The traditionally animated Disney feature film "The Princess and the Frog" collected considerable green when it launched in France last weekend.
It grossed $7.5 million at 667 screens in France for a week's total of $8.2 million, coming in a virtual dead heat for first place with 20th Century Fox's Avatar.
French box office receipts for The Princess And The Frogmade up almost 75% of last weekend's $9.9 million overall gross for the film.
In the United Kingdom, one venue made $41,000 for the film -- 30% more than Disney's Bolt(2008) made at the same theatre.
"This film supports a great heritage and legacy that Disney is all about," said David Kornblum, vice-president of international sales and distribution at Disney. "In a market like the U.K., we felt giving it that exclusive window... was appropriate."
So far, The Princess and the Frog has made $79.5 million at 2,725 screens in 33 overseas countries. It's been shown in Italy (grossing $14.1 million) and Germany (with $11.6 million).
This coming weekend, Disney plans a wide expansion for the cartoon feature in Britain, as well as premieres in such major markets as Spain and Portugal.
Fox's Alvin And The Chipmunks: The Squeakquel, in its sixth weekend of overseas release, fell just 7% in grosses, making $11 million at 4,503 screens in 46 countries.
It opened in Italy with $2.7 million. That, and a $1.9 million take in Britain, helped bring cumulated international revenues up to $190.6 million.
