Second Blood

“Crocodile Dundee II” may be beating up on “Rambo III” at U.S. box-offices--but Carolco Pictures remains confident it’ll win the “war” of the world.

(Remember, John Rambo never draws first blood!)

Figure, “Rambo’s” now outgrossing “Dundee” in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.

That may not seem like a big deal, but in its first week in that market, “Rambo” had ticket sales of $406,645 on 24 screens--compared to “Dundee’s” $117,099 on 20 screens. To boot, “Rambo III’s” first week in San Juan bested “Rambo II’s” performance by 20%, making it rank as Puerto Rico’s biggest opening ever. (Topping “Jaws,” which has held the record since 1975.)

This weekend finds Our Hero taking aim at Japan--where a sneak preview was “50% better-attended than the Japanese preview for ‘Rambo II’--which was packed!” This according to Kathryn Linclau, vp of marketing for Carolco, which is handling worldwide sales.

As for the markets to follow, the “Rambo” slate (to date) goes like this:

* June: Mexico, Venezuela, Australia, Uruguay, Taiwan, Malasia, Singapore, South Africa, the Philippines.

* July: Germany (“a biggie,” said Linclau), Norway, Sweden, Finland, Chile, Ecuador, Panama, Hong Kong, Peru, Israel, Colombia, Iceland.

* August: England, Spain, Holland, Portugal, Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Denmark.

* In September, “Rambo III” will go on hiatus--but come October, it’s France, Belgium and Greece.

* Italy’s saving the pic for Christmas.

Should “III” follow in “Rambo II’s” worldwide appeal, it may show up unofficially in a few other countries as well. Laughed Linclau, “I think ‘Rambo II’ played everywhere in the world--even where it wasn’t sold!”