Domestic Toons Prosper Overseas

Out in Foreign Box Office Land, Dark Knight, Mama Mia! and Hancock run up big totals, but animated features also cut a wide, lucrative swath ...

Two family toons took the fourth and fifth spots at the international box office for the July 15-27 frame --DreamWorks Animation and Paramount family toon "Kung Fu Panda" and Disney-Pixar's "Wall-E," respectively.

"Panda" grossed $15.6 million from 6,565 playdates to push it over the $300 million mark internationally.

"Wall-E," which is much earlier in its run, grossed $9.2 million from 3,081 theaters for a foreign cume of $70.3. Toon heads into Benelux and France next.

Looking at various worldwide charts, KFP is doing fabulously well. Worldwide, the big bear is now comfortably above the half billion mark in total greenbacks and still waddling onward, with DVDs and other ancillary markets yet to come.

Wall-E will no doubt best KFP in the U.S. of A., but whether it outperforms The Bear on the far sides of the Atlantic and Pacific remains to be seen. (And of course, it was more expensive to produce.)