Georgie Henley (left), and James McAvoy in a scene from the movie 'The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion The Witch and The Wardrobe'. - CONTRIBUTED
(Reuters):
WITH ITS fourth consecutive weekend atop the foreign box office, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe crossed the US$580 million mark globally, and is increasingly inspiring talk of a new film franchise.
Disney's adaptation of the C.S. Lewis classic earned an estimated US$20.1 million overseas last weekend, pushing its international tally to US$319 million (the domestic total stands at US$261.4 million).
Since the film covers material from just two of the seven volumes of C.S. Lewis' The Chronicles of Narnia books, there is plenty of material for future Narnia screen adaptations, according to David Kornblum, of Disney's Buena Vista Intl. unit.
THE NEXT BIG FRANCHISE
"It looks to be the next big franchise now that Lord Of The Rings is completed and Star Wars is phasing down," he said.
The film had its opening weekend in Turkey - which, along with Poland and Russia, is becoming an increasingly strong market for the Hollywood majors - grossing US$890,000. In its sixth weekend in the United Kingdom, Narnia pulled US$2.4 million, taking its local total to a robust US$70.7 million.
In Poland, Narnia drew a strong $1 million, number one for a second weekend; its total there is US$3.1 million. In Australia, the fourth weekend drew US$1.8 million, for a total of US$21.6 million. In its third weekend in South Korea, a market that largely prefers action titles, Narnia drew $1.6 million for a local tally of US$12 million. Disney expects that within a week, the film will pass Pirates of the Caribbean as the company's biggest live action grosser in South Korea.
SECOND-BIGGEST GROSSER
The international arena's second-biggest grosser this weekend was King Kong, which yielded an estimated US$15 million from 57 territories, for a 32-day international total of $296 million. The Peter Jackson remake had a strong opening in China, US$3.1 million (surpassing War Of The Worlds as Universal's biggest China opening), and rebounded two places to number three in Britain with US$2.3 million; the U.K. total stands at US$48.9 million.
While Kong slipped in Spain and Germany and is tailing off in Brazil, it maintained its number one spot in Jackson's native New Zealand with a 33-day total of US$5.3 million.
The Gulf War saga Jarhead added 18 territories for a weekend gross of an estimated US$8.5 million in 27 markets; its foreign total stands at US$14 million.
Most notable was Jarhead's number one opening spot in the U.K. where it pulled US$3.5 million. It opened at number two in France, with US$1.4 million.
Harry Potter and the Goblet Of Fire wound down its international run with a weekend tally of US$6.6 million in 56 markets. The foreign total now stands at US$582.5 million.
