‘The Martian’ Tops Foreign Box Office With $45.2 Million
“The Martian” soared into the stratosphere this weekend, picking up a colossal $45.2 million to top foreign sales charts.
Ridley Scott’s outer-space epic debuted in 9,611 screens across 49 markets this weekend, including such major territories as the United Kingdom, Italy, Australia and Hong Kong. Combined with its domestic haul, the 20th Century Fox release has earned $100.2 million. It opens in Germany, Russia and South Korea next weekend, and should do particularly well when it launches in China. The country’s space program plays a key role in the film, a plot point that should help it attract crowds in the People’s Republic.
The $108 million production stars Matt Damon, Jessica Chastain, Kristen Wiig and Jeff Daniels, and scored the second biggest October domestic debut in history with $55 million, trailing only “Gravity.”
In second place, “Lost in Hong Kong” continued to be a major attraction in China, where it is quickly becoming one of the country’s top-grossing locally produced films in history. The slapstick comedy sequel to 2012’s “Lost in Thailand” made $41 million, pushing its total to $204 million.
Another Chinese title, “Chronicles of the Ghostly Tribe,” nabbed third place with $34 million. The film centers on grave robbers trying to find a hidden treasure and has made $68 million since opening on Sept. 30.
The top five was rounded out by the Chinese comedy “Goodbye Mr. Loser” and “Hotel Transylvania 2” with $26 million and $20.4 million, respectively. “Goodbye Mr. Loser” has earned $37 million in less than a week of release, while “Hotel Transylvania 2” has picked up more than $150 million globally.
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