By now Universal Pictures top brass will have resigned themselves to the fact that Robin Hood has failed to hit the target in North America after two weeks. Admittedly, a fortnight isn't a long time in the grand scheme of things; however, it can represent a critical window of opportunity at the box office that, if squandered, can never be reclaimed.

To date, the Ridley and Russell reunion tour has coaxed a mere $66.1m (£46m) from audiences across the pond. That's small change for a tentpole release these days – especially one that reportedly cost $200m – and Robin Hood will do well to creep past $100m before the theatrical cycle comes to a close. But studio heads know that even when a movie disappoints in the domestic market, they can, if the circumstances are right, rely on the international arena to prop it up.

That usually means having a universal, well-executed story with recognisable cast. Comedies, for example, are notoriously poor travellers because of cultural differences. The way the studios see it, everybody responds to a gun and a girl, but not everybody will get a gag. So something like MacGruber (see chart below), the US comedy that opened poorly over the weekend and is based on a sketch known only to Saturday Night Live aficionados, would appear to be dead in the water.

But if you've got an action movie directed by Ridley Scott that boasts a firmament of international stars like Russell Crowe, Cate Blanchett, veteran William Hurt and the darkly charismatic Mark Strong, you'll fancy your chances overseas. Universal's international distribution machine has drummed up $125m for Robin Hood so far, and that's in line with the received wisdom that a major studio release tends to gross two-thirds of its worldwide total outside North America.