The Germans Love ‘Valkyrie’!

The debate over Valkyrie’s box-office viability has tempered since its plunge from the post-holiday Top 10. But while it’s barely broken even at home, it managed a stunning Euro groundswell over the weekend.

The thriller padded its $US80 million domestic gross with another $US13.2 million overseas, led by Col. Claus von Stauffenberg’s loyal and/or curious German countrymen, who delivered $US3.4 million of that total. (We can’t explain the South Korean aid package, however, which amounted to $US2.7 million.) Better news for United Artists: The film opens in another 13 territories next weekend. The downside: A good number of them, including Russia, France and Spain, were pre-sold to foreign distributors, thus downgrading the venerable studio’s economic forecast from the robust “Eat shit, Roger Friedman” to the decidedly more modest “January payroll should clear.” All things considered, we think they’ll take it.

• ‘Valkyrie’ tops foreign box office [Variety]