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“Battle: Los Angeles” tops international box office

LOS ANGELES- Two Fox films sailed past international box office plateaus this weekend, but Sony’s “Battle: Los Angeles” commanded the foreign theatrical circuit by generating $29 million in 55 markets.

Sony said the special-effects extravaganza premiered at 3,968 China locations, the market’s widest release ever for a foreign film, and raked in $11.8 million there. Also driving the tally were six additional No. 1 openings in Australia ($2.6 million from 329 sites), Brazil, Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines and Hungary. A No. 2 France bow drew $2.3 million.

The overseas total ticket sales over 12 days for “Battle: Los Angeles” now stands at $51.9 million. The latest weekend total is the highest of any No. 1 weekend tally recorded this year on the foreign circuit.

Finishing No. 2 overall was Paramount’s “Rango,” which was first the previous weekend. A strong Russia debut ($4.2 million from 650 venues) and a first-place Israel bow for the animation title spurred the total weekend tally to $20 million in 54 markets. The foreign take is $73 million since March 2.

Fox’s “The Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader” passed the $300 million mark overseas, and “Black Swan” breached the $175 million barrier.

In Japan, some 130 theaters in the Tokyo metropolitan area and in the northern section of Japan’s main island of Honshu — where the earthquake-tsunami devastation and radiation fears are most intense — continue to face power shortages. The sites are either closed or limiting operations to daytime showings.

As a result, weekday business dropped about 70 percent from normal levels, although box office stemming from theaters in southern Japan remained relatively steady.

Paramount pushed ahead with its Japan opening of “True Grit” at 28 locations for a three-day tally of $250,000, or a nearly $9,000 per-screen average. With a public holiday due Monday, the distributor said that “should increase nicely.”

The weekend overall for the Coen brothers’ Western update came to $2.6 million in 59 territories for a foreign cumulative gross of $71.6 million

Warner Bros.’ “The Rite,” the supernatural drama starring Anthony Hopkins — which the studio pulled from Japan release on the weekend — grossed $7.2 million in 39 other markets, sufficient for a No. 3 ranking overall. Its international total stands at $46.1 million.