new markets.

The Guy Ritchie-directed action adventurer opened in pole position in Australia ($6.5M) and Spain ($4.9M) and held on to top spots in Germany ($3.3M) and Russia ($7.1M). The film has now cumed $177.2M overseas, and looks set to top its predecessor's $315M overseas run, with major markets like Argentina, Brazil, China, France and Japan still to open.

Proving that chipmunks can be leggy too, Fox’s Alvin & The Chipmunks: Chipwrecked had its best showing yet, grossing an impressive $30.1M, which was a 24% increase from last week, from 7,120 screens in 62 markets, bringing the international total to $128.4M.

The kiddie flick opened strongly in Brazil ($6.7M), Italy ($5.2M) and Argentina ($331K) and held up well in Australia ($3.7M), Russia ($1.8M), Germany ($1.7M), the UK ($1.4M), Holland ($1.2M), France ($1M) and Belgium ($905K).

After leading the international box office for three straight weekends, Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol falls two spots to No. 3, earning an estimated $287.9M from 7,071 outlets in 55 markets.

The Paramount film’s sole opening this week was in Argentina, where Tom Cruise sprinted to a $899K first-place debut. Elsewhere, the actioner enjoyed strong holds in Japan (No. 1 for a fourth weekend with $3.5M, down 18%), Korea (No. 1 for a fourth weekend with $3.2M, down 59%), UK and Ireland (No. 1 for a third weekend with $3.7M, up 2%), Germany ($2.1M, up 11%) and Brazil ($1.8M, up 67%).

Shrek spinoff Puss In Boots earned $18.2M from 5,779 screens in 52 territories. The Paramount-distributed film has been a great success internationally, as it officially crosses the $300M mark to cume a total of $311.6M thus far.

Sony's The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo claimed the No. 5 spot this weekend, grabbing $12.6M from 1,925 locations in 33 markets. The David Fincher version of the bestselling novel bowed at No. 1 in Hong Kong and South Africa and has now earned a total of $29.3M overseas.

Beginning its international run late is Warner Bros' J.Edgar, which bows to $6.1M in six markets. In Italy, the Leonardo Dicaprio film about the infamous FBI chief debuted at a strong No. 2 with $4.4M. Upcoming key markets to open include France (Jan 11), Germany (Jan 19) and the UK (Jan 20).

Horror film The Darkest Hour opened in 17 markets this weekend and earned $5.6M from 2,487 screens in 30 markets, lifting its international cume to $16.2M. Next week, the Fox movie will expand to France, Holland, Mexico, Spain and the UK. 

Warner Bros' New Year's Eve took in $5.3M from 56 markets, bringing its overseas total to $80M. 

Opening first in its native UK, Fox’s Oscar hopeful The Iron Lady bowed in third place to an excellent $3.4M from 461 screens.

Martin Scorsese’s Hugo earned $2.9M from 723 location in three markets – Russia and Ukraine, where it premiered, and a third week in Belgium. The Paramount film opened with $2.5M from 593 venues in Russia. The film’s overseas cume is $3.7M.

Fox’s We Bought A Zoo added one new market but dropped 50% to gross $2.6M from 1,278 screens in 14 markets. The Matt Damon-led family movie’s international cume now stands at $13.5M. 

Also grossing $2.6M from 546 locations in 13 Paramount-distributed markets is The Adventures of Tintin. The cume in these territories now stands at $69.5M.

In its second weekend of release, Disney’s War Horse grossed $2.0M in four territories that represented 9% of the market. Clearly, this will be a slow and steady race for the equine movie.

The Muppets, increased 40% in its seventh week of release to earn $700K. The Disney production was boosted by expansions in four new markets, bringing its total market count to 17, representing 17% of the international market.

Winding up a successful run is Fox’s In Time, which added another $752K from 773 screens in 10 markets, lifting its international total to $105.4M.