10 Hollywood Blockbusters That Were Saved By The Overseas Box Office

Worldwide Box Office: $303 million (78.4% Overseas)

U.S. moviegoers and critics generally found the idea of an action movie based on the decades-old board game Battleship laughable. Even the movie’s better-than-predicted $65.4 million gross in the U.S. was far short of recouping the film's unbelievable $209 million budget.

Perhaps in anticipation of the cold reception in the U.S., Paramount began releasing the film internationally a month earlier beginning with Western Europe and Asia. That release model paid off, as Battleship had several strong openings including the third-highest opening ever in South Korea, where it ultimately grossed $14.6 million. Battleship grossed $48.3 million in China, $22 million in Russia, $18.1 million in Japan, and $6.4 million in Malaysia, leading to the movie amassing an international gross of $237.6 million.

While Battleship's $303 million worldwide gross likely didn't produce enough net income to make it profitable, it did keep the movie from becoming a total financial disaster. Nonetheless, don’t expect Paramount to make a sequel.