INTERNATIONAL
Universal International reported Sunday morning that its American Pie 2 enjoyed a strong number one opening in Taiwan Saturday. The first day's gross in Taipei was $90,000 on 16 screens, comparing very favorably to the studio's first day gross of $23,000 for its hit Road Trip on 14 screens in Taipei. American Pie 2 is playing on 48 screens in Taiwan. The original American Pie opened with 42 prints and grossed $122,000 in Taiwan.
In Germany American Pie 2 ranked sixth in its seventh week with a three day gross of $350,000 (-20%). Its cume is $28.7 million. American Pie 2 is Universal's biggest film in Germany this year and is UIP's all time fifth biggest release there.
In the U.K. American Pie 2 had a two day gross of $625,000 on 356 screens. It ranks third for the weekend after previews of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone with $5 million on 477 screens and the second week of The Others with $1.7 million on 377 screens. American Pie 2's 30-day cume is $23.8 million. The sequel has already grossed more than the first American Pie, which did $22.3 million in the U.K.
American Pie 2's international cume is $97 million with 19 countries still to open.
Universal's The Fast and the Furious is in its fourth week in Germany, where its three day gross was $350,000, down 60% from the previous holiday weekend. It ranked seventh at the box office and has a cume of $7.1 million.
The Fast and the Furious's international cume is $56 million with seven countries still to open.
Bridget Jones's Diary, which Universal and Miramax co-financed, passed $195 million at the international box office this weekend. Universal is releasing Bridget internationally and Miramax distributed it domestically.
WEEKEND COMPARISONS
Key films--those grossing more than $500,000--took in approximately $121.48 million, up about 22.84 per cent from the comparable weekend last year when key films grossed $98.89 million.
This weekend's key film gross was down about 13.14 percent from last weekend of this year, when key films took in approximately $139.86 million.
Last year, Columbia's second week of Charlie's Angels was first with $24.61 million at 3,037 theaters ($8,102 per theater); and New Line's opening week of Little Nicky was second with $16.06 million at 2,910 theaters ($5,520 per theater). The top two films one year ago grossed $40.7 million. This year, the top two films grossed an ESTIMATED $69.5 million.