Around-the-World Brief: 'Fast Five' Vanquishes 'Thor'

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While Thor took the domestic crown this weekend, it was Fast Five by a mile overseas. The fifth movie in the increasingly popular franchise earned a massive estimated $86.6 million from 58 territories, a tally which sets a new weekend record for distributor Universal Pictures. 

According to Universal, Fast Five finished in first place in each of its 44 new markets. It set Universal opening weekend records in Mexico ($8.6 million), Brazil ($5 million) and many Middle East territories. It also had very strong debuts in France ($8.8 million) and Italy ($7.4 million) and continued to post solid figures in holdover markets like Germany ($5.9 million) and Russia ($5 million). 

Fast Five has earned $184.8 million overseas. Add in its domestic gross, and it worldwide haul stood at $324.7 million. At its current rate, it should have no problem tearing past Fast and Furious's $360.4 million worldwide total by Thursday or Friday to become the highest-grossing entry in the series.

After scoring the top foreign opening of 2011, Thor took a big hit this weekend, thanks in part to Fast Five's worldwide expansion. The God of Thunder tallied an estimated $46 million from 60 markets to bring its foreign total to a strong $176 million. It's only noteworthy debut came from China, where it grossed a solid $2.3 million. Holdover markets were off an average of around 50 percent, with Brazil ($3.7 million), France ($3.4 million) and Russia ($3.4 million) leading the way. Adding in its domestic gross, Thor has made $242 million worldwide, and it is days away from passing fellow Avenger The Incredible Hulk's $263.4 million total.

Against overwhelming competition from Fast Five and Thor, Rio dropped a steep 48 percent to an estimated $16.2 million. Despite its rapid decline, though, it remained 2011's top movie overseas by a wide margin with $292.3 million. Also, it's worldwide total reached an impressive $407 million, which ranked third biggest among Blue Sky Animation titles behind the Ice Age sequels. 

Water for Elephants expanded to 45 markets and had its best weekend yet with an estimated $11.1 million. The Robert Pattinson-Reese Witherspoon period drama has grossed $21.3 million overseas.

Ahead of its domestic opening, comic book adaptation Priest earned an estimated $5.5 million from four markets. It had decent debuts in Russia ($2.9 million) and Spain ($1.9 million), though it bombed in the U.K. with a paltry $700,000. 

Finally, Just Go With It added $1 million to bring its total to $109.8 million. The comedy passed last year's Grown Ups to become star Adam Sandler's highest-grossing movie ever overseas.