Gobi Tobi alerts us to some impressive box office numbers for AOTC. From Reuters:

Ticket sales for the new "Star Wars" movie were out of this world, racking up $183 million at box offices worldwide in the first four days of release. According to studio estimates issued on Sunday, "Star Wars: Episode II -- Attack of the Clones," grossed an estimated $116.3 million across the United States and Canada.

The foreign total for the Twentieth Century Fox release stands at $66.7 million from 74 other countries, said Bruce Snyder, president of distribution at the Fox Entertainment Group Inc. -owned studio.

After opening on Thursday with $30.1 million from 3,161 theaters across North America, the fifth movie in filmmaker George Lucas' long-running sci-fi adventure franchise added $86.2 million for the Friday-to-Sunday period.

The three-day weekend tally ranks at No. 3 among all-time new releases, behind "Spider-Man," which opened with a phenomenal $114.84 million two weeks ago, and "Harry Potter (news - web sites) and the Sorcerer's Stone" with $90.29 million last November.

"Clones" took four days to break $100 million, second only to "Spider-Man," which took three days in 3,615 theaters. The last "Star Wars" movie to hit theaters, "Star Wars: Episode I -- The Phantom Menace," a Wednesday opener in May 1999, took five days to reach the $100 million level. It earned $64.81 million in its first weekend, and ended up with $431.09 million -- No. 4 on the all-time list in North America.

'CLONES' ON FOREIGN OFFENSIVE
The Force was also strong overseas. In both Germany and Britain, "Attack of the Clones" set a studio record for Fox, and each ranked as the No. 2 opener of all time, Snyder said.

Fox, which is distributing the film by arrangement with Lucas' privately held Lucasfilm Ltd., opted to synchronize the international rollout because some foreign fans were a little impatient waiting for the film to reach them last time around, said Gordon Radley, president of Lucasfilm.

And Panos alerts us to the following from boxofficemojo.com:

George Lucas and 20th Century Fox may not have expected to shatter any records with the latest installment of the most popular franchise in movie history, but that's exactly what they did. Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones blasted off with $183 million from its unprecedented worldwide launch over the weekend ending May 19, while Spider-Man, About a Boy and others not only survived but thrived under the shadow of the digital epic.

Playing on approximately 6,100 screens at 3,161 theaters across North America, Attack of the Clones pulled in an estimated $86,150,000 over the weekend, the third biggest opening ever after Spider-Man's $114,844,116 and Harry Potter and the Sorcerer Stone's $90,294,621.

Unlike those pictures, though, the Clones eased some of its demand with its unusual Thursday bow, delivering a new weekday record of $30,141,417. Add that to the weekend haul and the $115 million prequel has raced to an estimated $116,291,000 in just four days, making it the second fastest movie ever behind Spider-Man to cross the century mark and topping The Phantom Menace's five-day sprint. The tally is even enough to rank as the 172nd highest grossing picture of all time.

Breaking the weekend down, Clones eased 16.4% on Friday to $25.2 million, then jumped 28% to $32.25 million on Saturday, and Fox is projecting an 11.0% dip to $28.7 million on Sunday, the studio's executive vice president and general sales manager Rick Myerson said. Myerson noted that part of the reason for the strong Sunday hold is that Canada will be celebrating Victoria Day on Monday, making Sunday behave like a Saturday there -- much the same way Memorial Day affects the United States. There's also historical precedent from The Phantom Menace.

Three years ago, The Phantom Menace drew in $18,467,513 on its first Friday and third day of release, playing on around 5,500 screens at 2,970 theaters. It enjoyed a 32.2% bump-up on Saturday to $24,414,123, and then fell just 10.2% on Sunday to $21,929,334. That added up to a $64,810,970 weekend, the second biggest opening ever at the time. It ended its run at $431,088,297, a total that stands as the fourth highest of all time.

If the weekend estimate holds, Clones will have followed a nearly identical pattern to Menace, as both movies' first Friday equaled about 29% of the opening weekend. If it continues to follow Menace's trend, Clones will meet its goal of being more of a marathon runner than a sprinter, especially with Memorial Day weekend imminent. Menace slowed just 21% on the same frame to $51,399,863, and it added $15,504,435 on the Monday holiday itself for a four-day weekend tally of $66,904,298 that exceeded its opening by 3%.

Clones actually scored higher marks in exit polls of moviegoers than The Phantom Menace did, according to Myerson. CinemaScore, which polls opening night audiences, corroborates this as Clones received an overall A- grade and was higher in all categories except males under the age of 21, which it matched. For those thinking that Star Wars only appeals to fan boys, males under the age of 25 rated Clones just 5% better on average than their female counterparts, Myerson said. Overall, 44% of the PG-rated adventure's audiences were families. The remaining 56% skewed male (58%) and over the age of 25 (65%).

On Thursday and Friday, Clones stormed 74 territories around the world, mostly in Europe, Asia, the Middle East and Africa, and is estimated by Fox to have raked in $66.7 million through Sunday. If that number holds, it would go down as the biggest international weekend ever, topping the $62.3 million that Harry Potter conjured in early December of last year.

The force is with the Clones! Visit the link above for more.