New at BOP: Review: Matrix Resurrections Movie Review: Moonfall Movie Reviews: Scream The #1 Movie in America November Forecast The Many Saints of Newark October Forecast New Trivia Question All site updates Share & Save   Tweet Print this column

Dracula may have turned theaters in the U.S. into modern day Demeters, places of supposed activity rendered quiet and desolate by his presence, but the Count managed to find plenty of potential Renfields overseas. After opening decently last week, the bloodsucking origin story expanded and brought home $33.9 million. Universal's potentially foolhardy first attempt at creating their own interconnected monster movie universe has earned $62.6 million from foreign markets so far, which is respectable, but probably not the sort of success you need to build a complicated series of franchises on.

After a few weeks languishing in the lower reaches of the chart, and sometimes being absent entirely, Guardians of the Galaxy comes roaring back to finish in second place with $28 million. The overwhelming majority of that came from a strong $26.6 million debut in China. That pushes its overseas total to $361 million and its global take to $687.1 million. At this point, the Marvel juggernaut should have no problem surpassing the $714.1 million earned by Captain America: The Winter Soldier to become the biggest Marvel Studios project of the year. Its next target will be X-Men: Days of Future Past, which has $746 million, and I wouldn't underestimate that ragtag crew of miscreants at this point.

Gone Girl and Annabelle recreated the photo finish tie from their US debuts for international audiences this weekend, as they share third place with $27 million apiece. Their totals to date are equally close since the David Fincher thriller has $63 million and The Conjuring prequel has $60.3 million, though it's unclear at this point which will ultimately win out. Gone Girl has the water cooler conversation starter advantage and its status as a possible awards contender on its side, but scary-ass dolls transcend pretty much all barriers.

The surprise YA phenomenon The Maze Runner is in fifth this week. The little franchise starter that could added $13.7 and has $140 million from international audiences after five weeks. This has turned out to be a very shrewd investment for Fox, which spent $34 million and has been rewarded with $223.6 million and climbing. Unfortunately, this success means that we're going to see more terrible YA adaptations from studios desperately trying to figure out which ones will work.

Last week's number one film falls to number six this weekend as the Chinese comedy Breakup Buddies earned $13 million. Considering that it has a running total of $141 million, that drop shouldn't be of too much concern to anyone involved.

The Equalizer continues to do solid business, earning $11.5 million to land in seventh place. The Denzel Washington franchise starter(?) has so far earned $57.1 million, which means that it should finish in the $80-$100 million range that previous Washington vehicles like Unstoppable, Inside Man, The Pelican Brief and Safe House achieved.

There's a big drop between seventh and eighth as new entry My Love, My Bride earned only $5 million. A romantic comedy remake of an earlier film of the same name, this one probably won't be making too many repeat appearances in the top ten in the weeks to come.

A film that could hang around, depending on whether or not its audience has outgrown its subject matter, is One Direction: Where We Are. The second (yes, second) concert documentary to focus on those lovable lads from Liverp- er, London slips in to ninth place this week after earning $5 million from 26 territories. The first One Direction concert documentary, This Is Us, earned $39.6 million internationally last year, something which Where We Are could achieve, but I'm a little doubtful. While they're still fairly big, pop phenomenons tend to have relatively short periods of intense popularity, and it feels like we're well past peak One Direction at this point. Hell, we might have been past the peak when This Is Us came out.

Bang Bang, the fairly successful Bollywood remake of Knight & Day, rounds out the top ten this week. The reboot that no one realized they needed, even though it makes a lot of sense when you think about the tone of the original film, earned $4.7 million and has $35.8 million to date. Here's hoping that other countries jump on the trend of remaking under-performing Tom Cruise vehicles. I for one can't wait to see what the Romanian version of Edge of Tomorrow looks like, even though I suspect it would consist of the Cruise character dying once and never being seen again.