"Compensating for a disappointing domestic performance, ""The Island"" won its third straight foreign box office crown with $9.7 million at more than 4,800 screens in 48 markets during a moderate weekend.

Michael Bay's sci-fi actioner crossed the $100 million milestone in offshore grosses.

The solid foreign returns for ""The Island,"" starring Ewan McGregor and Scarlett Johansson, underscore the growing importance of international markets to support big-budget studio tentpoles. Foreign cume for ""The Island,"" handled offshore by Warner Bros., has hit $101.6 million -- nearly triple the $35 million Stateside gross for DreamWorks.

""The Island"" led in launches in Italy, Greece and Sweden, while its soph sesh in France and third frame in Mexico topped those markets. Top contribution came from France, with $2.2 million at 640 playdates for a 38% drop and a $7 million cume.

Italian moviegoers opted for ""The Island"" with $1.65 million at 332 sites to rank ahead of the launch of ""Herbie: Fully Loaded"" and ""Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo."" The Greek opening of $506,000 at 73 surpassed ""Batman Begins"" by 4%, while Sweden debuted with $320,600 at 88.

""The Island"" has delivered a spectacular $20.9 million in South Korea, where the film opened day-and-date with the domestic release six weeks ago. Other key markets have tallied solid numbers: $8.1 million in Spain, $7.7 million in the U.K., $7.6 million in Germany and $5.2 million in Mexico.

""The Island"" looks likely to remain a factor overseas for several more frames: It opens next weekend in the Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary and Turkey. The combo of its solid offshore take in the wake of its downbeat domestic perf mirrors another recent big-budget actioner, Oliver Stone's ""Alexander,"" which took in $34 million domestically and $133 million overseas.

The weekend represented the third straight session that ""The Island"" topped Warner's family powerhouse ""Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,"" which grossed a still-tasty $7.7 million at 3,500-plus screens in 39 markets. Tim Burton's fantasy-comedy has cumed $126.8 million overseas for a worldwide total of $324 million.

by Dave McNary for /www.variety.com"">Variety."