‘Dragon 2’ Gives World Cup the Boot with Big Brazil Box Office Opening

DreamWorks sequel posts 2nd-best animated debut ever in that country and takes in $43 million from abroad

DreamWorks Animation’s “How to Train Your Dragon 2” flew into the record books — and past concerns about the World Cup denting the global box office — with a $6.8 million opening in Brazil.

That’s the second biggest animated opening ever in that country, which is playing host to soccer’s biggest event. It’s also three times more than the original’s debut there, and 10 percent better than last summer’s debut of “Despicable Me 2.” A number of distributors have steered clear of this portion of the summer during the World Cup, but it proved no problem for “Dragon 2.”

The Fox-distributed family film was in 53 foreign markets overall, and finished No. 1 in 30 of them, bringing in $43.5 million from abroad this weekend. That ups the international total for the PG-rated adventure to $77.2 million, with most of the big European markets still to come.

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It was a strong weekend overall for Fox abroad.

“The Fault in Our Stars” continued to show surprising strength at the overseas box office. It opened at No. 1 in the U.K. with $5.8 million – bigger than that of “Twilight” – and earned $20 million from 45 foreign territories this weekend.

That gives the teen drama starring Shailene Woodley and Ansel Elgort a foreign total of $65 million with five of the top ten markets still to come. With its domestic total at roughly $100 million, the $12 million “Fault” has taken in $165 million globally.

Also read: 5 Takeaways and 5 Questions From the Sputtering Mid-Summer Box Office

“X-Men: Days of Future Past” upped its international total to an impressive $477 million, taking in $11.3 million from 47 markets over the weekend.

And the Cameron Diaz comedy “The Other Woman” opened No. 1 in France with $1.3 million and in the process topped the $100 million mark internationally.

Sony’s “22 Jump Street” is showing surprising muscle overseas. It took in an estimated $14.1 million this weekend from 30 territories, bringing its overseas total to $38.2 million.

The R-rated comedy sequel starring Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill opened at No. 1 in Australia with a very strong $6.4 million — 63 percent better than “21 Jump Street” and 40 percent ahead of “Neighbors.”

Paramount’s “Noah” upped its foreign total to $255 million this weekend, with $2 million from 15 territories. The Russell Crowe Biblical epic brought in a strong $1.8 million from Japan, down only 30 percent from last week, to raise its total there to nearly $8 million.

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