It pays to make sequels in Hollywood. Fox has become the first studio this year to cross the billion dollar mark in film revenue earned outside the US.

Two sequels Ice Age 2 and X Men 3 helped achieve this result. A report in Hollywood Reporter states that Ice Age 2 has made $441 million. This is more than double the $192 million made in the US.

X Men 3 made $160.1 million, the Oscar winner Walk the Line made $64.8 million. Even the critically lambasted The Pink Panther made a decent $64.3 million. In the pipeline for the studio are potential box office hits including a Garfield sequel and a Meryl Streep film The Devil Wears Prada.

It is the second year in a row that Fox has been the first studio to hit the billion dollar mark abroad. Last year, the Star Wars movie helped it cross the mark. Meanwhile, Sony Pictures has made over $800 million, mainly due the critically panned The Da Vinci Code.