R.I.P. James Gandolfini 
Photos: James Gandolfini, 1961-2013 
Warner Bros Sets Morten Tyldum To Helm … 
Zac Efron Thriller ‘The Falling’ Gets Jeremy … 
Why Was Ex-Soft Porn Filmmaker Recently Hired As Movie … 
ReelzChannel Cancels ‘The Big Picture’ After … 
Cillian Murphy Boards ‘In The Heart Of The Sea’ 
John Legend To Produce Comedy Project About Music Managers … 
Hot Trailer: ‘Crystal Fairy’ 
Sam Taylor-Johnson To Direct ‘Fifty Shades Of … 
Inside AMPAS Board Of Governors’ Meeting: Conflict Of … 
Hot Trailer: ‘The Spectacular Now’ 
Glenn Geller To Run Current Programming For CBS & CBS … 
Shailene Woodley’s Mary Jane Role Cut From ‘The … 
New ‘Star Wars’ Film Cast Breakdown Unveiled 
CAA Signs Florian Henckel Von Donnersmarck, Oscar-Winning … 
UPDATE: Dan Abrams Named New ‘Nightline’ Anchor … 
RATINGS RAT RACE: ‘The Voice’ Finale On Par … 
Joy Bryant Returns To Longtime Agent Steve Alexander At … 
ITV Pays $30M For Controlling Stake In ‘Hatfields … 
Hot Trailer: ‘Anchorman 2′ 
SATURDAY AM, 2ND UPDATE: Universal’s Battleship continues to screen strongly overseas with estimates from Day 2 and Day 3 bringing the 72-hour total to $58 million with all 26 international territories now open. Director Peter Berg’s military vs alien actioner opened to #1 in 24 of those new territories. Battleship opens next weekend in 24 more international territories including China (April 18) and Russia (April 19) — but not in the U.S./Canada until May 18th:
– The UK opened #1 on Friday with an estimated $1.3M (£770). That’s ahead of Thor but ahead of Wrath Of The Titans and John Carter. The total with previews is $3.7M (£2.3M).
– Spain opened #1 with an estimated $900k (€681k), better than Iron Man.
– Germany opened #1 on Thursday with $900K, which is the biggest opening for an English language film in Germany this year. It continued #1 on Friday with $1.2M, equal to Iron Man but not as big as Transformers.
– Japan opened #1 with an estimated $900k (LC 72M), higher than Thor‘s opening day.
– Thailand opened #1 with $470K, which is the biggest opening day of 2012 and Universal’s 2nd biggest opening day ever (behind only Fast Five).
– Malaysia opened #1 with $390K, which is Universal’s biggest opening day of all time.
– Korea had another strong day and Battleship remains #1 with a three-day total of $4.2M (LC 4.7M) — better than Iron Man and Thor.
THURSDAY: BREAKING… EXCLUSIVE… UPDATE: Universal may have the last laugh after all now that its Battleship is opening 
overseas. For months the studio has fought media bad buzz about how risky this expensive military vs alien actioner from Peter Berg has been. Especially when the studio is claiming it came in at $209 million — and everyone else is saying $250+M. And there’s still the possibility that, in the United States at least, it could become a disappointing ”John Carter in gunmetal grey” invoking that most recent $250+M budget buster that disappointed at the box office for a $250M writeoff for Disney. But Battleship debuted Wednesday in Australia, Korea, Belgium, France, and Switzerland, and previewed in 11 other territories, “and we are off to a very good start,” a Universal exec tells me.
The Day One estimate for April 11th currently has the film grossing $7.4M. Best is that the film jumped to #1 in every market where it opened or previewed except France where it succumbed to an extremely popular local French film. And this despite a crowded international marketplace with The Hunger Games, Titanic 3D, American Pie Reunion, and The Wrath Of The Titans atop box office over Easter weekend.
It was an unorthodox, even daring, strategy for Universal to open Battleship internationally more than a month before it debuts May 18th in North America. But it may pay off. My sources project the film should steam past $300M foreign box office based on stats. Also, as the film prepares to open internationally Friday in a total 26 territories (40 countries) and then rolls to another 24 territories including big guns Russia and China, any fears that a rah-rah-USA patriotic film in 2D might not do well overseas have been allayed.
– The movie opened in Australia today and Battleship is #1 with an early estimate of $1.1M for the day, which is at the same level as Iron Man and Thor and twice as big as John Carter, and three times as big as Wrath Of The Titans
– In Southeast Asia, where extravagant sci-fi appeals to local audiences, Battleship is “dominating the box office with Korea leading the pack,” I’m told. Hong Kong, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan and Thailand also had a very strong showing. In each of those countries, Batttleship opened to #1.
– In Korea, Battleship opened to $2.8M – the third biggest opening day of all time for an English language film. That’s behind only Transformers 3 and Shrek 3 even though Battleship is an original film which usually takes longer to gain traction overseas than sequels. It’s also the biggest opening for an English language non-sequel in Korea ever.
– Preview results in the UK were very strong. Battleship grossed $1.5M (£928K) for the day. As a comp, previews for Thor in the UK were £730K and Iron Man £670K. There’s another day of previews today before opening officially on Friday.
– France opened with $870K including previews. Battleship opened bigger than Hunger Games, John Carter and Wrath Of Titans.
– Belgium opened #1 with $132k, which is the biggest opening day of 2012.
Editor-in-Chief Nikki Finke - tip her here.
Loading ...
c;mon… it cost waaaaaaay more than 200mm+ it was above 350, in direct costs. some people say 400.
comcast had a meeting specifically about this movie and its spiraling cost after the buyout…
No there is not heavy competition for the #1 spot — HUNGER GAMES and TITANS are like in their fourth and fifth weeks of release. To think AMERICAN PIE will compete with it for #1 in foreign markets is a joke.
Wrath of The Titans had been out for about 12 days and was the number one film in the world, so yes it had competition. Given that Clash of the titans made most of its $330m international cash at exactly this period (Easter wise) I’d say that Wrath counts as serious competition too.
“Battleship” feels like it’s going to be massive in the U.S. too. Everyone I know from the non-industry real world is excited to see it. Clearly these are the kinds of branded movies that people still want to see. With “Avengers” looking big, and a huge first quarter at the box office, this year feels jump-started in a major way.
Nobody is seeing this because of the “branded” Battleship name.
Knock them if you want, but Hasbro is on fire. These properties clearly are meaningful for broad audiences. This could be the official turn-around year for Universal at the B.O. How quickly things change…
it’s got nothing to do with the Hasbro toys, but everything to do with the visual spectacle that is attracting the audience from oversea. while Transformers was an internationally known toy series, titles like GI Joe and Battleship were not well know, or even unknown in many international markets.
“Battleship” is a very well known brand outside of the US; it’s been around internationally for decades. Ditto G I Joe.
Battleship is NOT a brand, and no one knows GI Joe outside the US. Fact.
Hey, don’t knock the international appeal of the term “Battleship”. I remember playing “Schiffe Versenken” in Germany as a child. Oh, wait…
@JM False.
GI JOE is an internationally recognized brand, it aired in placed like India
Hell, I bought more GI JOE toys when I visited India than back home in Canada.
this is definitely true, i live in the US now but I lived in another country for the first 14 years of my life and i never heard of the game battleship until this year when the movie came out and I am in my 20s. I’ve heard of transformers and GI Joe (had the doll) but not battleship so its not because of the game that this film is doing well. it looks like its a great popcorn film, cant wait to see it.
I don’t know, man. Looks to me like Hasbro is 3 for 3.
Not saying I liked the Transformers movies… But GI Joe was fun, and Battleship looks pretty cool too.
Didn’t Universal do this with Fast Five? If so than it worked out fine for that film (over $600 million worldwide) so I’m sure it will work fine for Battleship.
P.s I’m kinda looking forward to Battleship. In a summer full of sequels and remakes, its nice to see a movie like Battleship. Hope Peter Berg delivers
Yep. FF opened internationally about two weeks ahead of its April 29 US open. It had grossed *just under* $100mil foreign before its domestic bow.
I’m not aware of any movie Peter Berg made that was bad. Different genre for him, but he has a way of making scenes work.
Doubt The Wife will want to see this though, I’ll probably need to wait for iTunes.
At this rate, they’re sure to recoup the Craft Services cost in no time.
I don’t want to hear that foreign audiences are smarter or more discerning than American ones ever again.
you’re right, only Americans would appreciate ‘masterpieces’ like American Pie and Superbad!
Those two movies are a lot better than Battleship.
So that means it will hit bittorrent before a u.s. release……brilliant
I was just thinking the same thing. I hope this early release, as well as debuting The Avengers a week early oversees versus the US, backfires for both studios.
You actually want them to lose money?
Hollywood films have been losing money by pretending that football (soccer if you prefer) doesn’t exist for years, now that they have been scheduling films around these tournaments it has been paying off. It’s just all the more highlighted this year because there’s also London 1012 and it’s the biggest movement of films there’s been.
Also it didn’t hurt Thor or Iron Man 2, both opened 1 or 2 weeks early overseas and did very well internationally and pretty well ‘domestically’ as well.
why would you wish failure on anyone or anything? that’s just not nice. if you dont think the film is good then say it but why would you hope that the film does badly. it isn’t and it wont. I know a bunch a people who are just waiting to see this movie, since last year and now i hear strangers talking about it. pretty sure it will do good.
Welcome to our world – those of us in “international” have had to deal with this for years.
For these tentpole movies, a big part of the audience is paying for the communal experience and visual spectacle that only a theater can deliver. Piracy is simply a drop in the bucket compared to the potential advantage of timing a release really well globally. Battleship is hitting a sweet spot between the biggest brunt of Wrath of the Titans (always more a foreign player than, say, Hunger Games would be) and Avengers. They’ll have good access to premium screens, and will catch a lot of people around a big overseas holiday period (spring breaks and such are timed much more near Easter in many countries).
It was marketed heavily and Australasia and it’s now doing well there. How is that surprising?
Also, last weekend Wrath was the top dog internationally. Does that make it a hit?
I’d rather wait with the verdict on Battleship to see how it’s doing long-term.
Sorry guys, I am a “student of the industry”, is $7.4M really that good considering how much they have spent on marketing?
Also I wouldn’t be surprised since these types of American films occupy all screens in all major theaters in foreign territories.
Anonymous, American action packed blobkbusters sell well with foreign audiences.
It’s pretty good, given that it only previewed in most of the major markets (fewer screens than an actual opening, mid campaign flight etc) – It’s just a one-day opening, not a weekend cumulative.
$7.4mil for mostly previews, and openings in select foreign markets? Yeah, that’s good. Read the article: the comparables on this film are high, beating a lot of recent blockbusters.
Thanks guys. I still suspect that Battleship will reap huge at the box office thanks to all the marketing hype but ultimately will be a creative mess
I can’t wait for it to show here in nigeria, just wanna see my girl *ri ri* do her thang!!! #dontgetbetter!!
This news still doesn’t mean it’s a good movie. I’ve given enough of my money to Hasbro. They can choke on this crap!
Wow, those countries like crap.
There’s nothing else playing in the UK right now.
No other movies except Battleship? Ha, that’s false. I know you were exaggerating. Alas, even if you weren’t, people in the UK should rather not see anything at all than see Battleship.
so people would just waste their time and money to see something they think is crap? do you even know how much it costs to see a movie now, in the US it for 2 it will be 50+ freaking dollars and i still plan to go see it with my girl.
It’s sad that this paper thin film with its paper thin plot and dialogue, all style and no substance, will probably get multiple sequels, while the visually gorgeous and compelling John Carter gets labeled a flop under a heap of unwarranted bad press.
I’ll assume from your statement that you’ve already seen Battleship but not John Carter. ‘Cause JC was a boring heap of pretentious misfire.
Larry,
You are an idiot and obviously clueless. JC was one of the finest adventure Sci Fi movies of all time. Jane is the one with good taste here.
I don’t know about Battleship, but I do know JC was fantastic.
Brad
“I don’t want to hear that foreign audiences are smarter or more discerning than American ones ever again.”
Exactly.
Overseas audiences love crap. They just need action and lots of CGI. Proof enough.
just like the american audience. that was very thoughtful thank you allison.
Never underestimate “big dumb fun”‘s appeal to people who have real problems they can leave at the cinema door for 2 hours with their brains switched off. The less plot, the better. My prediction is it will make over half a billion.
There’s leaving brain at the door type movies and then there’s arriving with no brain at all. Battleship is for the latter audience.
Why wasn’t Battleship opened this weekend in the US? It would be catching The Hunger Games in its fourth weekend, and Wrath of the Titans is winding down too. Plus it would have no real competition in the action niche for a couple weeks when Avengers drops. Mid-April was a golden spot for an action film, especially one with aliens and the military that might appeal more to young men. Instead, Battleship opens in the wake of Avengers (Avengers’ third weekend is likely to still be around $35 million), and then has to contend with MIB3 and SWATH in the following two weeks. Both of those titles have a good chance at pulling a high number and diverting action fans. Seems like a real missed opportunity.
Easy. May midweeks beat April midweeks. The film has better potential in May
Universal is delaying “Battleship” in North America for cultural reasons. US won’t open the movie until 10 days before Memorial Day. Canada will open the movie for Victoria Day, a 3-day holiday weekend and their unofficial start of summer.
This isn’t Frasier.ALL audiences like “fast food” film, big silly ‘event’ films. The difference is that it is considered (however inaccurately) that International audiences will also make bg hits out of films spoken in other languages (well considering how much money Hollywood makes in non-English speaking countries that’s kind of a non point) and more serious, talky films, without action etc.
Nobody has ever said that they don’t like ‘bad’ films, just that they spend a little more on the good ones too.
For what it is worth, Battleship is a ridiculous film, but people will enjoy it and it kind of celebrates the stupidity it has, almost like a spoof. I’m not sure anybody took it seriously, but the audience really did seem to have fun, and that is what it was selling, no more, no less.
…and everyone could use a little more fun.
I live in the UK, and Battleship showings in my local theatre half-full at best, whilst Titanic 3D and Hunger Games still getting massive queues and sell-out shows
Rihanna is also a contributing factor tho
I’m fascinated by stunt-casting like this. She’s obviously a non-entity in movie terms, yet she’s a global mega-star with massive PR value. No doubt “Rihanna” and “Battleship” get mentioned together bazillions of times in the news, blogs, and social media. So the studio gets some of its money’s worth because Rihanna’s involvement starts a conversation. But does she help put butts in seats? Is she a compelling factor for “urban” audiences? Women who identify with her? Men who lust her? If so, how much? I suppose focus groups, audience surveys, etc., can measure that to some extent.
The ads I’ve seen tell me that Rihanna has a role ten times larger than that Kitsch guy. Are the ads lying to me?
Battleship is known as a playboard every where. I don’t know one kid who doesn’t know it. It’s called touché- coulé in french for example. It’s not a domestic game. The film is way better filming wise than the tranformers or gi joe (that was truly bad). But some of the dialogues are really bad. It’s a fun movie. Wait until the end of the end credits by the way.
I wish peter berg was hired for hunger games “catching fire” . He knows how to film climatic and violent scenes unlike gary ross.
I just returned from London where buses are plastered either with Battleship or the Harry Potter Tour adverts.
Watched the movie with my 5 y/o son and we both enjoyed it even though it was longish at more than 2 hours. I didn’t expect too much for the film but it blew me away. Haven’t had that feeling coming out of a movie theater since “independence day”. Refreshing feel good story even though it’s american through and through.
You’ve got to hand it to Universal, they were pro-active about adjusting the marketing/PR plan when the bad buzz kicked up around this film. If ‘Battleship’ fails to turn a significant profit, it won’t be due to lack of trying on the sales side of the house.
I just hope success with ‘Battleship’ doesn’t prompt Universal to engage in another all-encompassing deal with Hasbro. While I think adding ‘Ouija’ back to the production slate as a low budget horror film was a smart move, cutting the ‘Stretch Armstrong’ property loose…..was even smarter.