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Between Cannes and the Toronto International Film Festival, Agora cooked up a good deal of praise, and a lot of speculation that it would struggle at the box office and most likely not make back its price tag. It wasn't exactly unwarranted guessing -- the film had one of the biggest budgets for a European production, costing 50 million euros ($73 million). But so far, so good.

The Hollywood Reporter posts that after getting released on Friday in Spain, Alejandro Amenabar's epic has grabbed the top earning spot for Spanish films after only 4 days, and the best opening weekend for 2009. So far, the film has earned roughly $10.4 million, dethroning Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs for the #1 spot. In fact, it only missed the all-time high by $.3 million -- an honor held by Torrente 3: El Protector. THR says this comes after "an unusually aggressive advertising campaign," but even with that, this is an impressive feat.

Rachel Weisz's new Roman epic Agora has become a phenomenon in director Alejandro Amenabar's native Spain - it is the country's biggest film of the year after just four days of release.

Movie fans flocked to the cinema over the weekend to see the film, which has taken in more than $10.3 million (£6.8 million) since it was released on Friday.

It's the second-highest opening for a film in Spain ever - only 2005's Torrente 3: El Protector had a better start, with a $10.6 million (£7 million) opening.

Madrid -- Alejandro Amenabar's Egyptian epic "Agora" became this year's top-grossing local film after only four days and snagged the top spot for 2009's best opening weekend at the Spanish boxoffice.

Released by Fox on Friday, "Agora" earned €7 million ($10.4 million) in the first four days, thanks largely to a strong weekend that raked in €5.4 million ($8 million) with some 7 million tickets sold.

"Agora," which stars Rachel Weisz, displaces "Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs," the previous top opening weekend with €5.3 million ($7.8 million).

The film's strong opening leaves it shy of hitting the all-time high for a Spanish film's opening. Four years ago, Santiago Segura's "Torrente 3: El Protector" earned €7.2 million ($10.7 million) in the first three days.

The opening follows an unusually aggressive advertising campaign for Spain, spearheaded by broadcaster Telecinco, which saw its film branch Telecinco Cinema co-produce the film with Fernando Bovaira's Mod Producciones and Amenbar's Himenoptero.

Focus Features International holds international rights.

In staggered release patterns typical of the early fall season, a batch of dissimilar entries topped the boxoffice charts over the weekend in scattered countries throughout the world. The Aardman Animations-DreamWorks Animation team-up (via United International Pictures release) on Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit conquered the U.K. in a preview kickoff; Miramax's The Brothers Grimm hit the top in France and Germany; Sony's The Exorcism of Emily Rose was No. 1 in Italy; Buena Vista International's Flightplan ruled Mexico, Taiwan and Argentina; UIP's The 40-Year-Old Virgin commanded Australia; and Sony's Stealth made it to the peak in Japan. Local-language films also played a part in the diffused overseas boxoffice results. Spain's Torrente 3: El Protector held the No. 1 position for a second week; Brazil's The Two Children of Francisco captained the home market for the eighth week in a row; and Korea's The Most Beautiful Week in My Life led the local chart in its opening round.

Local-language films, a significant contributor to the health of the overseas boxoffice, are making an exceptional comeback after receiving part of the blame for the decline of the overseas boxoffice in the first six months of this year. Although the mainstream family attraction Charlie and the Chocolate Factory topped the offshore market for a fourth week in a row ($11.4 million from 54 countries), homegrown entries -- led by Spanish record-breaker Torrente 3: El Protector -- either dominated or were high on boxoffice charts in Europe, Latin America and Asia. Torrente 3, the third in a series of comedies about a terrible detective, opened in Spain to $8.6 million from 696 screens, hailed by distributor United International Pictures as the biggest opening in Spanish boxoffice history. It beat the bows of Shrek 2 ($7.28 million) and Star Wars: Episode III -- Revenge of the Sith ($7.31 million), according to UIP.

Local-language films, a significant contributor to the health of the overseas boxoffice, are making an exceptional comeback after receiving part of the blame for the decline of the overseas boxoffice in the first six months of this year. Although the mainstream family attraction Charlie and the Chocolate Factory topped the offshore market for a fourth week in a row ($11.4 million from 54 countries), homegrown entries -- led by Spanish record-breaker Torrente 3: El Protector -- either dominated or were high on boxoffice charts in Europe, Latin America and Asia. Torrente 3, the third in a series of comedies about a terrible detective, opened in Spain to $8.6 million from 696 screens, hailed by distributor United International Pictures as the biggest opening in Spanish boxoffice history. It beat the bows of Shrek 2 ($7.28 million) and Star Wars: Episode III -- Revenge of the Sith ($7.31 million), according to UIP.

MADRID -- Santiago Segura's Torrente 3: El Protector broke Spanish opening weekend records grossing more than €7.2 million from 1,380,000 ticket sales. Featuring politically incorrect private detective Torrente, the movie, which opened Friday, Sept. 30, on 465 screens, unseated previous record holder Star Wars: Episode III, which took €6.1 million (495 screens). Torrente 3 is written, directed, produced and stars Segura, whose production house Amiguetes Entertainment produced the film. UIP holds Spanish distribution rights. Torrente 2 grossed more than €22 million in 2001 and the first Torrente, which set box office records in its day, took $707,000.