U.S. FILM RULES OVER FOREIGN BOX OFFICE : HOLLYWOOD HITS EARN MORE CASH OVERSEAS.

Byline: Janet Weeks Daily News Staff Writer

The old show-biz question was this: How will it play in Peoria?

Now studio executives are asking: How will it play in Pakistan, Paris and Peru?

Last year, for the first time in history, foreign box office receipts eclipsed domestic. Seven of the top-10 grossing films of 1996 made more money overseas than in the United States.

Some films, like 20th Century Fox's mega-hit ``Independence Day,'' hauled in considerably more pesetas, yen and drachmas than dollars - $306 million here and $494.6 million globally.

Industry analysts say the rise of the foreign box office is triggered by the building of multiplexes in Europe, Asia and Latin America, which is behind the United States in new theater construction by about 10 years.

What it means for American audiences, as the summer movie season fast approaches, is that we can expect big studios to produce ever more ``Mission: Impossibles'' - which grossed $181 million here and a whopping $273 million globally - and leave smaller, dialogue-heavy fare to the independents.

Trend to continue

The trend toward blockbusters will continue for several years, studio executives predict, as multiplexing spreads.

``All the indications are that by 10 years from now, the domestic market will make up only about a third of a film's box office,'' said Tony Manne, executive vice president of international marketing and distribution for Sony Pictures.

As foreign box office takes rise, so will the number of big-budget, big-action, big-star films produced by major studios.

``A traditional American action film - the sort of film traditionally Hollywood is good at making - is what the overseas market gobbles up,'' said Benedict Carver, West Coast editor of the trade magazine Screen International.

Indeed, the top five 1996 films internationally were all action-special effects spectaculars: ``Independence Day,'' ``Twister,'' ``Mission: Impossible,'' ``Ransom'' and ``The Rock.''

Of those films, ``Mission: Impossible'' stands out as a Hollywood product tailor-made for world dominance. Despite its mixed-to-negative reviews in the American press, which criticized its convoluted plot, it had all the elements that translate into a global smash:

Cutting-edge special effects, a bankable star (Tom Cruise), and a decidedly American flavor, despite the European backdrop.

Worldwide culture

``It's those American movies - `Independence Day,' `Jerry Maguire,' `Batman' - those are the movies that appeal to audiences around the world,'' Manne said. ``We don't make movies for the German or Brazilian market. We make the movies that are American because our culture is now a worldwide culture.

``Go to a shopping mall in Jakarta, Indonesia, and look at those kids, and you can't tell if you're in Asia or America. They've adopted our culture. The mall shops are all the same - Banana Republic and The Gap. There are McDonald's everywhere. That's the global culture.''

And with a budget of $64 million, ``Mission: Impossible'' is the kind of film that only a big Hollywood studio could make, which is one reason American films reign over the international market.

``Hollywood can spend $50 million or $100 million or $200 million on a film,'' explains Larry Gerbrandt, senior analyst with Paul Kagan Associates Inc., a research firm for entertainment industry investors. ``That's the entire film budget for some countries. So the fact is, we are able to make a class of films that nobody else can come close to touching.''

Similar characteristics

To make those big-budget films less risky, Hollywood looks for certain elements that will make them appealing globally, such as a bankable actor or state-of-the-art visuals.

Without such elements, a studio may decline to make a film. In other words, said Gerbrandt, the rise of the foreign box offices doesn't affect what films get made so much as what films won't get made.

For example, 20th Century Fox pulled out of ``The English Patient'' at the 11th hour after the film was cast without a big name. Reportedly, Fox wanted Demi Moore for one of the prominent female roles ultimately filled by Oscar-winner Juliet Binoche and Kristen Scott Thomas.

Why Demi Moore? One glance at the box office for ``Striptease'' tells the story. Panned by critics here, the comedy earned only $33 million domestically. But driven by Moore's international star power, it cleaned up overseas with $80 million.

``If you want a film to be successful globally, you make an American film with American stars,'' Carver said.

Wonder why Sylvester Stallone still commands eight-digit salaries after such domestic disappointments as ``The Specialist,'' ``Judge Dredd'' and ``Assassins''? Look at his last film, ``Daylight'': It grossed $31.8 million here and $85.4 million everywhere else.

Movies without big names can do well, too, if the effects are spectacular. ``Twister,'' which starred Helen Hunt and Bill Paxton, earned $252 million overseas ($241.7 million domestically) mostly because foreign audiences - like American - were entranced by flying farm equipment and wind-propelled cows.

``The movies that don't tend to do well overseas are those that are highly dependent on an actor's performance in his own tongue,'' Gerbrandt said.

For example, ``The Birdcage,'' a remake of a French film that succeeded on the subtly layered performances of Robin Williams, Nathan Lane and Hank Azaria, cleaned up at home with $124 million but earned only about half that internationally.

Multiplexes profitable

Yet even with the huge successes of ``Independence Day'' and others overseas, by far the most profitable export from Hollywood hasn't been a film so much as a concept: multiplexing.

Although multiscreen cinema complexes have dotted the American landscape for years, they are new to the rest of world. And in each area where they have been built, ticket sales have soared. To date, most of the activity has been centered in Europe, Asia and Latin America.

``In places like Italy, despite their love of film, theaters have been primitive compared to the U.S.,'' Gerbrandt said. Until recently, the summer season fizzled in the Mediterranean because theaters were not air conditioned, and it gets much too hot to sit in a windowless room, he said. That's changing now with the construction of multiplexes.

Multiplexes give Hollywood studios more than just places to exhibit films: The multiplexes themselves are being built by Warner Bros., Universal, Fox and Paramount.

Sony, too, soon will be entering the multiplexing arena, Manne said.

``We think it's a good idea also, but we haven't done it yet,'' he said. ``There are 5 billion people on this planet, and only 250 million of them live in the United States. The rest of the world is bigger.''

Despite the numbers, Hollywood has actually been slow to recognize the opportunities overseas, Carver said. The global market has been building for years, but Hollywood has only been catering to it recently, he said.

``It's not as if the foreign box office has suddenly eclipsed domestic,'' he said. ``It's been happening for quite a few years. But now that Hollywood has realized it, they're gunning as much as possible for the international box office.''

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