Sunday, August 09, 2009

Animation B.O. Beyond the Seas

If my math skills are correct, then White Doggie has (finally) climbed to the $300 million plateau for worldwide grosses.

$191,000,000 (f) + $114,000,000 (d) = $305,000,000

Elsewhere in the International marketplace ...

.... titles of more recent vintage tear up the turf as they round the turn..

No. 3 on the weekend was 20th Century Fox's "Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs," which garnered $14 million from 7,197 screens in 66 markets. Its overseas tally is $578.2 million, making the threequel this year's biggest foreign grosser to date, besting the latest "Harry Potter" by $36.4 million.

Fourth was Pixar Disney's animated title "Up," which began its run May 29 and will conclude it in Japan on Dec. 5. Weekend action sparked by No. 1 finishes in France and Spain was $16.9 million from 2,442 locations in 21 territories.

Foreign cume has passed the $100-million mark ($108.8 million), putting "Up" on track, Disney said, ahead of 2008's "WALL-E" (total overseas gross of $310 million) and 2007's "Ratatouille" ($415 million) ...

... Also grossing $6.2 million on the weekend were holdovers "G-Force" and "The Hangover." The former, producer Jerry Bruckheimer's big-budget digital animation title from Disney, played 2,052 screens in 16 markets for a cume of $27.2 million. Warner Bros.' sleeper hit comedy was booked at 2,211 screens in 44 markets, and moved its international cume to $124 million. ...

Other international cumes: ... Disney's "Bolt," $191.6 million; Focus Features/Universal's "Coraline," $41.5 million; ...

The lesson I learn from these tallies is that animation in all its various forms has become a potent global market driver, which bodes well for individuals working in the field.

It's not restricted to Disney ... or Pixar ... or DreamWorks Animation any more. When Jerry Bruckheimer jumps into Toonland and triumphs, I think you can say that animation has burrowed deep into all corners of the movie industry.

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