International weekend estimates are almost all in, and so far there are a handful of notable holdover/expansion highlights — as well as one new pic that had a sinfully good Russian bow.

Highlights: In its 4th frame, Lucy added a heady $34M and handily crossed the $100M offshore mark, while Guardians Of The Galaxy is within orbit of $500M global. How To Train Your Dragon 2 passed $400M internationally and will soon pass The Croods and Puss In Boots‘ overseas totals. After this session, Maleficent has now grossed $510M internationally giving it a worldwide cume of $748M. That pushes it past X-Men: Days Of Future Past and puts it at No. 2 globally among movies released this year — behind Transformers: Age of Extinction.
New: In a twist on its domestic performance, new entry Frank Miller’s Sin City: A Dame To Kill For found a warm welcome in Russia. Fox is releasing there where it was No. 1 with $4.7M. That’s 74.6% of its $6.3M three-day domestic haul. There’s a bit of homefield advantage there with several Russians investing in the pic including billionaire Oleg Boyko. This type of film also tends to perform well in the fast-burn market. We’ll have to wait a bit to see how it fared in its other dozen or so opening markets as indie distributors have it most elsewhere.

Holdovers/Expansions: Luc Besson’s Lucy continued flexing its muscle overseas this weekend with an additional $34M in its 4th session. Of that, $28.5M was earned across 38 territories where Universal is releasing. The international total for Universal is now $65M and the overall offshore take is $103M. The Scarlett Johansson-led sci-fi actioner has now bested the $81.8M overseas box office of 2008’s Taken. Besson co-wrote and produced, but did not direct, that pic which established Liam Neeson as an international action draw and spawned a lucrative franchise. It’s also surpassed comp title Limitless ($82.6M). With 22 markets still to roll out through September, it will continue to grow. Next weekend, Lucy opens in nine territories including Brazil, Mexico, Thailand and Japan where Besson has a strong track record.

Among the new opening markets this frame, Lucy debuted at No. 1 in Israel, New Zealand, Portugal, Serbia/Montenegro, Singapore, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Taiwan, Ukraine and the UK/Ireland. It also held first place for the second week in Germany where its 11-day total is $10.1M.

With a huge $6.3M at 69 dates, Taiwan had Universal’s 2nd biggest opening behind Fast & Furious 6 and the best bow ever for Besson. It was also worth a massive $91,300 per screen. Besson’s recent publicity tour in Taipei paid off. In the UK/Ireland, Lucy earned $5.2M at 482 dates and 26% of the market. That’s Universal’s 4th No. 1 opening this year and, as with many other markets, is the biggest-ever opening of a film directed by Besson. Spain had 44% of the market with $3.5M at 335 dates. The debut gives Universal its biggest opening of 2014 and Besson’s biggest opening ever in the country. Across Chile, Israel, Malaysia, New Zealand, Peru, Portugal, Serbia/Montenegro, Singapore, Sweden and Ukraine, Besson also notched his biggest openings ever. Ahead of the weekend, Lucy was running as the No. 7 film of the year in France where it’s released by Besson’s EuropaCorp.

Guardians Of The Galaxy is closing in on $500M with the global cume now standing at an estimated $489M. It’s back in the No. 1 spot domestically and has risen above Transformers: Age Of Extinction to be the No. 3 movie of 2014 and the top grossing release of the summer. Overseas, the James Gunn-directed space romp opened in Indonesia and added $20.7M across 66 markets (70% of its international footprint). With $237.6M in offshore coin — and Germany, Italy, Japan and China all still yet to release — it should soon overtake the domestic cume which currently stands at $251.88M. The top overseas markets are the UK ($37.1M), Russia ($34M), Mexico ($18M), Australia ($17.8M) and Brazil ($15.5M).

After a huge bow in China last frame, How To Train Your Dragon 2 flew past the $400M international mark this weekend with an added $18.19M from 27 markets. Per Fox, it’s on pace to surpass The Croods and Puss In Boots in the coming days to become the 19th highest grossing animated title of all time internationally. It currently stand at $402.4M. In China, it earned a further $11M for a local cume of $48.2M. It was No. 2 in the market. The China cume is 3.5 times bigger than the lifetime cume of the first Dragon. Also notable, in week two in Italy, HTTYD2 fired up $2.3M, down 7% from opening weekend for a local total of $7.35M.

Overseas auds keep shelling out for Paramount and Nickelodeon’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. The reboot now has an offshore cume of $93.2M after carving out another $15.5M at 4,085 locations in 35 territories. Russian audiences have held on tight with an additional $2.2M in frame three for a $25.4M cume. Brazil added $3.7M for a total $11.5M after two sessions, and Mexico served up a $1.4M 3rd weekend for a total of $15.6M. Thailand opened at No. 1 with $1.2M from 55 locales — 21% above the opening result of Thor. Among upcoming bows, the Turtles will roll along to Korea, Australia, Italy, Belgium, France, Germany, Spain, and the UK through mid-October with a Japan bow set for February.

Fox’s Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes is still swinging with $8.5M from 4,139 screens in 41 markets. The international cume is now $353M with the UK leading the charge. The total there is now $52.8M – 48% bigger than Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes. That movie’s 2nd and 3rd biggest overseas markets were China and Japan which are both yet to see Dawn.

Paramount’s Hercules extended its run to Mexico with a strong No. 1 bow of $4.2M at 646 sites. The start is on par with swords and sandals pic Prince Of Persia, the studio says. In total, the Dwayne Johnson starrer added $8.2M from 29 territories and at 2,119 dates this weekend for a cume of $90.7M. Key markets to come include France, Brazil, Germany, Spain and Japan.

Transformers: Age Of Extinction lifted its overseas cume to $821.3M with an extra $5.4M from 44 territories playing in 1,909 locations. The Paramount release traveled to its final market with Venezuela grossing a No. 1 $2.2M at 70 sites. Anticipation was evidently skyscraper-high with the bow the biggest opening of all time in the market. Still playing in Japan, TAOE posted $1.5M in its 3rd weekend at 337 locations for a cume of $22.3M.

The Fault In Our Stars reached higher this weekend with $5.34M versus $4M last frame. Playing in 19 markets, it bowed in France with $2.33M and had a strong counterprogramming hold in Korea with $1.57M – that was a 4% increase on opening weekend during a particularly strong local period. The international cume is now $156.58M, with Fox releases in three of the top 10 international markets still to come.

Step Up All In sashayed its way to Italy with a No. 2 bow of $2.1M on 281 screens. The debut was 2% above the last film in the franchise, Revolution. In Spain it had an initial three-day tally of $365K from 193 screens. Overall, the 5th film in the series added $5.3M from 44 markets for an international cume of $53.5M. The next major debuts will be in September in Korea and Australia.

Still unspooling, Sex Tape from Sony reeled in an estimated $3.7M including $740K on 232 screens in its virgin trip to Brazil. Central America launched at No. 1 with $250K on 94 screens, and Denmark opened to $175K. The Cameron Diaz-starrer now has an overseas cume of $38.9M with the UK, France, Germany, and Italy to open in the coming weeks.

Sony’s Deliver Us From Evil earned an estimated $3.3M in 37 markets, bringing the overseas cume to $17.9M. Openings this weekend included the crowded UK with $1M on 302 screens; Italy with $660K on 229; Korea at $375K on 197; and Colombia at $290K on 122. Russia, France, Germany, Spain, Mexico, Brazil, and Japan bow in the coming month.

22 Jump Street grossed an estimated $2.8M in 32 markets as the offshore reached $118.1M for Sony. Spain launched to $750K for a No. 3 berth that was 65% bigger than the opening of 21 Jump Street. Other openings include Finland, which earned $170K on 46 screens; and Hungary, which grossed $160K on 39. France and Mexico release this week with Brazil to follow.

In its 2nd frame, Expendables 3 continued runs in Russia and Spain via Universal adding $1.6M at 1,315 dates. The cume in both markets is now $9.4M. Russia added $1.2M at 1,021 dates for an 11-day total of $6.3M. Spain brought in $454K at 294 dates for a 10-day gross of $3.1M. Italy opens on Sept 4. Via Fox, Expendables 3 earned $4M in Germany and Austria. The latter, from whence star Arnold Schwarzenegger hails, was a No. 1 debut. Germany, with $3.44M, fell in just behind Lucy for No. 2.

Universal’s Neighbors, which is about to wrap up the party internationally, added an estimated $1.4M for an international total of $116.5M. Italy opened at 200 dates on Thursday and grossed $545K. Venezuela opens on Aug 29.

Let’s Be Cops collared another $1.33M from 418 screens in 12 markets in its 2nd frame. A solid opening in Norway ($325K, 10% bigger than Neighbors) partnered with a strong hold in Holland ($453K No. 2, down 5%). The early international cume is $2.43m. The UK and Russia release next weekend.

Guten Tag, Ramon, Fox International Productions’ film about the unlikely friendship of a young Mexican man and a retired German nurse, opened to $1.15M from 373 screens in Mexico. Directed by Jorgé Ramírez-Suárez, it scored the No. 3 position and the 2nd highest per screen average among wide releases.

After crossing $100M worldwide last frame, horror pic The Purge: Anarchy scared up an estimated $850K at 1,700 dates in 25 territories for an international total of $32.5M. There are 13 territories to open over the next two months.

Boyhood’s limited run in nine Universal territories was good for an estimated $260K at 250 dates for a total of $8.5M. Norway opened this weekend with $50K at 53 dates. After its 7th UK/Ireland frame, the cume is $4.4M there. Dates roll out through January.

http://deadline.com/