RUSSELL BRAND - MOVIES PLAY AT NEARLY EMPTY THEATERS OVERSEAS

Overseas, the box office remained in the doldrums, with Forgetting Sarah Marshall placing first with just $7 million, according to Daily Variety -- $4.1 million from the U.K. alone. It was the best British opening for a Judd Apatow comedy yet and was likely helped by the fact that it costars stand-up comic Russell Brand, host of a popular Saturday night radio show that airs on the BBC. Sony's 21 and Fox's Horton Hears a Who! tied for second place overseas with $6.2 million, just ahead of Fox's Street Kings, which wound up with $6.1 million. Analysts suggested that the overseas box office was in a holding pattern until the launch of the summer season next weekend with the opening of Paramount's Iron Man.

28/04/2008