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Box Office: ‘Breaking Dawn – Part 2′ sets a new Franchise Foreign Record, taking close to $450-M to date.

“Skyfall” crosses $620-M in overseas revenue; “Life of Pi” doing well in 11 markets.

Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2 is now the biggest-grossing franchise title overseas thanks to a $48.8-M weekend at some 11,800 locations in 73 territories, boosting its foreign gross take to $447.8-M

The 5th and final title based on Stephenie Meyer’s series of novels about a young woman, Kristen Stewart, in love with a Vampire, Robert Pattinson, has taken in $16.9-M more than the franchise’s previous all-time offshore box office winner, last year’s The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1, which took in $430.9-M.

Breaking Dawn Part 2 dominated a generally quiet box office session overseas, taking the # 1 spot for the 3rd consecutive week with holdover titles for the most part posting diminishing returns. Biggest markets for the franchise film were the UK at $49.9-M, and Brazil at $41.6-M.

Worldwide, Breaking Dawn Part 2 has grossed $702.4-M. Lionsgate International, which is handling foreign distribution of the Summit Ent. co-production, said earlier that Breaking Dawn Part 2’s mighty action helped lift the distributor’s Y 2012 total foreign box office past the $1-B mark.

Finishing # 2 is Sony/MGM’s Skyfall, the 23rd installment of the James Bond franchise, which collected $34-M from 7,600 theaters in 84 markets handled by Sony and licensees of co-distributor MGM.

The 3rd outing starring Daniel Craig as 007 has a total foreign gross of $623-M of which Sony-handled territories have accounted for $539.3-M.

Since its overseas opening on 26 October Skyfall has accumulated nearly $200-M more that the $432.2-M total foreign gross of the previous franchise record holder, Y 2006’s Casino Royale, also starring Daniel Craig.

A # 1 Japan opening provided $5.9-M from 587 theaters, which Sony said was 51% bigger than the opening market gross of 2008’s Quantum of Solace, which grossed a total of $407.7-M overseas. A # 1 bow in South Africa with $800,000 from 128 venues, was also recorded for Skyfall.

Premiering in 46 territories in what distributor Paramount pointedly noted was “a non-Holiday weekend,” DreamWorks Animation’s Rise of the Guardians drew $40-M overall playing at 8,708 locations in 55 markets. The film’s overseas gross total since its 16 November foreign opening is $57-M.

The $145-M fantasy title featuring the voices of Alec Baldwin and Hugh Jackman recorded # 1 openings in 20 markets, as per Paramount, the biggest of which was France at $4.7-M at 620 sites, and Mexico at $3.7-M from 577 theaters.

Brazil contributed $3.1-M at 397 locales, Italy also generated $3.1-M at 510 situations, the UK registered $3-M at 487 sites, good for a # 3 market ranking. Rise of the Guardians’ “run is expected to continue well into the Holiday season and school holidays,” said Paramount. Openings in Israel, Iceland and South Africa are on tap this week.

Making # 1 debuts in Spain, Singapore and Malaysia was Twentieth Century Fox’s release of Life of Pi, the film version of Yann Martel’s novel about a young castaway and a Bengal tiger.

Directed by Taiwanese-born Ang Lee, the Fox 2000 co-production drew $21.5-M on the weekend overall playing a total of 5,678 in 11 markets, the best were China at $11-M in its 2nd round at 3,800 sites for a market take of $38.5-M and Taiwan at $2.6-M at 165 locations, a 47% increase from the opening weekend.

Despite its relatively limited foreign release, Life of Pi has generated a total of $61.1-M in 2 weeks.

Argo, actor-director Ben Affleck’s international thriller from Warner Bros., grossed $4.1-M on the weekend at more than 2,100 screens in 49 territories, representing a relatively benign 38% drop from the prior weekend. Offshore take stands at $56-M. Best markets are Australia at $10.1-M and France at $7.6-M.

Sony Animation’s Hotel Transylvania, a comedy voiced by Adam Sandler and Kevin James about a boy who discovers Dracula is real, grossed $3.5-M at 3,065 sites in 57 markets. The title’s foreign gross total stands at $152.8-M accumulated since 27 September. .

Opening # 3 in France was Populaire, director Regis Roinsard’s 1950s period comedy, which opened out-of-competition at November’s Rome Film Festival. The Mars distribution release, about the romantic entanglement of a fast-typing secretary, drew an estimated $2.9-M from some 450 screens. The Weinstein Co. has acquired US distribution rights.

Other international takes: Disney’s Wreck-It Ralph, $44-M; Universal’s Pitch Perfect, $4.9-M; UGC Distribution’s Therese Desqueyroux, $2.6-M in 2 rounds in France only; Universal’s The Man With The Iron Fists, $1.7-M; Stone Angels’ Comme Des Freres, $2.1-M in 2 rounds in France only; Universal’s Ted, $283-M; Universal’s The Bourne Legacy, $162.8-M; Universal’s Anna Karenina, $11.5-M; and Universal’s ParaNorman, $43.2-M.

Have some fun see a movie this week.