BURBANK, Calif., March 22, 2004 – Walt Disney Pictures’ “Brother Bear” became the 16th animated title distributed by The Walt Disney Company to surpass $200 million in global box office receipts, this past weekend, it was announced by Dick Cook, Chairman of the Walt Disney Studios.
In achieving these results, “Brother Bear” generated more than $85 million in the North American marketplace and to date almost $116 million internationally.
Propelling this international achievement figure were exceptional performances in numerous territories, led by Latin America, where “Brother Bear” has generated almost $25 million thus far. The film is the eleventh most popular animated title of all time in that region, and the fifth best performer ever released during the Christmas holiday period. Key to these Latin America results was the outstanding performance in Mexico where “Brother Bear” has registered almost $14 million to date, positioning it as the sixth biggest animated title of all time and the second best performing animated title ever released during the Christmas period.
European regional results have been exceptional as well, with “Brother Bear” posting more than $70 million in the region as a whole. Top contributors to these ongoing results have been France, where the film has generated close to $24 million thus far, and Scandinavia, where it was the dominant family attraction for the month of February. “Brother Bear” reigned as the number one title in Sweden for four weeks in a row, resulting in almost $13 million in box office to date, and became the highest grossing release ever for any animated title released in the February time frame.
Looking forward, “Brother Bear” continues to post exemplary results in Italy, where it has generated almost $7 million to date. This past weekend’s debut in German-speaking territories attained blockbuster levels. In Germany, “Brother Bear” earned $4.7 million from 740 sites, ranking as the dominant title for the release period and posting an initial weekend result that positions it as the fourth highest animated film in dollars in territory history.
In commenting on the stellar “Brother Bear” global performance, Cook said, “The acceptance of ‘Brother Bear’ by the global theatrical marketplace is a tribute not only to the creative force of the Disney animation team, but also to our distribution and marketing executives worldwide as well. The appealing, classic nature of this traditional Disney property, coupled with the marketing and distribution expertise has helped propel ‘Brother Bear’ to these levels around the world.”