Around-the-World Roundup: 'Shrek' Is King At Last
In its ninth weekend, Shrek Forever After held steady and finally claimed the number one spot at the foreign box office. The Twilight Saga: Eclipse fell hard despite a huge opening in Germany. Toy Story 3 continued its gradual rollout, Knight & Day had its best overseas weekend thus far, and Inception made the most of a fairly limited opening.

Shrek Forever After earned $56.4 million from 7,572 locations in 44 territories, which is identical to its tally last weekend. Shrek 4 saw strong opening weekend numbers in Mexico ($8.8 million), Belgium ($1.5 million) and South Africa ($844,502). While the new markets proved helpful, Shrek 4 also had great holds in key territories like the United Kingdom ($7 million), Germany ($3.5 million) and Spain ($3.3 million). Through Sunday, Shrek 4 had earned $297.9 million overseas for a worldwide (domestic plus foreign) total of $532.3 million.

In its third weekend Eclipse fell 48 percent to an estimated $42 million. While 48 percent may not seem that steep, the weekend gross included a $10.1 million debut in Germany. Excluding earnings from Germany and a handful of new markets for which data is not currently available, Eclipse's preexisting territories declined at an average of at least 60 percent. Eclipse's total reached $288 million overseas, giving it $552.9 million worldwide.

Toy Story 3 added two key territories and dipped nine percent to $32.7 million. The movie launched with $8.8 million in France and $3 million in Hong Kong, which set a new opening weekend record for an animated movie there. Playing in 60 percent of the international marketplace, Toy Story 3 has earned $267.3 million for a massive worldwide total of $630 million, and it's scheduled to open in the U.K. and Spain this week.

Knight & Day added 19 territories and earned $19.6 million, which was nearly twice as much as it made last weekend. Its earnings were driven by significant openings in Australia ($3.3 million), Brazil ($2.8 million) and Spain ($2.4 million), while it had a relatively weak $1.6 million debut in Mexico. Currently showing in just seven of the Top 16 territories, Knight & Day has thus far made $62.3 million. The Tom Cruise-Cameron Diaz action comedy is set to open next weekend in 10 more markets, including Germany.

While Inception led the way at the domestic box office, it came in at fifth place overseas due to a staggered release pattern. Debuting on 1,828 screens in nine territories, Inception dreamed up a solid $16.5 million. Over half of this came from a strong $9 million opening in the U.K., while the rest was from a variety of smaller Asian markets. Look for a much bigger showing next weekend when Inception adds 29 territories, including France, Russia, Australia, South Korea, Japan and Mexico.

Domestic Weekend Report:

Weekend Report: 'Inception' Incites Intense Interest

Last Weekend's Around-the-World Roundup:

'Eclipse,' 'Shrek 4' Lead Foreign Boom