âIce Age: Continental Driftâ has solid U.S. debut, but stuns abroad
20th Century Fox can chill out today, as the fourth installment of the studioâs animated âIce Ageâ franchise easily debuted in the No. 1 spot at the box office this weekend.
âIce Age: Continental Drift,â the only new movie to hit theaters nationwide this weekend, opened with a solid domestic sum of $46 million, according to an estimate from Fox. The 3-D picture reunites the seriesâ beloved band of prehistoric mammals and features a number of celebrities in its voice cast, such as Queen Latifah, Nicki Minaj and Ray Romano.
Meanwhile,âThe Amazing Spider-Manâ maintained a strong hold during its second weekend in theaters, with ticket sales falling only 44% to $35 million. The superhero flick headed into the weekend with $160 million already in its web, so that means the movie has now grossed $200.9 million the U.S. and Canada. Worldwide, the film has now grossed $521.4 million.
âIce Age 4â opened with slightly more than the $41.7 million the third installment debuted with in 2009. But the filmâs start didnât come close to topping the launch of the second âIce Ageâ film, which collected $68 million during its first weekend in theaters in 2006.
The new âIce Ageâ may have been hurt by the fact that two other 3-D animated family films are still playing at the multiplex: DreamWorks Animationâs âMadagascar 3: Europeâs Most Wantedâ and Pixar Animationâs âBrave.â While âMadagascarâ is cooling off after its sixth weekend in theaters, âBraveâ took in an additional $10.7 million this weekend â its fourth in the marketplace. Each of those movies had more robust openings than âIce Age 4,â collecting over $60 million apiece upon their debuts.
Predictably, âIce Age 4â attracted a broad audience of parents and children: Half of the crowd was over the age of 25, and half was under. The film was not especially popular in 3-D, as only about 35% of moviegoers were willing to shell out a few extra bucks to see it in the format. But those who saw the film enjoyed it, assigning it an average grade of A-.
While the domestic launch for âIce Age 4â didnât break any records, the film will no doubt sell the majority of its tickets overseas. Before the movieâs U.S. debut, the movie had already sold over $200 million worth of tickets internationally, and this weekend grossed an additional $95.2 million from 64 foreign markets, raising its total abroad to $339.2 million.
International audiences have long been a fan of movies featuring talking animals, like theâKung Fu Pandaâand âMadagascarâ franchises. But âIce Ageâ is one of the most popular foreign properties: The third movie in the series grossed a massive $690.1 million abroad, which constituted 78% of the filmâs worldwide gross.
[Updated, 11:43 a.m. July 15: More detailed international grosses indicate that âIce Age 4â performed best in Russia, where it had the biggest opening day ever for an animated film. The movieâs $16.4 million take in the country also marked the biggest opening weekend of the year. The picture also did well in Germany, the United Kingdom and France.
Here are the top 10 movies at the domestic box office, with international results when available, according to studio estimates and Rentrak:
1. âIce Age: Continental Driftâ (Fox): Opened with $46 million. $95.2 million overseas in 64 foreign markets. International total: $339.2 million.
2. âThe Amazing Spider-Manâ (Sony): $35 million on its second weekend, down 44%. Domestic total: $200.9 million. $66.6 million overseas in 87 foreign markets. International total: $320.4 million.
3. âTedâ (Universal/Relativity/MRC): $22.1 million on its third weekend, down 31%. Domestic total: $159 million. $9.7 million overseas in four foreign markets. International total: $31.3 million.
4. âBraveâ (Disney): $10.7 million on its fourth weekend, down 45%. Domestic total: $195.6 million. $6.5 million overseas in 17 foreign markets. International total: $46.8 million.
5. âMagic Mikeâ (Warner Bros.): $9 million on its third weekend, down 42%. Domestic total: $91.9 million.
6. âSavagesâ (Universal/Relativity): $8.7 million on its second weekend, down 45%. Domestic total: $31.5 million. $1 million overseas in three foreign markets.
7. âTyler Perryâs Madeaâs Witness Protectionâ (Lionsgate): $5.6 million on its third weekend, down 45%. Domestic total: $55.6 million.
8. âKaty Perry: Part of Meâ (Paramount): $3.7 million on its second weekend, down 48%. Domestic total: $18.6 million. $1 million overseas in four foreign markets. International total: $4.1 million.
9. âMoonrise Kingdomâ (Focus Features): $3.7 million on its eighth weekend, down 19%. Domestic total: $32.4 million.
10. âMadagascar 3: Europeâs Most Wantedâ (Paramount/DreamWorks Animation): $3.5 million on its sixth weekend, down 53%. Domestic total: $203.7 million. $4.6 million overseas in 42 foreign markets. International total: $270.1 million.]
ALSO:
âIce Age: Continental Driftâ will melt the competition
âSpider-Manâ flies to No. 1; âSavages,â âKaty Perryâ are decent
âIce Age: Continental Driftâ grosses strong $198 million overseas
Follow Amy Kaufman on Twitter @AmyKinLA
More to Read
From the Oscars to the Emmys.
Get the Envelope newsletter for exclusive awards season coverage, behind-the-scenes stories from the Envelope podcast and columnist Glenn Whippâs must-read analysis.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.