Brad Pitt's “World War Z” zombies overran the overseas box office this weekend, taking in more than $70 million.
It was a big weekend at the box office abroad. Warner Bros.’ “Man of Steel” debuted No. 1 in seven new markets and took in $52 million from 62 markets, and raised its worldwide total to $520 million in the process. Disney’s “Monsters University” added $44.2 million from 37 territories. And Universal’s “Despicable Me 2” debuted in the top spot in five markets and brought in $41.5 million.
With its nearly $30 million domestic total for the three days added in, “World War Z” had the biggest overall weekend total of any film with a global haul of more than $100 million. In the process, it pushed distributor Paramount past the $1 billion mark for the year at the worldwide box office.
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Since opening 10 days ago, “World War Z” has brought in $263 million in all, $124 million domestically and more than $135 million from abroad. It opened in 25 new markets this weekend, raising its total to 50. The top regions were Russia, where it took in $12.3 million for Pitt’s biggest opening ever there, and Mexico, which brought in $7.9 million.
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Paramount Pictures and Skydance Productions are behind “World War Z,” in association with Hemisphere Media Capital and GK Films. A healthy foreign haul will be crucial if Pitt's thriller is to recoup its $190 million production budget, which grew when the film was plagued with cost-overruns and expensive re-shoots, including an 11th-hour decision to cook up a new ending.
“Despicable Me 2” delivered the biggest opening weekend ever for Universal in the U.K. and Ireland, where it was No. 1 and brought in $15.7 million. Including last weeks previews, the animated family film has taken in more than $23 million in the U.K.
The international total for “Despicable Me 2,” which opens Wednesday in the U.S., is $50 million. That’s ahead of “Despicable Me,” “The Croods” and “Kung Fu Panda” at a comparable stage of their international rollouts.