The lion roared significantly louder this weekend as Buena Vista International’s “The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” solidified its No. 1 position internationally with an estimated three-day gross of $30.6 million, generating an international cume-to-date of a mighty $277 million at 7,550 screens.
Combined with its domestic take, “Narnia’s” total theatrical boxoffice stands at $525 million, making the adaptation of C.S. Lewis’ fantasy classic the eighth-most-popular live-action film ever released by Buena Vista, which handles Disney product. “Narnia” already is BVI’s fourth-biggest live-action title after “The Sixth Sense” ($531 million) and “Armageddon” ($555 million) and is expected to outgross those two titles during the coming weekend.
In the U.K., “Narnia” drew an estimated $3.3 million at 530 screens for a cume of $66.5 million. In France, it claimed the top spot with an estimated $5.9 million in its third weekend at 857 screens for a cume of $28.1 million, while in South Korea it finished second with $2.3 million in its second weekend at 291 screens for a cume of $9.4 million. “Narnia” also held well in Italy, where it was No. 2, and Spain, where because of a three-day holiday the film jumped 72% to finish No. 1 at 381 screens with $2.5 million in its fifth weekend.
“Considering that ‘Narnia’ pretty much came out of the blue, it’s turning out to be quite a phenomenon,” BVI vp international theatrical sales and distribution David Kornblum said.
