FreaknDavid

'The Avengers' Opens To $178 Million Overseas

By Adam B. Vary, EW.com
updated 11:39 AM EDT, Mon April 30, 2012


Chris Evens & Robert Downey Jr.

If you've paid any attention to the box office over the past few years, you've heard the constant drumbeat that the international box office has been increasingly driving Hollywood's bottom line.
Even for movies that are massive stateside hits, international sales usually dwarf what they make here. According to Box Office Mojo, "Avatar's" foreign box office accounted for 73 percent of its global take. "Alice in Wonderland": 67 percent. "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows -- Part 2": 71 percent. "Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides": 77 percent.

But if the movie is based on a comic book, the U.S./foreign box office scales have been far less lopsided. "X-Men First Class'" overseas receipts were 59 percent of its global total. "Thor": 60 percent. "Captain America": 52 percent. "Iron Man 2's" U.S. gross ($312 mil) just slightly edged out its foreign gross ($311 mil). And the grand pooh-bah of superhero movies, "The Dark Knight," made $65 million more in the U.S. than it did internationally.

This isn't to say comic-book movies are failures overseas -- far from it. But there clearly is something about them -- the America-centric storylines; the internationally untested stars; the silly costumes -- that isn't resonating with non-U.S. audiences in the same way as giant blue aliens, British boy wizards, and wobbly-limbed pirates.

So what does that mean for "The Avengers," which just pulled in a whopping $178 million this weekend overseas? Can Marvel Studios' omnibus superhero movie break this pattern and become a true global mega-blockbuster?

The film's debuts in the U.K. and Germany were solid if not super. The film did, however, beat opening weekend records in several territories -- Mexico, Brazil, Taiwan -- and had the second-highest debut in Australia. And Box Office Mojo notes that "The Avengers" pulled off the ninth highest overseas opening ever without debuting in top tier markets China, Japan, and Russia.

The only comic-book movie that's had a better international debut also holds the record for the best foreign gross for a comic-book film: 2007′s "Spider-Man 3," which pulled in $554 million overseas. A month ago, that would've been an impossible number to beat. But with so much momentum in its favor, "The Avengers" could very well be a HULK SMASH-ing sensation.

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Remember this is the same industry that claims pirates are killing it's business. It's so bad they need more laws to combat it so they can make a profit.

Instead I point to the fact that what is driving piracy is within this same article. You will notice that it makes the statement that it has already shown in the US.

Each time a major release of a new movie is getting ready for the box office, there comes this tremendous wave of hype trying to drum up interest in the newest, latest, greatest. The advertisement is never just limited to the upcoming national audience. Instead it is splashed around the world, no matter when it will show in that area. The splurge in advertisement is very successful but in places like Australia, it may be a year or more before it actually shows up at the box office. Those in Australia can't just buy the movie when it comes out. The US marketers are not going to accept their money, requiring US funds. They won't accept an order from an IP outside the country it hasn't shown at yet. Should the customer get around all these limitations and be successful at actually buying it and getting it shipped somehow, the regional code will not allow it to play. There are 9 regional codes for the worldwide market.

The point in this is they have been successful in drumming up interest but have not served that market. People are no longer willing to just wait. They will get it through one means or another and if it can't be bought, then elsewhere is where it is obtained.

My point in all this rambling, is that the entertainment industry is it's own worst enemy and in spite of that it is still pulling in record profits. That's a lot different than what you hear in the puff pieces claiming they just can't seem to deal with an imagined problem. The reality is, they don't have a problem with anything other than themselves.

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