Fast Five,Thor top box-office attractions

While the street-racing franchise raced to the biggest opening of the year at the North American box office,the superhero flick was the top choice overseas.

Fast Five,the fifth entry in the Fast And The Furious street-racing franchise,raced to the biggest opening of the year at the North American box office,while Thor was the top choice overseas.

According to studio estimates issued last Sunday,Fast Five earned about $83.6 million during its first three days of release across the United States and Canada,proving the appeal of car chases in exotic locales for young male moviegoers.

Industry prognosticators had expected the film to edge past the $71 million start for the previous film,Fast And Furious in 2009. The opening also boosted the flagging

fortunes of both its distributor,Universal Pictures,and the overall industry.

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Thor pulled in $83 million from 56 foreign markets,a week before the Marvel comic book adaptation opened in North America. Top-ranked openings included Britain ($9 million),France ($8.1 million) and South Korea ($5.7 million). Its foreign total stands at $93 million after the Paramount Pictures release got an early start in Australia last weekend.

Fast Five earned $45.3 million internationally after expanding to 14 markets from four last weekend. It opened at No. 1 in each of the 10 new markets,including Russia ($11.5 million),Germany ($10.2 million) and Spain ($6.3 million). Its foreign total stands at $81.4 million.

The strong performances of the two action films suggest a strong summer for the Hollywood studios,which have suffered a dismal year so far. Ticket sales in North America are off 17 percent and attendance is down 18 percent from 2010. Universal,newly controlled by Comcast Corp,had the smallest market share of the six major studios last year. It has enjoyed a decent 2011 because it distributed the hit cartoon Hop.

Brazil in spotlight

Boasting a price tag of about $125 million,Fast Five reunites franchise stars Vin Diesel and Paul Walker in a high-octane series of car chases set in the slums of Rio De Janeiro. It easily crushed the old mark for the best opening of the year $39.2 million set two weekends ago by Rio,a cartoon also set in the Brazilian city. Fast Five is actually the strongest new release since Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows Part I opened to $125 million last November.

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Universal said Fast Five set a new company record,surpassing the $72.1 million bow of The Lost World: Jurassic Park in 1997. Figures are not adjusted for inflation.

The franchise originated in 2001 as The Fast And The Furious,and hit top gear with the 2009 installment,which earned $353 million worldwide.

Two other new releases crashed in North America during the weekend. The Walt Disney Co teen comedy Prom came in at No. 5 with $5 million,and Weinstein Cos animated sequel Hoodwinked Too! Hood Vs. Evil at No. 6 with $4.1 million. They had been expected to open in the $7 million to $9 million range.

Prom marks the first film given the green light by Walt Disney Studios Chairman Rich Ross after he was given the job during a restructuring in October 2009. It cost about $8 million to make. Disney hopes to do better when its fourth Pirates Of The Caribbean film opens on May 20.

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Weinstein,the closely held studio behind best picture Oscar winner The Kings Speech,said it was disappointed by the opening for its Hansel and Gretel story,but it had limited financial exposure. The company received a distribution fee from the films producer,a firm run by vodka mogul Maurice Kanbar. The Hollywood Reporter described Hoodwinked as one of the most obnoxious and least necessary animated films of the century thus far.

After two weeks at No. 1,Rio fell to No. 2 with $14.4 million; the total for the Fox cartoon rose to $103.6 million.