"New Moon" undimmed atop overseas box office

Actors Robert Pattinson (L), Kristen Stewart and Taylor Lautner (R) pose during a photocall to promote their latest film ''The Twilight Saga: New Moon'' in Madrid November 12, 2009.

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - "The Twilight Saga: New Moon" took the No. 1 spot on the foreign circuit for a second consecutive weekend, grossing an estimated $85.1 million from 8,476 sites in 56 markets.

Offshore box office for the teen favourite based on Stephenie Meyer's novel and co-starring Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart held up surprisingly well from its first-place opening round, dropping a relatively benign 31 percent. The film's total offshore gross is $243 million.

Box-office action for director Roland Emmerich's "2012" dropped by more than 40 percent compared with the previous weekend, for a tally of $61.6 million from 12,090 screens in 107 markets. Since it opened offshore November 11, the disaster movie has grossed $455.8 million on the foreign circuit. "2012" drew especially well in Asia, taking the No. 1 spots in such key markets as China, Japan and Korea.

Disney's "A Christmas Carol" opened in seven markets, grossing $20.4 million from 5,328 sites in 48 territories. Holdover markets proved strong, providing $15.3 million of the weekend total, down a mild-mannered 28 percent from the previous frame. The motion-capture feature's foreign total stands at $90.8 million.

"Paranormal Activity," director Oren Peli's super-low-budget horror thriller and domestic box-office phenomenon, opened in the U.K. (finishing No. 2 in the market with an estimated $4 million from 395 sites) as well as in Spain and South Korea. It tallied an overall weekend box office of $7 million from about 1,000 screens.

Disney unveiled the family comedy "Old Dogs" in Mexico and South Africa day-and-date with its domestic premiere. The opening tally from both markets was $1 million, with Mexico providing $816,000 from 321 screens.

Paramount opened the thriller "Law Abiding Citizen" in the U.K., where it finished No. 4 in the market with $2.4 million from 354 screens.

Disney's "G-Force" opened in China ($1.5 million from 300 screens), and drew $2.3 million overall during the weekend. The overseas gross for the animation title from producer Jerry Bruckheimer is $161.8 million.