MUMBAI: Thanks to a $48.8 million weekend at some 11,800 locations in 73 territories, Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2 has now become the biggest-grossing franchise title overseas boosting its foreign gross total to $447.8 million.
The fifth and final title based on Stephenie Meyer‘s series of novels about a young woman (Kristen Stewart) in love with a vampire (Robert Pattinson) has roped in $16.9 million more than the franchise‘s previous all-time offshore box office champ The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1 that collected $430.9 million last year.
Breaking Dawn Part 2 dominated a generally lacklustre box office session overseas by clinging to the No. 1 spot for the third consecutive week with hold over titles for the most part registering diminishing returns.
Worldwide, the film has grossed $702.4 million. Lionsgate International, which is handling foreign distribution of the Summit Ent. co-production had earlier said that Breaking Dawn Part 2‘s enormously big action helped lift the distributor‘s 2012 total foreign box office past the $1-billion mark.
Finishing No. 2 once again was Sony/MGM‘s Skyfall, the 23rd installment of the James Bond franchise that collected $34 million from 7,600 spots in 84 markets handled by Sony and licensees of co-distributor MGM.
Since its overseas opening on 26 OCtober, Skyfall has accumulated nearly $200 million more that the $432.2 total foreign gross of the previous franchise record holder, 2006‘s Casino Royale, also starring Craig.
A No. 1 Japan opening provided $5.9 million from 587 situations, which Sony said was 51 per cent bigger than the opening market gross of 2008‘s Quantum of Solace, which grossed a total of $407.7 overseas. A No. 1 bow in South Africa ($800,000 from 128 spots) was also recorded for Skyfall.
Making No. 1 debuts in Spain, Singapore and Malaysia was Twentieth Century Fox‘s release of Life of Pi, the film version of Yann Martel‘s novel of the same name about a young castaway and a Bengal tiger.
Directed by Taiwanese-born Ang Lee, the Fox 2000 co-production drew $21.5 million on the weekend overall playing a total of 5,678 in 11 markets, the best of of which were China ($11 million in second round at 3,800 site for a market cume of $38.5 million) and Taiwan ($2.6 million at 165 locations, a rousing 47 per cent increase from the opening weekend). In spite of its relatively limited foreign release, the film has generated a total of $61.1 million in just two rounds.