#1 -96Figures as of July, 2005
Sony Pictures ruled the Foreign Roost with 3 of the top grossers including the year's 2nd biggest European hit, Goodbye Lenin! (The first was the Jeunet/Tatou reunion, A Very Long Engagement) Asia's long delayed Miramax withheld superstar blockbuster Hero reigned as the year's top import. It has that rare 8 figure status achieved by only the most popular foreign films (think Amelie, Life is Beautiful, etc...) The Motorcycle Diaries from Focus Features reached that mark as well. Yimou Zhang, Hero's director holds down the #1 and #3 spots this year (House of Flying Daggers being his second hit)In the realm of the mere "hits" are the foreign titles that cross the 1 million mark (7 figures) They can be read as such given the limits of the market. From the years I've been paying attention that tends to be anywhere between 10 and 20 pictures annually. For 2004 17 entered that magic money area -with no more to follow for 2004. The Sea Inside looked primed to be a hit on that level but only made it there due to its Oscar win. It was flopping prior to the prize.
Numbers are provided by BoxOfficeMojo.com. In order to qualify for my chart I have to be aware of them (in other words: They have to open in NYC) * I believe Mojo numbers include Canada but I'm not entirely sure.
Dollars are in millions
/ indicates submission for Oscar consideration in previous years
* indicates submission for Oscar consideration last year.
** indicates former Oscar nominee for Foreign Language film.
~ indicates submission for Oscar consideration for this coming awards season
highlighted in yellow indicates films that I screened
Foreign
Hits $1 Million Plus Grossers (#1 through #17) |
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| # | Film | Country | $$$ | |
| 01 | HERO ** | china | 53.5 | |
| 02 | THE MOTORCYCLE DIARIES | brazil/chile/argentina | 16.6 | |
| 03 | HOUSE OF FLYING DAGGERS | china | 10.9 | |
| 04 | MARIA FULL OF GRACE | colombia | 6.51 | |
| 05 | A VERY LONG ENGAGEMENT | france | 5.61 | |
| 06 | BAD EDUCATION | spain | 5.21 | |
| 07 | GOODBYE LENIN ! * | germany | 4.06 | |
| 08 | VEER ZAARA | india | 2.9 | |
| 09 | SPRING, SUMMER, FALL, WINTER... * | korea | 2.38 | |
| 10 | BON VOYAGE * | france | 2.35 | |
| 11 | INTIMATE STRANGERS | france | 2.10 | |
| 12 | THE STORY OF THE WEEPING CAMEL* | mongolia | 1.74 | |
| 13 | THE SEA INSIDE | spain | 1.65 | |
| 14 | I'M NOT SCARED * | italy | 1.61 | |
| 15 | OSAMA * | afghanistan | 1.31 | |
| 16 | TAE GUK GI: Brotherhood of War ~ | korea | 1.11 | |
| 17 | NICOTINA | mexico | 1.10 | |
Minor
Success Over $300,000 (#18 through #32) |
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| # | Film | Country | $$$ | |
| 17 | ZATOICHI | .853 | ||
| 18 | ROSENSTRASSE | germany | .732 | |
| 19 | RED LIGHTS | france | .672 | |
| 20 | LOVE ME IF YOU DARE | france | .553 | |
| 21 | TWILIGHT SAMURAI ** | japan | .546 | |
| 22 | KITCHEN STORIES * | norway | .545 | |
| 23 | FACING WINDOWS | turkey | .541 | |
| 24 | THE RETURN * | russia | .502 | |
| 25 | STRAYED | france | .482 | |
| 26 | SEDUCING DR. LEWIS | canada | .479 | |
| 27 | SHAOLIN SOCCER | .453 | ||
| 28 | BROKEN WINGS / | israel | .405 | |
| 29 | CALLAS FOREVER | .445 | ||
| 30 | SINCE OTAR LEFT | georgia | .334 | |
| 31 | ZELARY ** | czech republic | .329 | |
| 32 | JU-ON THE GRUDGE | .325 | ||
They
Almost Found an Audience $100,000 -$300,000 (#33 through #44) |
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| # | Film | Country | $$$ | |
| 33 | VALENTIN * | argentina | .275 | |
| 34 | WILBUR WANTS TO KILL HIMSELF | denmark | .235 | |
| 35 | CARANDIRU * | brazil | .213 | |
| 36 | MOOLAADE | .212 | ||
| 37 | POSTMEN IN THE MOUNTAIN | china | .198 | |
| 38 | THE FIVE OBSTRUCTIONS ~ | denmark | .164 | |
| 39 | CRIMSON RIVERS 2 | france | .152 | |
| 40 | CRIMSON GOLD | iran | .147 | |
| 41 | ZHOU YU'S TRAIN | china | .141 | |
| 42 | CRYING LADIES~ | philippines | .132 | |
| TOKYO GODFATHERS (* in animated feat) | japan | .129 | ||
| 43 | NOTRE MUSIQUE | .138 | ||
| 44 | SECRET THINGS | france | .104 | |
Low
Grossers Under $100,000 (#45 through #96) |
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| # | Film | Country | $$$ | |
| 46 | DISTANT * | turkey | .096 | |
| 47 | INFERNAL AFFAIRS * | hong kong | .089 | |
| 48 | DAYS OF BEING WILD | hong kong | .084 | |
| 49 | BEAR CUB | spain | .100 | |
| 50 | WARRIOR OF HEAVEN AND EARTH * | china | .082 | |
| 51 | MY MOTHER LIKES WOMEN | .081 | ||
| 52 | RECONSTRUCTION * | denmark | .073 | |
| 53 | THE SEAGULL'S LAUGHTER / | iceland | .072 | |
| 54 | BRIGHT LEAVES | .077 | ||
| 55 | THE INHERITANCE | denmark | .067 | |
| 56 | ON THE RUN: TRILOGY 1 | belgium | .064 | |
| 58 | PROTEUS | south africa | .061 | |
| 59 | TIME OF THE WOLF | austria | .061 | |
| 60 | NOI * | iceland | .060 | |
| 61 | THE BULGARIAN LOVER | bulgaria | .059 | |
| tale of two sisters | .056 | |||
| 62 | 29 PALMS | france | .054 | |
| 63 | GOZU | .054 | ||
| 64 | YOU'LL GET OVER IT | france | .050 | |
| 65 | 1000 CLOUDS OF PEACE | mexico | .048 | |
| 67 | AN AMAZING COUPLE: TRILOGY 2 | belgium | .042 | |
| 68 | SPRINGTIME IN A SMALL TOWN | .042 | ||
| 69 | SEX IS COMEDY | france | .040 | |
| VODKA LEMON * | .039 | |||
| 70 | FATHER AND SON | .038 | ||
| 71 | LA VIE PROMESSE | france | .037 | |
| 72 | ANATOMY OF HELL | france | .033 | |
| 73 | GOODBYE DRAGON INN | .032 | ||
| 74 | LAST LIFE IN THE UNIVERSE * | thailand | .031 | |
| 76 | OASIS / | korea | .029 | |
| 77 | AFTER LIFE: TRILOGY 3 | belgium | .026 | |
| 78 | BANG RAJAN | .022 | ||
| 79 | LA PETIT LILI | france | .024 | |
| 80 | SON FRERE | france | .020 | |
| a talking picture | .017 | |||
| 81 | You I Love | russia | .016 | |
| 82 | PURPLE BUTTERFLY | .016 | ||
| 83 | IT'S EASIER FOR A CAMEL... | france | .015 | |
| 86 | WHO KILLED BAMBI? | france | .014 | |
| 87 | RAJA | .013 | ||
| LA MENTALE: THE CODE | .012 | |||
| 88 | dolls | .004 | ||
| 89 | MY WIFE MAURICE | france | .003 | |
| 90 | FIREDANCER / | afghanistan | .002 | |
| 91 | ABOUNA / | chad | .002 | |
| 92 | THE ROAD TO LOVE | france | .001 | |
| 93 | FREE RADICALS * | austria | .001 | |
| 94 | SHWAAS~ | india | .001 | |
| 95 | 800 BULLETS | .000 | ||
| 96 | THE CLAY BIRD / | bangladesh | .000 | |
