Animation Rules Overseas

No animated features in play in the U.S., but there's one that's doing quite nicely in other parts of the world:

Remy's time has come -- at least on the international stage. Disney's "Ratatouille" is leading the foreign box office for the first time, during the Oct. 5-7 frame -- its 15th week in release.

As with many family toons, the Mouse House opted to pick and choose dates that would coincide with holidays in each market. That's why it's been more than three months since the Pixar toon first hit multiplexes in the United States.

"Ratatouille" dominated the frame, with $19.4 million at 3,265 playdates, or more than the combined grosses of the next two top performers -- "Resident Evil: Extinction" with $8 million and "I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry" with $6.1 million.

Remy and associates appear to be going the way of the animals in Ice Age II -- a quite nice run domestically, and a gangbuster payout overseas:

The toon's already joined the club of 72 pics to gross more than a quarter billion dollars overseas, and should become the 50th film to cross the $300 million mark by the end of the month -- with openings coming during the Oct. 12-14 frame in the United Kingdom, and then in Italy and China during the following weekend.

So, despite the hyperbolic wailing that "Animation is being crushed under its own glut!" and "Pixar is losing its box office pizzazz!" one thing is kind of certain:

As long as animated features keep raking in the coin that Ratatouille is raking, studios will keep creating new animated product. Because it's not a market that any of them can afford to stay out of.