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Cinegoers make date with disaster film "2012"

Monday, November 16, 2009 LOS ANGELES: Disaster swept the world during the weekend as the apocalyptic movie "2012" registered the biggest opening for a non-franchise movie.The latest calamity epic from "Independence Day" director Roland Emmerich sold $225 million worth of tickets globally, distributor Columbia Pictures said on Sunday.Moviegoers in the United States and Canada chipped in $65 million, at the high end of bullish industry forecasts.The foreign tally of $160 million came from 105 countries, led by France with $17.2 million, Russia with $15.3 million and Emmerich's native Germany with $12.4 million. It opens in Japan next weekend.Columbia, a unit of Sony Corp, said "2012" recorded the highest worldwide opening ever for an original film not based on an established franchise, brand or best-selling novel.In overall worldwide terms, it ranks at No. 9, behind pictures from such franchises as "Harry Potter," "Spider-Man" and "Star Wars," as well as the adaptation of "The Da Vinci Code." The record of $394 million was set in July by "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.""2012," which cost about $200 million to make, uses the Mayan calendar and other end-of-days prophecies to depict the world's demise courtesy of a solar meltdown. Critics were predictably skeptical.The studio had been hoping for a worldwide opening in the $150 million range, said Rory Bruer, Columbia's president of worldwide distribution.
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