As was reported back in January Paramount Pictures was planning to take the “Captain America” out of Captain America: The First Avenger in deference to foreign sensibilities that are not always favorably disposed to Uncle Sam. This week Paramount made the rather startling announcement that the truncated title will only be employed in three countries, Russia, Ukraine, and South Korea. This less-than-expected number of modifications testifies to the strength of the Marvel character’s brand. According to The New York Times, Paramount’s overseas partners in most territories wouldn't hear of eliminating "Cap" from the title, saying that the character had too much brand value, even in countries like France where trashing America (and the occasional McDonald’s) is a way of life for a not insignificant percentage of the population.
The First Avenger’s World War II setting with Cap taking on the heinous Nazis should help overcome any aversion to Team America in most territories, though not in Russia or the Ukraine where the citizenry feels (with some justification) that they have never received their full due for their key role in defeating the Nazis. Still Captain America, who wears the red, white, and blue not just on his sleeve but all over his body, is the most nationally identified of all the major superheroes, which could present identification problems for overseas audiences, which are increasingly important to Hollywood, since the overseas box office is growing at the same time that domestic DVD revenues are sinking. So box office analysts are going to be watching the foreign grosses for Captain America very closely, and how the film performs overseas will be crucial in determining whether there will be any standalone Captain America sequels, since it is doubtful that even a sterling domestic showing would yield enough coin to justify extending the expensive franchise, if foreign audiences largely shun the film.
No one expects that Captain America will do anything like Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, which was the worst performing of all 4 POC movies here in the North America (by a substantial 23%), yet is likely to be the highest grossing film in the series thanks to overseas audiences, which accounted for a whopping 77% of the film’s total. But take a look at this summer two other Marvel Comics-based releases both of which earned substantially more outside of North America than in the friendly confines of the U.S. and Canada. Thor brought in 60% of its worldwide total overseas, while X-Men: First Class has done 58.4% of its business outside of North America. The question of how Captain America fares with foreign audiences is not academic. For the cinematic future of the character in stand-alone productions, it’s existential.
