Disney’s “Oz the Great and Powerful” passes $200 mln at foreign box officeApril 2, 2013 - 19:15 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Disney “Oz the Great and Powerful” blew past the $200 million threshold at the foreign box office this weekend and is about to do the same domestically, TheWrap said. With this weekend's $22.2 million take from 37 foreign markets, the “Wizard of Oz” prequel has taken in $214 million overseas since opening on March 8 with nearly $80 million domestically and $70 million from abroad. Those numbers have to be encouraging to Disney, which invested $225 million to make the film, and at least half that much to market it. That obviously raises the bar for profitability; the studio has yet to make a decision on whether to go forward with a sequel. Sam Raimi directed the 3D special effects extravaganza, which prominently features the production design of Robert Strombeg (“Alice in Wonderland”). James Franco stars as the young wizard, with Mila Kunis, Michelle Williams and Rachel Weisz as witches. Paramount's "G.I. Joe: Retaliation," which opened with $80.3 million from 54 foreign markets, was easily the top international moneymaker for the weekend. With the $51.7 million it rolled up at North American theaters over the long Easter weekend, it's global haul is north of $132 million. In its second week, DreamWorks Animation's 3D family film "The Croods" rolled up an impressive $52.5 million from 60 foreign markets for distributor Fox. That upped its overall foreign total to $140.5 million and its global total $229 million. Warner Bros.' "Jack the Giant Slayer" took in $25.2 million this week, including $6.5 million from China. That ups the foreign total for "Jack," which has disappointed on the homefront with just $61 million since opening on March 1, to $96 million and its worldwide total to $157 million. Top stories Ara Aivazian said Azerbaijan continues the traditions of Turkey after seizing territories and forced Armenians out. The creative crew of the Public TV had chosen 13-year-old Malena as a participant of this year's contest. She called on others to also suspend their accounts over the companies’ failure to tackle hate speech. Penderecki was known for his film scores, including for William Friedkin’s “The Exorcist”, Stanley Kubrick’s “The Shining”. Partner news | Lithuania sending €100,000 to help Armenia fight floods consequences Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan took to social media to thank his Lithuanian counterpart for the contribution. Armenia: Rescue workers restore pedestrian bridge for flood-hit community Rescue workers on Wednesday, June 5 restored a pedestrian bridge in the town of Alaverdi in Armenia’s north. U.S. “deeply troubled” by Azerbaijan's arrest of civil society members The United States is deeply troubled by the continued arrest of members of Azerbaijani civil society, Matthew Miller has said. Turkey condemns Uruguay’s recognition of Armenian Genocide Turkey has condemned a newly passed law in Uruguay that recognizes the Armenian Genocide, TRT reports. |