“Dawn of the Planet of the Apes” crossed the $500 million mark at the worldwide box office this weekend, after another strong overseas showing.
Fox’s sci-fi sequel brought in $29.5 million from 61 markets to up its international total to $308.2 million. That’s better than the lifetime overseas hauls of “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” ($307 million) with China (Aug. 29), Venezuela (Sept. 5) and Japan (Sept. 19) still to come.
The latest film opened at No. 1 in Germany with $6.2 million as well as in Austria and German-speaking Switzerland. It’s at $197.8 million domestically, and should cross $200 million this week.
Also read: ‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’ Clobbers ‘Guardians’ With $65 Million Box-Office Opening
“Guardians of the Galaxy” took a back seat to “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” in the U.S., but Marvel’s superhero space romp is going great guns overseas.
It was the top-earning movie abroad this weekend with $40.1 million from 51 markets. That ups its international total to $137.3 million and means that it has topped $313 million globally in just 10 days.
Russia ($23.9 million) and the U.K. ($22.8 million) have been the top territories for “Guardians,” which still has several key markets to go.
Also read: ‘James Cameron’s Deepsea Challenge 3D’ Sinks at Box Office
It will open next weekend in France and Spain, as well as Belgium, Switzerland, Hungary, Lebanon and the Netherlands. Other key openings include Germany (Aug. 28), Japan (Sept. 13), China (Oct. 10) and Italy (Oct. 22).
Paramount’s “Ninja Turtles” is expected to play strongly overseas, and it’s off to a fast start. The Michael Bay-produced reboot brought in $28.7 million to rank third internationally.
It brought in a very strong $11.1 million to lead the box office in Russia, nearly doubling the total of the runner-up “Guardians of the Galaxy,” and added $6.9 million in its debut at No. 1 in Mexico.