American Beauty had its European premiere at the London Film Festival on November 18 , 1999 ; in January 2000 , it began to screen in various territories outside North America . It debuted in Israel to " potent " returns , and limited releases in Germany , Italy , Austria , Switzerland , the Netherlands and Finland followed on January 21 . After January 28 opening weekends in Australia , the United Kingdom , Spain and Norway , American Beauty had earned $ 7 million in 12 countries for a total of $ 12 @.@ 1 million outside North America . On February 4 , American Beauty debuted in France and Belgium . Expanding to 303 theaters in the United Kingdom , the film ranked first at the box office with $ 1 @.@ 7 million . On the weekend of February 18 — following American Beauty 's eight nominations for the 72nd Academy Awards — the film grossed $ 11 @.@ 7 million from 21 territories , for a total of $ 65 @.@ 4 million outside North America . The film had " dazzling " debuts in Hungary , Denmark , the Czech Republic , Slovakia , and New Zealand .