From global finance to Olympic basketball, Pax Americana isn't what it used to be.
And the ebbing dominance of the United States now applies to the box office, too.
With the global box office spiking to an all-time revenue high of $21.2 billion (see MPAA chart for below for 2010) last year -- as the domestic market stayed flat at $10.6 billion -- the major U.S. studios are no longer dogmatically clinging to a traditional release paradigm in which the North American market gets served first, and Europe, Asia and Latin America get the movie sometime after that.
Already this year, three major tentpole releases -- Fox's "Rio," Paramount/Marvel's "Thor" and Universal's "Fast Five" -- have come to the U.S. after premiering abroad.
The foreign-first methodology once wsa applied to problem pictures facing bad reviews. The idea then was to start out somewher more friendly, where the dialog and storyline won't be so eviscerated upon impact, then have at least some buzz and money in your coffers when it comes time to face the music in the U.S.
But the macaw-themed kiddie film "Rio," which crossed the $100 million domestic marker in only its third weekend, is certainly no turkey.
And "Fast Five"? After a blow-out film junket and premiere in Rio de Janeiro, the film opened to $24 million at 957 locations spread across the UK, Australia, New Zealand and South Korea. This was a week before it debuted Stateside, with the film grossing $83.6 million in the U.S. and Canada this past weekend.
"People are recognizing that you have to take advantage of the (international) marketplace," said Disney worldwide theatrical president Chuck Viane. "In the past, people didn't do that."
"You started to see this kind of thing about a year and a half ago," added another studio distribution chief, who would not speak for attribution. Foreign staffs, he said, have more clout within the overall distribution ranks of the major studios.
And as such, they have a greater ability -- and flexibility -- to granularly target opportunities that exist in specific foreign markets.
"We have a seat at the table now, wheras before, international was totally beholden to domestic decisions," an international distribution president at another studio added.
Under traditional rules, Anzac Day on April 25 -- Australia's equivelent to Memorial Day in the U.S. -- might have proven to be missed opportunity for "Fast Five," which was debuting Stateside this past Friday (April 29) and "Thor," which is arriving in the U.S and Canada this coming Friday (May 6).
But not this year. Both Paramount and Universal seized what was a five-day box-office weekend Down Under, with "Fast Five" outgunning "Thor" $10.7 million to $5.8 million. (Marvel's Greek God-themed superhero franchise film came roaring back abroad this weekend, however, grossing $83 million dollars across 56 markets to lead the foreign box office.)
