"Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs" to see strong returns internationally

Twentieth Century Fox's animated feature "Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs" seized the No. 1 spot on the foreign circuit during the July 4 weekend as the third installment of the family-oriented series drew an estimated $148 million from 11,652 screens in 101 markets.

Photo: "Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs" to see strong returns internationally

The opening-weekend tally set an overseas record for an animation film and was the sixth-biggest for any film. It also is the largest foreign introduction of a 3D title, said Paul Hanneman, co-president of Fox theatrical international.

Hanneman also said that the 18% of screens that showed "Ice Age" in 3D (2,126) provided 34% of the boxoffice take ($51 million). Early returns from U.K. show the 3D version in the No. 1 market spot, with the conventional theatrical edition ranked No. 2, Reuters reports.

The "Ice Age" sequel is the latest movie this summer to see significantly stronger returns internationally than domestically. "Angels & Demons," "Terminator Salvation" and "Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian" all fall into that category, having earned 72%, 64% and 55% of their total ticket sales so far, respectively, internationally, The Los Angeles Times reports.

The film broke records for the biggest openings in 16 countries, including Mexico, Brazil and Russia. With $215.5 million worth of worldwide ticket sales, the animated feature is already in excellent financial shape. That's good news because "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" opens around the globe in a week and a half and probably will dominate the family audience thereafter, The Los Angeles Times reports.