The Disney/Pixar feature Ratatouille bowed in France over the weekend and scored the biggest opening of any animated feature ever released in the country. According to Daily Variety, the culinary buddy comedy sold nearly two million tickets in its first week, bringing in around $16 million. The previous Gallic record holder was fellow Disney/Pixar flick Finding Nemo, which opened to $12 million in 2003.
It helps that Ratatouille is set in Paris, where a young rat from the countryside teams up with a restaurant garbage boy to collectively become the greatest chef in all of France. The film’s success with both French audiences and critics should ease any concerns among the Pixar camp as to whether or not their detailed depiction of Paris and its unique flavors would fly with the locals.
Domestically, Ratatouille is nearing the $200 million mark in its sixth week in theaters, but is lagging behind Disney/Pixar’s Cars, which brought in $244 million last summer. Ratatouille is atypical of the Hollywood animated feature in that it plays more to older kids and adults than the toddlers, which should help drive foreign bank as it rolls out in additional markets over the next couple of weeks.
The Simpsons Movie from 20th Century Fox is still the overseas box office champ, having earned $46.6 million in foreign markets this past weekend. Hanging with the Hollywood blockbusters is the South Korean movie D-War, in which humans fight for survival against an onslaught of dragons. The CG-laden creature feature took in an estimated $19.6 million over the weekend to become the No. 5 overseas performer. U.S. audiences will be able to catch D-War in theaters on Sept 14.
