Foreign Box Office: ‘The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies’ Crosses $900 Million Worldwide
“Running Man,” a bigscreen adaptation of a popular Chinese reality TV show, topped the foreign box office charts this weekend, debuting to $35 million.
China also buoyed “The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies.” The Middle-earth finale pulled in $22.4 million across 57 markets, but the People’s Republic accounted for the largest slice, amounting to $20.2 million. The film has made nearly $100 million in China alone, and its worldwide haul stands at $915.9 million.
“Taken 3″ made off with third place on the charts, earning $21.2 million after debuting in several Latin American markets, including Mexico, where it bowed to $3.2 million; Argentina, where it kicked off with $1.3 million; and Peru, where it premiered to $1.1 million. The Liam Neeson exercise in vigilantism has generated $245.8 million worldwide.
In fourth place, Chinese animated sequel “Boonie Bears Movie 2″ picked up $20.1 million.
Fifth place finisher “American Sniper” continued to rack up impressive overseas numbers, where films with the word American in the title tend to expire quickly at the box office. The biopic about Navy SEAL Chris Kyle scored with $11.1 million in receipts from such markets as the United Kingdom, Taiwan and Australia, bringing its global total to $316.2 million.
Two films that have yet to open domestically got a jump-start overseas. Action thriller “Kingsman: The Secret Service” debuted in the United Kingdom and Sweden, where it earned a total of $7.2 million, while animated film “The Spongebob Movie: Sponge Out of Water” premiered to $8 million from five foreign territories including Mexico and the Netherlands.
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