'Real Steel' shows B.O. metal

'Real Steel'Not pulling any punches, DreamWorks' robo-Rocky "Real Steel," with Disney handling worldwide distribution, topped the global box office with an estimated $49.4 million, of which $22.1 million came from 19 overseas territories, including No. 1 postings in Australia, Mexico and Russia. Domestically, the film's $27.3 million opening take was more than enough to win the weekend, beating Sony's political thriller "The Ides of March," which bowed at $10.4 million through Sunday. The debut pics helped push both Disney and Sony past the $1 billion mark in 2011 year-to-date domestic totals (Paramount and Warner Bros., respectively, were first to hit that mark earlier this summer). In a global market dominated lately by holdovers, "Real Steel" marks the first opening title to nab Stateside bragging rights in four weeks since "The Lion King" bowed to No. 1 on Sept. 16. More notably, however, the DreamWorks pic managed to unseat Sony's eight-week overseas B.O. champ, "The Smurfs," which grossed this weekend an estimated $7.3 million for a whopping $393.4 million cume outside the U.S. Universal's "Johhny English Reborn" came close to winning, with an estimated weekend take of $21.3 million; pic has cumed $61.3 million overseas. The weekend's No. 3 domestic title, Warner Bros.' "Dolphin Tale," held well, down only 37% in its third frame for an estimated weekend gross of $9.2 million. Pic has cumed $49.1 million. Meanwhile, Sony's Brad Pitt starrer "Moneyball" followed in B.O. standing, with a projected $7.5 million, bringing the film's domestic tally to $49.3 million. Both "Moneyball" and "Dolphin Tale" have been playing nicely to their core adult and family audiences, respectively. Overall, the weekend saw a slight bump over the same sesh last - up a reported 3%. In limited release, IFC's "Human Centipede 2: Full Sequence" sold out Friday and Saturday midnight screenings in NY and L.A., with 16 additional locations playing the pic during late-night only showtimes. The film averaged $3,000 per screen, estimating a total weekend gross of $54,000. Emilio Estevez's "The Way," from Producers Distribution Agency, also bowed limited for a per-screen average of $4,012 from 33 engagements. In total, pic earned an estimated $132,411. Reel 'Steel'? Increased traffic among families likely boosted weekend prospects for "Real Steel," with added opening power from fanboy auds. In fact, Imax reported for "Real Steel" a share of $3.2 million, which reps 12% of the film's total domestic bow. Globally, "Real Steel" grossed $4.4 million from Imax, or roughly 9% of the pic's worldwide gross. In Russia, the film earned $6.9 million, followed by Australia, where it opened to $5.3 million, with Mexico contributing $2.9 million. The question now for "Real Steel" is whether it can leg out well enough to become profitable. After disappointing B.O. returns for "Cowboys and Aliens" and "Fright Night," DreamWorks has a lot riding on "Real Steel" to be commercially viable (though "The Help," with a current domestic cume of $162.7 million, certainly provided a nice cushion for the company). And while "Real Steel" is not terribly costly - budgeted at around $110 million after tax rebates, according to Disney - the film was marketed as a sizeable early fall tentpole. Dave Hollis, exec VP of theatrical exhibition sales and distribution at Disney, said he is confident the film will play. "Competitively, I think we're going to be an option for everybody in the weeks to come," Hollis said. Sony's "Ides" is less of a financial gamble, costing approximately $12 million and fully financed by Cross Creek Pictures. Sony acquired only U.S. rights to the film last November. As expected, "Ides" played best on the coasts, but also saw solid perfs from markets including Cincinnati and Houston, both of which had locations among the film's top 20 engagements. Contact Andrew Stewart at andrew.stewart@variety.com