"Simpsons" retains top spot at overseas box office

By Frank Segers

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - "The Simpsons Movie" dominated the international market for the second consecutive weekend, grossing an estimated $47.3 million from 6,600 screens in 75 markets and pushing its overseas box-office total to $187 million and $315.6 million worldwide.

The weekend's top five performers were the same titles as last weekend's, although "Transformers" supplanted "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" in the runner-up slot.

20th Century Fox International's "Simpsons" -- the first big-screen project based on the 18-year-old Fox TV franchise -- opened in Mexico, Denmark, Poland and India, with Mexico providing the biggest number, an estimated $7 million from 850 screens, enough to secure a No. 1 ranking and a notch as the third-biggest animation title to open in that market. In Denmark, the opening gross was $1.4 million from 119 sites for a mighty $11,764 per-screen average.

Biggest holdover markets for Bart and company were the U.K. (No. 1 with an estimated $8.7 million from 516 spots for a cume of $49.5 million), Germany ($5.4 million from 985 sites, cume $24.9 million), Australia (No. 1 with $5.3 million from 445 screens, cume $18.9 million) and France (No. 2 with $3.8 million from 716 situations, cume $15.3 million).

No. 2 was DreamWorks/Paramount Pictures International's "Transformers," which drew an estimated $30 million from 6,118 screens in 53 territories. Overseas gross to date for the action title is $296 million. "Transformers" opened in five territories, including Japan, where it finished at No. 1 with an estimated $5.3 million from 616 locations.

Finishing third was Warner Bros. International's "Phoenix," which grossed 49 percent less than the previous weekend but nonetheless crossed the $500-million mark internationally with an estimated $25.2 million from about 9,700 screens in 59 territories.

Overseas box-office total for Harry and company stands at $509.7 million, nearly half of which comes from the U.K. ($84.4 million), Germany ($52.4 million), Japan ($43 million), France, ($41.6 million) and Australia ($27.3 million).

In the No. 4 spot is Disney/Pixar's "Ratatouille," which was propelled by No. 1 openings in nine markets to its biggest weekend tally yet, an estimated $24.5 million from 4,320 screens in 26 markets. The Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures International release's overseas cume is $83.3 million.  Continued...