2013 in Review: Box Office Hits and Misses Around the World

12:00 AM PST 1/3/2014 by THR Staff

Russia mined Stalingrad for box office gold, a Swedish biopic about a 1960s jazz singer hit number two on the charts and a politically-incorrect comedy about German school kids got top grades. But a Japanese remake of Unforgiven faced harsh retribution, the French had a rare off year and Australian audiences thought a promising new comedy just wasnt cricket. Here are the most surprising successes and shocking failures from international films this year.

Germany: School Comedy Fack Ju Gohte Does the Sums

For two years running, the director/actor team of helmer Bora Dagtekin and star Elyas MBarek has topped the German charts with politically incorrect comedies. Their follow up to 2012 hit Turkish for Beginners was the schooldays laffer Fack Ju Gohte that opened in November and was closing in on a $50 million gross just as German school kids take off for the Christmas holidays.

China: Finding Mr. Right Taps Mainlands New Rich

Low budget local language comedies continue to rule the Chinese box office and the breakout hit this year was romcom Finding Mr. Right, from director Xue Xiaolu. The $5 million feature pulled in $85.4 at the Chinese tills. Star Tang Wei, best known outside China for her role in Ang Lee's Lust, Caution, plays a city girl who is pure New China, a rich man's mistress obsessed with material wealth, who comes to Seattle to have her lover's baby.

Argentina: GOOOOOL for Campanellas Foosball

After winning the Oscar forThe Secret in Her Eyes, Argentine director Juan Jose Campanella tried something completely different: a 3D animated kids film about soccer. Foosball was a massive hit, scoring $14.2 million at the local box office, making it the countrys number three film, just behind Monsters Universityand Despicable Me 2.

India: Run Milka Run Finishes Strong

The sports biopic genre is only beginning to be tapped in Bollywood. Last year hit Paan Singh Tomar, about a champion athlete turned real-life bandit, was one of the first. But sports drama hit broke new records with Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra's Run Milkha Run, the story of Indian sprinter Milkha Singh, aka the Flying Sikh. Star Farhan Akhtar underwent grueling physical training to lend credibility to his performance which won over critics and audiences alike. Run Mikha Run easily crossed the coved film 1 billion rupee ($16.7 million) mark in general release.

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2013 in Review: Box Office Hits and Misses Around the World