Record-Smashing Foreign Derby?

Your friendly trade paper says:

What looks certain to be a record box office summer on the foreign theatrical circuit for the big Hollywood studios ended over the Labor Day weekend with The Smurfs narrowly taking the No. 1 spot with $23.3 million drawn from 8,360 screens in 71 overseas markets. ... The Smurfs had collected a total gross of nearly $300 million ($295.8 million) offshore, nearly two-and-a-half times its domestic cume. ...

For those scoring at home, the Small Blue People have now earned $427,753,000 in worldwide revenue.

Elsewhere in foreign theaters:

... DreamWorks Animation’s Kung Fu Panda 2 upped its overseas cume to $485.5 million ... Finishing No. 2 once again was 20th Century Fox’s Rise of the Planet of the Apes, which grossed $19.35 million ... lifting its market cume to $186.5 million (versus $160 million in the U.S. and Canada). ...

What becomes increasingly obvious as we march deeper into the 21st century is, animated features of various stripes are taking sizable bites of cash from the global box office. Star-driven vehicles like Cowboys and Aliens aren't gaining a lot of traction, even as KFP2, Cars 2, The Smurfs, Apes, etc. cause the turnstiles to whirl.

Not every animated picture hits a three-bagger or home-run. (Mars might have needed Moms, but planet Earth sure as hell didn't.) Yet a large number pull down $300-$600 million dollars within six months of release, over and over. This isn't lost the executives of our fine, entertainment conglomerates.