‘Toy Story 3,’ ‘Inception’ generate huge foreign grosses

Summer’s biggest hits at the U.S. box office had a huge weekend overseas.

“Inception” debuted in several major foreign countries and generated strong receipts in all of them, proving that its sophisticated plot can translate well around the world.

Japan was the biggest market for “Inception,” thanks in part to publicity work done by native costar Ken Watanabe. The movie took in $8.9 million in the country. It opened to $8.1 million in France, $6.8 million in South Korea, virtually the same in Russia and $6.4 million in Australia. In Great Britain, the thriller dropped only 30% from its opening to $6.3 million.

In all, “Inception” drew $56.7 million this weekend from 38 foreign markets, bringing its international total to $84 million.

It was slightly outmatched on the foreign box-office chart this weekend by “Toy Story 3,” which collected $62 million thanks to phenomenal openings in two European countries.

In Britain, the latest Pixar movie grossed $30.6 million, the biggest ever launch for an animated picture there (not accounting for ticket price inflation). It set the same record in Spain with $7.9 million.

“Toy Story 3” is now at $351 million in overseas ticket sales with several big countries, such as Germany and France, left to go. By the time its box-office run is complete, “Toy Story 3” will likely end up with a worldwide box office total of more than $900 million, potentially beating the $920-million record of “Shrek 2” to become the highest-grossing animated film of all time.

—Ben Fritz