Focusing on the film's performance abroad, Tuckerman pointed out, "This weekend we crossed over $500 million internationally all together. And we haven't opened Japan yet, which is going to be a huge market for us. The mysticism of this picture and the Japanese (are a perfect fit). Japan opens in a couple of weeks."
Universal, DreamWorks and Imagine Entertainment's PG-13 rated drama A Beautiful Mind went wider in its fourth week, holding on to second place with a solid ESTIMATED $15.81 million (-5%) at 2,222 theaters (+369 theaters; $7,115 per theater). Its cume is approximately $59.0 million, heading for $100 million-plus in domestic theaters.
Directed by Ron Howard, the Brian Grazer production stars Russell Crowe, Ed Harris and Jennifer Connelly.
Mind was honored Friday night as the best film of the year by the Broadcast Film Critics Association. Howard tied for best director with Moulin Rouge director Baz Luhrmann. Crowe was named best actor and Connelly was voted best supporting actress. In other key awards, the group named Sissy Spacek best actress for In the Bedroom and Ben Kingsley best supporting actor for Sexy Beast. Lord of the Rings won best composer (Howard Shore) and shared best song honors (Enya) with Vanilla Sky (Paul McCartney).
Mind's average per theater was the highest for any film playing in over 1,000 theaters this weekend.
"The studio continues to feel really optimistic about the film's performance," Universal distribution president Nikki Rocco said Sunday morning. "We're coming into the awards season, which began Friday night with the Broadcast Film Critics, and it's evident that Beautiful Mind continues to be the darling."
Mind is nominated for six Golden Globes, including best picture, actor, director, supporting actress, screenplay (Akiva Goldsman) and original score (James Horner). It is on most Hollywood handicappers' short lists as a likely major contender for prime Oscar nominations, including best picture.