Up Continues to Levitate

As Ice Age 3 winds down, Pixar's latest lifts higher.

It took nearly three months, but "Up" finally led all films in international markets for the first time.

The Disney/Pixar toon managed the feat during the Sept. 18-20 weekend with $13.7 million at 2,718 playdates in 23 markets. The Mouse House has opted for a strategy of opening the pic gradually rather than going day-and-date.

"Up" crossed the $200 million mark on Sept. 22, becoming the seventh 2009 release to hit that milestone but the first to do it outside the summer season.

... In Germany, the opening of "Up" finished a close second to Constantin’s second frame of tyke adventure "Vicky the Viking" with $6 million. "Up" launched with $5.4 million from 809, on par with last year’s "Wall-E" but below 2007’s "Ratatouille," which opened with more than $12 million in Germany.

In Australia, "Up" scored its third straight weekend as the first-place film with $2.8 million at 287 for an $8.5 million cume. In France, the pic managed to finish eighth in its eighth frame with $1.3 million -- off only 1% -- for a $38 million cume.

And "Up" has plenty of gas left in the tank. It opens in Scandinavia on Oct. 2, followed by the U.K. on Oct. 9, Italy on Oct. 16 and Japan in December ...

For those of you scoring at home, we have Cloudy at the top of domestic box office, Up as the current champ overseas, and Ice Age 3 as the foreign box office record-holder for 2009.

I'm guessing that the money pouring in for these pictures is not going unnoticed. I'm assuming that production for more of the same is a foregone conclusion. (More than any other type of movie, animated features are powered by the marketplace ...)

Here's wishing the best for the oncoming flood of holiday cartoons.