‘Resident Evil’ Wins Foreign Box Office on Lackluster Weekend

The Milla Jovovich sci-fi vehicle wins for the fourth weekend in a row; but the competition ain’t much

 

Make that four weekends at No. 1 for “Resident Evil: Afterlife” on the foreign circuit.

The 3D scifi/horror/fantasy franchise based on a videogame grossed $15 million from 3,900 screens, mostly from Latin and South American markets. It now stands at $180 million since it opened overseas on Sept. 10.

But “Resident Evil’s” win is less a sign of strength for the Milla Jovovich film as it is a sign of a slow time for movies abroad.

“Eat, Pray, Love,” meanwhile, is gaining a little traction overseas, and took the No. 2 slot for a second straight weekend. Playing at 3,450 screens in 32 markets, it took in $13.4 million with top openings in Brazil, Portugal and Taiwan for a $39.5 million offshore gross so far and with several key markets yet to come.

Third on the weekend was “Despicable Me,” thanks to strong debuts in western Europe, Sweden and South Africa. It took in $12.4 million this weekend, and stands at $114.9 million overseas thus far, and also has a slew of territories yet to open.

“Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps” and “Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole” took fourth and fifth places with $10.1 and $9.9 million respectively. Oliver Stone’s revisitation of Gordon Gekko opened No. 1 in Finland and played strong in France, where it was No. 2 with $2.07 million.

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