-By Carl DiOrio

AMSTERDAM -- Two of this summer's biggest hits illustrate the lucrative possibilities of day-and-date film releasing -- as well as its limits.

Sony greenlighted its Tom Hanks starrer "Angels & Demons" -- based on author Dan Brown's less well-known follow-up to "The Da Vinci Code" -- specifically because of its international expectations. Staging a simultaneous worldwide bow in May, the results haven't disappointed: "Angels" has soared to more than $320 million internationally, combining with a more earthbound $125 million in domestic boxoffice.

"The world has become so small, and a film like 'Angels & Demons' is able to tap into a worldwide audience," said Sony worldwide distribution president Rory Bruer, who's here this week for the annual Cinema Expo confab. "But you have to look at what's best for the picture."

Indeed, though execs at all studios now routinely scrutinize foreign boxoffice projections when developing projects and planning campaigns, one need look no further than this summer's "Terminator Salvation" to realize there will always be films that elude easy alignment around the world. Warner Bros. unspooled the iconic sci-fi sequel Stateside on May 21, but Sony -- which holds most foreign rights on "Salvation" -- held it back a couple weeks in most foreign territories to allow "Angels" a more open playing field.

"Salvation" appears headed beyond $200 million internationally, so it's hard to see where the delay hurt its worldwide haul.

On an industrywide basis, domestic and international receipts now roughly even out. But "Angels" shows how disproportionately lucrative foreign campaigns can be, while Paramount's sci-fi reboot of "Star Trek" -- a $235 million domestic grosser that's done just half as much business internationally -- shows how individual films still can defy glib generalizations,

Still, a growing global trend is clearly afoot.

"There certainly isn't going to be as much growth domestically as there is going to be internationally in the years ahead," Bruer noted. "Russia and the Eastern block countries are just exploding; Asia as well and even the Middle East. There's also some growth in Africa."

Among other generally held beliefs: Big stars and big concepts do particularly well overseas, representing prime candidates for day and date releasing; comedies, not so much.

In fact, more modestly budgeted pics in a range of genres are less likely to see simultaneous domestic and international openings. It's harder to get dates synched up around the world for smaller films, because distributors need to be careful of running into recently launched tentpoles.

Budget considerations aside, sci-fi is perhaps the genre most likely to see a date-and-date global bow, because such pics seem at risk of cyber piracy.

Family films may be the least likely genre to get the day-and-date treatment.

"Family films need a corridor -- you want the kids out of school and the parents available," Warners international distribution president Veronika Kwan-Rubinek said. "There are different corridors in different countries, due to school holidays and so forth."

Yet even among family-oriented pics, tentpoles such as Warners' July 15 opener "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" are going to get global bows, she noted.

Fox will release its 3-D animated feature "Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs" in most countries around the world within a day or so of its July 1 domestic bow. Getting 3-D screens in place has been a challenge.

"The deployment of 3-D screens is far less internationally than it is domestically." Fox international distribution co-topper Paul Hanneman noted.

Fox expects to have 1,500-2,000 3-D screens in place for "Dawn," spread among 11,000 international screens set to play the movie.

Even with more conventional films, Europe occasionally has been a regional challenge for day-and-day campaign as locals have tended to opt for beach holidays over cinema outings -- a cultural distinction still well in evidence in Italy. But these days, competition from outdoor activities is primarily a problem only in May and early June, Fox international co-topper Tomas Jegeus said.

"In Sweden, the minute you get anything approximating 65 degrees Fahrenheit, people want to go outside!" he noted.

Meantime, for all the recent momentum toward global releasing, worldwide events such as the Summer Olympics will continue to unsettle such planning at regular intervals.

In fact, few expect to see many ambitious day-and-date openings next June or July. That's when a global audience will be plopped in front of their televisions to watch soccer's World Cup.
-Nielsen Business Media