Tuesday, April 7, 1998 5:10 AM

Foreign Box Office Slows

SYDNEY (Variety) - The foreign box office took a breather at the weekend as "The Man in the Iron Mask," "Mouse Hunt," "Sphere" and "Anastasia" debuted with mixed results, while the mighty "Titanic" finally slowed a little. "Titanic" pulled in a still-splendid $31.1 million in 56 territories abroad, and its foreign total surged to $872.8 million (as well as $530.4 million in North America). James Cameron's opus charged into China with a terrific $1.9 million on 127 screens, and elsewhere it notched several more milestones. In Australia, it surpassed "Crocodile Dundee" to seize the crown of all-time box office champ, with a total of $32.5 million. "Titanic" now stands as the first film to cross $100 million in France (tallying $107.8 million after Fox recalculated the gross based on average ticket price) and Germany ($103.4 million), and will soon do so in the U.K. ($96.6 million). In Japan, the epic vaulted to $108.3 million, beating "E.T. the Extra Terrestrial" to become its highest-grossing U.S. film in history, behind only the Nippon-animated phenomenon "The Princess Mononoke." "The Man in the Iron Mask" charmed France with $3 million in five days, and Belgium at $399,000, but Australia's $911,000 in four days was below expectations. The distractions of superb weather, the Royal Easter Show and two major football games in Sydney dented the Australian box office. Fair-to-good bows in Korea, Sweden and Singapore chipped in a further $727,000. The classic tale has ponied up a sturdy $5.6 million in 17 days in the U.K. and $4.8 million in 10 days in Italy. The foreign total is $16.7 million. DreamWorks' "Mouse Hunt" nabbed a reasonable $1.6 million in three days in the U.K., $538,000 in Mexico, a so-so $344,000 in Spain (belted by "Flubber" in its third weekend) and $280,000 in Italy. The total is $23.2 million. Still deriving momentum from the lead actor/actress Oscars, writer/director James L. Brooks' "As Good As It Gets" raked in $8.3 million from 44 markets, sending the total to $88.1 million. The top earners are Germany's $12.6 million, Australia's $10.6 million, the U.K.'s $8.8 million, Spain's $7.7 million and Italy's $5.4 million. Director Gus Van Sant's "Good Will Hunting" minted $4.2 million in 17 territories and its total hit $54 million. "Sphere" was no better than ordinary in its major-market debuts in Germany ($1.1 million, the U.K. ($1.1 million) and Italy ($490,000). Below par were the film's bows of $480,000 in Australia, $278,000 in Brazil and $281,000 in Mexico. The second-weekend tallies of $2.5 million in France and $1.7 million in Spain are respectable. The foreign total is $13.1 million. Miramax's "Jackie Brown" took a hearty $2.2 million in France and a total of $583,000 from premieres in Belgium, Denmark, Israel, Norway and Switzerland. Quentin Tarantino's picture expanded from 17 to 64 prints in the U.K. in its third outing and advanced to $1.7 million. Its foreign total is $10.7 million in 13 territories. "Flubber" launched in France with a soft $1.3 million, but in Belgium collected a fine $401,000 on 91 screens (vs. France's 480): Go figure. The foreign total is $65 million, including $7 million in Germany and $3.8 million in Spain, both through the third lap. "Anastasia" delivered an underwhelming $855,000 in Germany, but Fox hopes it will rally during the school vacation, which has just started. In the U.K., the picture has scored a moderate $1.1 million to date. France is the jewel in "Anastasia's" crown, contributing $14.7 million of its $43 million foreign total. "Mortal Kombat Annihilation" bombed in Spain with $230,000, and has totaled $8.6 million from 18 territories. After struggling in its native Australia, Gillian Armstrong's "Oscar and Lucinda" fetched a pale $74,000 in the U.K., where "Kundun" eked out $95,000 at 10 theaters. Checking foreign totals, "Tomorrow Never Dies" has $204.7 million, "Bean" inched up to $182.7 million, "The Devil's Advocate" topped $85 million, "The Jackal" moved up to $80.5 million, "The Game" played along to $61.1 million and "L.A. Confidential" reached an estimated $46 million. Reuters/Variety ^REUTERS@

-- Dan Draghici (ddraghic@sprint.ca), April 08, 1998

Answers

World-wide box office for Titanic (4/5): $1,403,200,000

-- Dan Draghici (ddraghic@sprint.ca), April 08, 1998.