New Twilight sequel trails previous film OVERSEAS

The Twilight Saga: Eclipse opened with $104.6 million while New Moon had raked in $121.6 million last November

The Twilight Saga: Eclipse opened with $104.6 million while New Moon had raked in $121.6 million last November
It was all about Bella,Edward and Jacob at the foreign box-office during the weekend as The Twilight Saga: Eclipse opened at No. 1 with $104.6 million drawn from 42 territories over five days. Although it opened strongly,the threequel did not eclipse the opening weekend of its immediate franchise predecessor,The Twilight Saga: New Moon,which premiered to $121.6 million in 24 markets late last November. New Moon wound up with $416 million internationally.

The new installment earned $15 million in Russia,$11 million in Australia,$10.5 million in Spain,$9.9 million

in Italy,and $8.5 million in Mexico. The threequel opened last week in 22 markets,including the U.K.,France and South Korea. A Germany introduction follows next week.
Eclipses sizable foreign debut is another unmistakable indication that 2010 is despite World Cup distractions and a stronger dollar shaping up as a torrid box-office year overseas.

January-through-June sales for the six Hollywood majors 20th Century Fox,Disney,Warner Bros.,Paramount,Universal and Sony totaled $6.38 billion,up 43 per cent from 2009s first half. If foreign box-office keeps up at anywhere near this pace in the second half,2010 should easily wind up being the fifth record box office year in a row for the big studios,surpassing last years $10.7 billion.

Shrek: Forever After followed at No. 2 with $42.6 million from 25 markets,taking its total to $137 million. Leading the nine fresh markets were the U.K. ($13.5 million),France ($11.7 million) and South Korea ($6.3 million). Third on the weekend was Toy Story 3,with $25.5 million from 34 territories. Latin American markets have provided $89.3 million of the films $150.8 million foreign total. Mexico alone has kicked in $44.7 million.
Knight And Day was No. 4 with a $7.8 million weekend in 25 markets; the overseas total stands at $24.7 million. South Korea was the films leading territory,providing a No. 2 second-round ranking with $2.6 million; the local total rose to $8.1 million. The Karate Kid came in at No. 5 with $3.9 million from 26 markets,mostly in Asia and South America; the total stands at $31.9 million.