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MEXICO CITY – Mexico has a new box-office champ, and it took just two weeks to dethrone the previous record holder.
Eugenio Derbez‘s breakout comedy Instructions Not Included (No Se Aceptan Devoluciones) has raked in $28.6 million in Mexico, an impressive feat considering it took 17 weeks for former box-office leader We Are the Nobles to reach the $27 million mark.
Starring and directed by Derbez, who gained fame as a popular television personality, Instructions hit Mexican theaters on more than 1,500 screens. Though rare for a local production, the film is outperforming wide Hollywood releases such as Disney’s Planes and Sony’s Elysium.
STORY: ‘Instructions Not Included’ Top Spanish-Language Film of All Time in U.S.
The movie has also eclipsed Guillermo del Toro‘s Pan’s Labyrinth ($37.6 million) as the highest-grossing Spanish-language picture ever in the U.S.
Set in Acapulco and Los Angeles, the story focuses on a Mexican-born Hollywood stuntman’s relationship with his daughter. Derbez is sharing the box office love: he donated part of the movie’s earnings to victims of Hurricane Manuel in and around the Pacific coast resort town of Acapulco.
Pantelion is planning a similar dual-territory distribution strategy for the upcoming romantic comedy Pulling Strings, which bows in the U.S. on Oct. 18 and in Mexico on Nov. 8. The bilingual romantic comedy stars Jaime Camil and features appearances by Stockard Channing (Grease) and Laura Ramsey (Somewhere).
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