Cinefantastique Online

Variety reports that THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL is doing “solid if not spectacular” business in Europe:

The Keanu Reeves starrer met or bettered expectations in its launch in Germany, France, Spain, Italy and the U.K. and came in over projections in actioner-hungry Russia where it bagged $5.6 million, an overseas best. The upbeat results were impressive given the fact that Europeans flocked to the shops en masse this weekend to buy Christmas presents.

Also doing well are holdovers MADAGASCAR 2: ESCAPE TO AFRICA and BOLT. Not doing quite so well is TWLIGHT, which took a steep dive in its sophomore session overseas:

Something of a surprise was the steep soph sesh drop-off for vampire romancer “Twilight,” which took it in the neck with a 58% drop. “Somebody put a stake in its heart,” kidded one booker.