Nemo Slips on 'Ice'

Nemo's no longer the biggest fish in the pond. Over the weekend, 20th Century Fox's three-quel Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs became the highest-grossing animated title ever overseas, posting a cume of $551.4 million through Sunday. It took six years for a toon to overtake Pixar and Disney's Finding Nemo, which grossed $524.9 million internationally in its 2003 release.

Family films released in 3-D are seeing a surge in business at the foreign B.O., with auds more than willing to shell out the extra cost of a 3-D ticket. Disney/Pixar's Up is still early in its overseas run but has already seen boffo results. Toon launched in several major territories last weekend, grossing $23.4 million from 2,109 playdates in 23 markets. Foreign cume is $79.8 million.

In France, Up opened to a bountiful $8.9 million -- nearly a third of Wall-E's total gross in Gaul. That trend was repeated across the board. Up grossed $12 million in its launch in Russia, while Wall-E grossed $11.7 million in its entire run. Up bowed to $7.9 million from 602 playdates in Spain, the best opening of the year. Of the total screen count, only 161 runs were in 3-D, yet those runs yielded $3.3 million in grosses.

Ice Age 3 is the top-grossing film of the year so far at the foreign box office, although it could ultimately lose that race to Warner Bros.' Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, which is on the brink of jumping $500 million internationally. Half-Blood Prince won the weekend at the foreign B.O., grossing $43.4 million in its third weekend for a cume of $493 million and worldwide total of $748.7 million. Ice Age 3's worldwide total of $733.4 million isn't far behind. Up ended the weekend with a global tally of $366.2 million.

By Pamela McClintock and Emilio Mayorga, Variety