'Narnia' crosses $580 million at global box office!

[Dashken]

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - With its fourth consecutive weekend atop the foreign box office, "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe" crossed the $580 million mark globally, and is increasingly inspiring talk of a new film franchise.

Disney's adaptation of the C.S. Lewis classic earned an estimated $20.1 million overseas last weekend, pushing its international tally to $319 million (the domestic total stands at $261.4 million).

Since the film covers material from just two of the seven volumes of C.S. Lewis "The Chronicles of Narnia" books, there is plenty of material for future "Narnia" screen adaptations, according to David Kornblum, vp international theatrical sales and distribution at Disney's Buena Vista Intl. unit.

"It looks to be the next big franchise now that 'Lord Of The Rings' is completed and 'Star Wars' is phasing down," he said.

The film had its opening weekend in Turkey -- which, along with Poland and Russia, is becoming an increasingly strong market for the Hollywood majors -- grossing $890,000. In its sixth weekend in the U.K., "Narnia" pulled $2.4 million, taking its local total to a robust $70.7 million.

In Poland, "Narnia" drew a strong $1 million, No. 1 for a second weekend; its total there is $3.1 million. In Australia, the fourth weekend drew $1.8 million, for a total of $21.6 million. In its third weekend in
South Korea, a market that largely prefers action titles, "Narnia" drew $1.6 million for a local tally of $12 million. Disney expects that within a week, the film will pass "Pirates of the Caribbean" as the company's biggest live action grosser in South Korea.

The international arena's second biggest grosser this weekend was "King Kong, which yielded an estimated $15 million from 57 territories, for a 32-day international total of $296 million. The
Peter Jackson remake had a strong opening in China, $3.1 million (surpassing "War Of The Worlds" as Universal's biggest China opening), and rebounded two places to No. 3 in Britain with $2.3 million; the U.K. total stands at $48.9 million.

While "Kong" slipped in Spain and Germany and is tailing off in Brazil, it maintained its No. 1 spot in Jackson's native New Zealand with a 33-day total of $5.3 million.

The Gulf Wara saga "Jarhead" added 18 territories for a weekend gross of an estimated $8.5 million in 27 markets; its foreign total stands at $14 million.

Most notable was "Jarhead's" No. 1 opening spot in the U.K. where it pulled $3.5 million. It opened at No. 2 in France, with $1.4 million.

"Harry Potter and the Goblet Of Fire" wound down its international run with a weekend tally of $6.6 million in 56 markets. The foreign total now stands at $582.5 million.

"Fun With Dick & Jane" rose to $18.4 million from 17 markets after a $5.3 million weekend. The biggest market so far is Australia, where the
Jim Carrey comedy has earned $7.4 million after four weeks.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060116/...ce_overseas_dc

[GarPhreak]

Hmm... Looks like I should watch Narnia after all... Didn't know it was based on 2 volumes tho'...

Come on King Kong, climb higher!