“The Twilight Saga: New Moon” may be waning in the U.S., but moviegoers overseas continued to lap up the vampires-and-werewolves drama.
“New Moon” cruised to the No. 1 spot on the foreign circuit this weekend, grossing an estimated $85 million from 8,476 locations in 56 markets. While the film has taken a 70 percent slide off its domestic open, it only dropped 31 percent in its second week overseas.
It also didn’t have to compete with the “The Blind Side,” now a $100 million film in the U.S. – but one that was never meant to play strong overseas, where American football is still very much a novelty.
The second installment of Stephenie Meyer’s teen vampire saga has grossed $243 million overseas since its No. 1 open last weekend.
Roland Emmerich’s worldwide disaster “2012” also held up fairly well, totaling $61.6 million in its third weekend. That was a 40 percent drop over its previous offshore weekend haul, but enough to boost it to $455.8 million in foreign markets since its Nov. 11 release.
"2012" was the top draw this weekend in key Asian markets, including China ( $8 million), Japan ($4.26 million) and Korea ($4.18 million).
“New Moon” played best in Germany ($18 million, the second-best Germany opening this year behind the latest “Harry Potter” film), and was also the top draw in Paris, the U.K. and Spain.
Meanwhile, Disney’s “A Christmas Carol” bowed in seven markets for an additional $20.4 million in overseas gross. The animated Robert Zemeckis adaptation of the Charles Dickens classic has now accumulated $90.8 million in foreign markets.
Another Disney offering, “Old Dogs,” was released in Mexico and South Africa only, tallying about $1 million total.
