“Dracula Untold” proves successful at foreign box office

PanARMENIAN.Net - Universal and Legendary Pictures' Dracula Untold sunk its teeth into a $33.9 million win from 43 markets at the foreign box office, pushing the movie's early worldwide total to $86.1 million, The Hollywood Reporter said.

That includes a No. 2 North American launch this weekend of $23.5 million. The $70 million horror origins pic opened a week before in select marks, and boasts a foreign cume of $62.6 million through Sunday, Oct 12. Dracula Untold is prospering in Mexico (it likewise overperformed among Hispanic audiences in North America), and also opened to big numbers in Russia ($9.6 million).

Males are fueling Dracula Untold, helping to explain why Imax theaters have racked up $8.5 million in ticket sales globally.

Costing $70 million to make but lacking any big names, Dracula Untold chronicles the transformation of Vlad the Impaler (Luke Evans) into the world's most notorious vampire. Gary Shore makes his feature directorial debut on the pic produced by Michael De Luca. Placing No. 2 internationally was Disney's Guardians of the Galaxy with $28 million from 23 markets, led by a hefty $26.6 million in China in China, the top October opening of all time for a Hollywood title. The tentpole's global cume is now $687 million, eclipsing Man of Steel ($663 million).

David Fincher's Gone Girl and New Line's horror prequel Annabelle tied for No. 3 with an impressive $27 million each from 52 markets and 44 markets, respectively.

Gone Girl, winning the North American race $26.8 million in its second weekend, has now earned $141.6 million worldwide, including an international cume of $63.3 million. The movie has helped propel Fox past the $3 billion mark at the foreign box office, becoming the first studio to do so this year.

Annabelle, costing only $6.5 million to make, finished Sunday with worldwide total of $122.5 million, including a foreign total of $60.3 million. In many markets, the film is pacing ahead of The Conjuring -- which earned north of $318 million worldwide to become one of the most profitable films of 2013.

Fox's YA film adaptation The Maze Runner rounded out the top five internationally with an estimated $13.7 million for a worldwide total of $223.8 million, including an impressive $140 million internationally and $83.8 million domestically.

Elsewhere, Robert Downey Jr.'s courtroom dramedy The Judge opened in its first six territories. The only major market was Australia, where it debuted to $955,000, on par with adult titles including Prisoners. In North America, the Warner Bros. and Village Roadshow title debuted to a disappointing $13.3 million for a fifth-place finish.