GI Joe: The Rise of the Cobra has enjoyed one of the top August openings for a non-sequel by shooting past the $100 million mark internationally.

The film, which was simultaneously released in a number of countries on Friday (August 7, 2009), took $56.2 million in America and $44 million in other territories, including the UK.

The film, based on another Hasbro toyline (like Transformers), hadn’t been shown to critics in America prior to its release, but pulled in $22.3 million on its first day alone – also the highest opening for an August non-sequel.

Paramount had decided against showing it to journalists in the US because of the critical bashing that Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen received ahead of its release.

They were confident that the Stephen Sommers-directed blockbuster would perform well with the demographic it targeted and didn’t want any pre-release damage to be created by press negativity.

The film stars an international cast, including Sienna Miller, Dennis Quaid and Chaning Tatum, and follows the fortunes of a covert group of soldiers who must unite to prevent an evil arms dealer and a secret organisation from unleashing a catastrophic weapon across the globe.

Another strong US opener was cooking comedy Julie & Julia, which took an estimated $20.1 million. The film marks the second on-screen pairing between Meryl Streep and Amy Adams this year, following their Oscar nominated turn in Doubt.

But holiday-makers in peril thriller A Perfect Getaway – which debuts in UK cinemas this Friday – performed modestly, grossing an estimated $5.8 million and coming in seventh at the box office.

Read our coverage of GI Joe

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