'Gulliver's Travels' Bumps 'Little Fockers' From No. 1 Overseas With $24 Million

'Tron: Legacy' glides into a close second place with $23.7 million, and 'Tangled' crosses the $300-million mark at the global box office.

The opening weekend of 2011 on the foreign theatrical circuit saw 20th Century Fox's Gulliver's Travels narrowly taking the No. 1 box office spot for the first time, collecting $24 million from 4,495 venues in 33 territories.

In general, the box office take of the year's first weekend paled in comparison with that of 2010's initial round. Powered by 20th Century Fox's Avatar -- which alone grossed $136.8 million -- last year's opening stanza on the foreign circuit collected well more than double this year's opener.

Opening in 19 markets – all relatively small except in the U.K. and India -- Gulliver's generated most of its weekend action in the U.K. where it tallied $10.9 million (including previews) from 503 locations. The 3D adaptation of Jonathan Swift's 18th century classic has grossed a total of $47 million in 10 days of foreign release. The Jack Black vehicle opens this week in a half-dozen new territories, including Russia.

No. 2 was Tron: Legacy, which drew $23.7 million from 5,929 locations in 40 territories for an international gross total of $110 million since opening overseas in mid-December. A high-budget 3D sequel to 1982's Tron, Legacy premiered in six markets on the weekend of which Korea was the biggest.

Opening launch there delivered $3.2 million from 250 locations. Disney expected a No. 1 market ranking although Legacy experienced strong competition for the top spot from a trio of Korean productions: C.J. Entertainment's The Last Godfather, an English language gangster drama starring Harvey Keitel; comedy Hello Ghost; and Showbox Mediaplex's action thriller The Yellow Sea.

Third was Paramount's Little Fockers, last round's top box office draw offshore, and the current domestic box office champ. The third edition of the Meet the Parents comedy franchise collected an estimated $22.5 million from 4,683 locations, hoisting its foreign cume to $72 million and its global take to $175.2 million. A No. 1 Australia tally came to $3.7 million from 262 spots for a market cume of $10.5 million.

Fourth was Fox's The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, which played almost exclusively holdover engagements and grossed $21.4 million on the weekend from 8,095 locations in 68 territories.

Top market was France where it ranked No. 2 with $4.8 million drawn from 739 locations for a market cume of $23 million over four rounds. Narnia's overseas gross total stands at $210 million, nearly two-and-a- half times its domestic cume. A China opening is due Friday.

No. 5 on the weekend was Sony and other distributors' The Tourist, which collected $18.6 million from 3,550 screens in 43 territories. Costarring Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie, the action drama opened in first place in Spain ($4.8 million from 436 locations), Singapore and Vietnam. Overseas cume stands at $65 million.

Disney Animation's Tangled has grossed $146.5 million overseas thanks to another $14.8 million in its sixth weekend at 3,802 venues in 23 territories. Robust holdover market action pushed the 3D animation retelling of the classic Rapunzel tale to the No. 1 market spots in its fourth stanza in France and in Germany. Tangled has crossed the $300-million in global box office ($314.4 million), the 20th Disney animation title to do so.

DreamWorks Animation's Megamind in 3D pushed its international gross total to $134.5 million after an $11 million weekend at 4,938 in 56 territories. The Paramount release lured $2 million from 725 France sites in its third round for a market cume of $8.6 million.

Also coming in with an estimated $11 million take was Warner Bros.' Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1, which played about 6,500 screens in 65 territories. Foreign gross total for the seventh Harry Potter title now stands at $616 million.

Fox's romantic comedy Love and Other Drugs opened in eight territories over the weekend, including a No. 3 bow in the U.K. ($2.4 million including previews from 412 sites) and $2.1 million debut from 280 sites in France for a No. 7 notch. Paramount is releasing the Weinstein Company's co-production The King's Speech in Australia, where the British royal drama drew $2.4 million from a mere 95 locations -- for a robust per-screen average of $25,263 per screen.

Other international cumes: Fox's Unstoppable, $58 million; Universal's Robin Hood, $215.6 million; DreamWorks Animation/Paramount's Shrek Forever After in 3D, $506 million; Studio Canal's Les Emotifs Anonymes, $5 million France only; Universal's Despicable Me, $290.3 million; Sony's Burlesque, $11.4 million; Universal's Un Altro Mondo, $2.6 million Italy only; EuropaCorp. Distribution's Un Ballcon sur la Mer (Balcony Overlooking the Sea), $5.4 million France only; Universal's Devil, $23.4 million; and Universal's Julia's Eyes, $9.8 million France and Spain only.

'Tron' likely to beat 'Yogi Bear' and 'How Do You Know' at box office

Disney's resurrection of the 1982 cult classic is expected to take in a solid but not spectacular $50 million this weekend. 'The Fighter' and 'Black Swan' are expanding into nationwide release.

The legacy of this weekend's box office seems certain to be a victory for a visual effects-heavy event movie over a sophisticated adult comedy and a children's animated tale.

"Tron: Legacy," Walt Disney Studios' big-budget resurrection of the 1982 cult favorite, is strongly expected to be the most popular movie this weekend in the U.S. and Canada. People who have seen pre-release audience surveys say it should take in about $50 million, a solid but not spectacular start for such a highly anticipated movie.

"Yogi Bear," Warner Bros' hybrid of animation and live action, is appealing mainly to families with young children and is expected to kick off its run with a so-so $20 million.

The weekend's big question, however, is just how poorly Sony Pictures' "How Do You Know" will do. The costly adult comedy, directed by James L. Brooks and starring Reese Witherspoon, Owen Wilson, Paul Rudd and Jack Nicholson, is generating very soft interest and is projected to open to only about $10 million.

It could even get beat by two low-budget specialty films expanding into nationwide release this weekend. After a strong start in five theaters last weekend, the Mark Wahlberg boxing drama "The Fighter" is expected to gross $12 million to $15 million. The dark ballet fantasy "Black Swan" will play in about 1,000 theaters, fewer than half as many as "How Do You Know." But after two strong weekends in limited release, it should collect about $10 million this weekend.

Sony spent a little more than $100 million to produce "How Do You Know," a very hefty budget for an adult comedy, and will probably lose millions of dollars if ticket sales are in line with expectations. It appears likely to perform similarly to director Brooks' last picture, the 2004 comedy "Spanglish," which opened in mid-December to $8.8 million and ended up with $42.7 million domestically and only $12.3 million outside the U.S. and Canada.

Middling reviews could hurt "How Do You Know" with its target audience of adult women.

Disney is hoping "Tron" will be a "four-quadrant" movie that appeals to men and women, young and old. However, tracking surveys indicate that on the film's first weekend, at least, it will draw primarily men. Women appear to be more hesitant about the science-fiction sequel, which stars Jeff Bridges, Garrett Hedlund and Olivia Wilde.

The studio spent an estimated $170 million to produce the movie, and its sibling divisions have invested millions in the brand, developing products such as video games and an animated television series. Disney is also spending about $150 million to market the movie worldwide. An opening in the $50-million range would mean that to be profitable, "Tron" would have to perform strongly over Christmas and bring in even more money overseas.

The movie could perform well internationally, particularly in Asia, where films loaded with special effects tend to be particularly popular. It opens this weekend in a small number of foreign countries, including Argentina, Australia and Greece.

"Yogi Bear" is an effort by Warner Bros. to duplicate the success of 20th Century Fox's "Alvin and the Chipmunks," the 2007 surprise hit based on another classic cartoon that opened to $44.3 million. Although movies that appeal mainly to young children are difficult to track, it appears that "Yogi" will fall far short of the "Alvin" opening.

Warner spent about $80 million to produce "Yogi," whose animal characters are computer generated. The film has to prove popular with families over Christmas in order to become a big hit.

Also competing for the family audience this weekend, though for slightly older children, is "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader." After a soft domestic opening last weekend, Fox and Walden Media are hoping the movie's second-weekend decline is modest.

In limited release, Lionsgate's "Rabbit Hole" will open at five theaters in Los Angeles, New York and Toronto. Nicole Kidman and Aaron Eckhart star in the adaptation of the Pulitzer Prize-winning play about a family coping with loss.

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