International Box Office: 'Sherlock Holmes' Stays On Top for Second Week Running

By Sterling Wong

Warner Bros.’ Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows continued its dominance of the international box office in the new year, staying at No. 1 for a second consecutive week. The Robert Downey Jr. vehicle earned $27.4M from 57 markets, which lifted its overseas total to $222M.

The film debuted on top in Brazil ($3.3M from 429 screens) and in Argentina and also held on atop the Australian box office ($3.4M from 386 sites). According to Warner Bros., the sequel is currently running 13% ahead of 2009’s Sherlock Holmes at the same point in release.

Meanwhile, falling a decent 39% was Paramount’s Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, which took in $16.8M from 5,847 locations in 58 markets. The Tom Cruise action flick has now earned an impressive $320M overseas, and will cross $400M at the end of its run.

The film, director Brad Bird’s first foray into live-action movies, held strong in Korea ($2.9M, down 33%), Japan ($2.6M, down 39% and also No. 1 for a fifth consecutive week), the UK and Ireland ($2.2M, down 35%) and Brazil ($1.0M, down 40%).  Markets still to open at the end of the month include China, Italy and Scandinavia.

Plunging a steep 52% is Fox’s Alvin & the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked, which earned $14.4M from 6,527 screens in 64 markets. The animated flick’s international cume is $154.1M.

The David Fincher interpretation of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is enjoying a leggy run much like its domestic fortunes. The film grossed $16.5M this weekend, an uptick of 31%, bringing the international total to $49.7M. 

Puss in Boots added two new markets and grossed $14.6M from 5,679 screens in 56 markets, which brings its total to $331.7M.

In Korea, the Paramount movie debuted at No. 1 with $5.3M from 800 venues, which was 246% bigger than Cars 2. The Antonio Bandera-voiced Shrek spinoff also recorded the all-time biggest Dreamworks Animation opening in Turkey with $757K from 185 screens. Next weekend, the feline film will land in Hong Kong.

2012’s first box office phenomenon, Fox’s The Darkest Hour, opened in 26 new markets, and grossed $9.6M from 4,284 screens in 57 markets, up 71% from last weekend. Strong No. 1 openings in Mexico, Hong Kong, the Netherlands and Bolivia propelled the horror flick to a $28.8M international total for now.

Expanding to eight new markets, Disney’s War Horse grossed an estimated $8.5M in 12 territories that represented 29% of the international market.  The Steven Spielberg film’s overseas total now stands at $17.3M.

The Muppets added five big markets, and jumped a massive 400% to gross $3.5M this weekend in 22 markets that accounted for 40% of the market. The Disney production’s present overseas cume is $15M.

Despite adding two new markets, Paramount’s Hugo fell 17%, grossing $2.4M from 973 screens in five territories. The Scorsese film has earned $8.1M overseas thus far.

Also grossing $2.4M, but only in one market, was Fox’s The Descendants, which bowed on 233 screens in Australia. This opening weekend was 32% higher than Up in the Air’s was.

The family film opened in Australia, where it grossed $1.7M from 210 screens, and in New Zealand, where it took in $126K from 51 locales. Paramount will be hoping that the likely Oscar nominations for Scorsese and the movie will provide much-needed legs for the expensive movie.

Universal’s Contraband kicked off its international run in six small territories (Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Bulgaria, Slovenia) and Russia and earned an estimated $1.5M at 479 dates in these 7 markets.

Fox’s We Bought a Zoo also took in $1.5M from 1,046 screens in 14 markets. With the majority of big international markets yet to open, the Cameron Crowe comeback vehicle’s overseas cume is $16.5M for now.

The Adventures of Tintin dropped a steep 46% this week in the 13 Paramount-distributed markets to earn $1.4M.  In this markets, the Spielberg-directed motion-capture film has cumed $72.7M to date.

Tower Heist continued to chug along, grossing an estimated $1M at 385 dates in 18 territories this weekend for an international total of $63.2M. The Ben Stiller movie is still to open in six markets, including Argentina on Jan. 19.  

More grosses coming soon