When what plays in Portugal doesn't play in Peoria

By Sarah Sluis

When the Hollywood Foreign Press Association awarded The Tourist multiple Golden Globe nominations, most American journalists cried foul. But the recognition of The Tourist reflects a larger trend in movies: what plays well overseas is different than what plays well at home.

Currently, The Tourist has earned $40 million at home and $37 million abroad--even with release in just a dozen foreign markets. The romantic thriller had stunning visuals, but received thumbs downs for its story--a more acceptable combination for a market watching the movie dubbed or with subtitles. Also popular abroad are big family-friendly blockbusters, but not necessarily the ones getting the best reviews. The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader is currently number one in six markets, and the Disney fairy tale Tangled in seven. While Tron: Legacy may have had just one weekend at number one in the U.S., it grabbed the first-place spot in seventeen markets last week. Among these films, Tangled is the only one with an overall positive rating on Rotten Tomatoes (though Legacy comes close with 49% positive).

While the international box office can often turn so-so big-budget productions into profitmakers, it can also give a truly good film an exponential boost. If a foreign films that plays "well" abroad usually earns at least half its total box office from overseas, megahits can go well beyond that number. Avatar earned $760,000,000 in the U.S. alone, but $2,000,000,0000 from markets outside the U.S. (count 'em, those are nine zeros). That means that the U.S. market contributed just 27% of the total earnings for the movie, an astonishingly tiny figure.

Muchhullabaloohas been made about declining DVD/Blu-ray sales impacting studios' calculations of expected revenue. It used to be said that a successful movie would make back its production budget at the box office, then start earning money once all the ancillary revenue streams (cable rights, DVD, etc.) kicked in. But more and more, I see movies that aren't flops fall well short of their production budget at the box office. According to Box Office Mojo, Tangled's earned back just $140 million domestically on a $260 million production budget, Dawn Treader's earned $62 million on a reported $155 million production budget, and Tron: Legacy is only up to $87 million on a $170 million budget. The rule of thumb about domestic box office needing to equal production budget clearly no longer holds. That's where the international box office comes in. Increasing revenue from overseas may help fill in the gap created by declining home movie sales, but at what cost? Great blockbusters like Avatar will be able to reap their profits around the world, but will this formula also bring undue success to B-list big-budget films likeDawn Treader and the mildly disappointing Tron: Legacy? As studios tally up their successes and failure of 2011, the international box office is becoming an even bigger part of the box-office balance sheet.

Remake special: 'The Tourist,' 'Harvey'

By Sarah Sluis

Soon-to-be A-lister Sam Worthington (I'll count him as one after Avatar comes out) has signed on to play opposite Charlize Theron in The Tourist, a remake of the 2005 French romantic thriller Anthony Zimmer. Worthington replaces Tom Cruise, who recently opted for a supernatural/Midwestern romance project with Cameron Diaz, to be directed by James Mangold.

Those hoping to find out the ending in advance by renting the French film will be disappointed, as there are hints that the script has changed. The French film's trailer heavily emphasizes romance and seduction, aided by the presence of Sophie Marceau (who has appeared in American films as well, including as a Bond girl). She's the mistress of a criminal so successful, the police don't even have a photo. To throw the police off track, she seduces a stranger on a train, leading them to believe that he is the criminal. The man (who's rather nerdy and less attractive than Marceau) finds himself pursued by both the police and by criminals seeking revenge. In the American script, Theron will play an Interpol agent who once had an affair with the criminal. If she's a government official, does that mean she will be a rogue agent, or will the ruse be a part of some master plan? The choice of director is also worth noting. Bharat Nalluri most recently directed Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day, but most of his credits come from dark action movies like The Crow: Salvation and Resident Evil (where he was the second-unit director). Nalluri will have the chance to combine his action and screwball credentials in this film, which, if done right, could make for an exciting ride. The Spyglass Entertainment film will start shooting in January and release later in the year.

Yesterday, Steven Spielberg announced he will helm a remake of Harvey, the 1950 film starring Jimmy Stewart as a man with an imaginary, six-foot rabbit friend. Many suspect that Tom Hanks, who has starred in three Spielberg films, will play the Jimmy Stewart role, given his resemblance to Stewart as well as the similarity in their screen personas. I can't help but wonder if this action-free project (i.e., low budget) has anything to do with DreamWorks' financial situation. The studio had difficulty securing financing in the wake of the recession, and a low-budget, high-yield comedy could be a wise choice for the newly unaffiliated studio. As it is, the project will be co-financed by Fox, and fast-tracked into production early next year. The project also seems culturally relevant. The story brings to mind hot 2008 Black List project The Beaver, which will star Mel Gibson and be directed by Jodie Foster. Both involve delusional main characters accompanied by imaginary "friends." Spielberg would certainly be aware of the script, and its positive reception could indicate that the Harvey story is just as fresh as ever.