Taken 2 reigned supreme last weekend around the world with $55.2 million while Madagascar 3 is still rolling out in a few big European territories, good for 2nd place.
Back in 2008 Taken was a solid hit internationally, collecting $81.8 million. It was the big North American box office run that really put the film on the map, quite a few months later in January 2009. Now Taken 2 is on fire with a $55.2 million weekend that brings the Liam Neeson actioner to $74.9 million. By the end of the week it will overtake the $81.8 million international total of the original, on its way to over $160 million. With the current North American take, the film sits at $133.9 million worldwide, still ways to go before it can match the $226.8 million of Taken. But fear not, at this rate it will only be a matter of time before Taken 2 blows past that number. At least $260 million worldwide at the end of its run seems like a certainty at this point.
For a film that has Europe in its name, you’d think Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted would be already done with the countries there. But summer was pretty heavy with the likes of Ice Age 4 and the latest from Pixar among other animated features, so this 3rd Madagascar was pushed to October in some pretty big European markets. So thanks to a massive opening in Germany (UK comes next week), we see Madagascar 3 in 2nd place with $22.2 million which rounds the film’s total to about $451 million internationally. With $667.2 million worldwide, this is the 2nd most successful animation of 2012.
Last week’s #1, Looper, was 3rd this time with $14.9 million, down 35%. So far the sci-fi thriller has about $46 million internationally and a total of $89.3 million worldwide, almost triple its $30 million budget.
Hotel Transylvania was up 19% with $13.8 million for an international total of $29.9 million. Worldwide the animation is at $112.6 million.
Rounding out the top 5 was the Chinese action flick Tai Chi Zero (which I mistakenly labelled “O” last week), up 26% with $13.4 million. This 3D martial arts film was apparently filmed together with its sequel, Tai Chi Hero, which comes out in just a few weeks, thus taking the concept of back to back to a new level. Don’t worry people of the US of A, you’ll get your share of martial arts in 3D when Tai Chi Zero opens in limited release October 19th.
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