By Leonard Klady Klady@moviecitynews.com
Ek Static!
Though it couldn’t unseat Meet the Fockers, the Sixth Sense clone White Noise was a very honorable second place with a $24 million debut in a generally upbeat frame. Noise was the sole national opener but the span included limited expansions of both National Society of Film Critics winner Million Dollar Baby and Hotel Rwanda that should provide that all important Oscar consideration.
Fockers continued to hold sway with a weekend estimate of $28.7 million that propelled the picture past a $200 million domestic cume. Its 31% decline was comparatively hearty, bucking the trend that the bigger they are, the harder they fall.
White Noise was expected to gross in the high teens but easily exceeded advance word and a perceived cynicism about early year releases. The Michael Keaton thriller about communication with the dead is still likely to play out quickly but with an eventual tally in excess of initial projections.
The first weekend of 2005 should ring in with slightly more than $120 million for a 12% faster start than last year. It’s a considerable boost in light of the tepid holiday frame that had both distribution and exhibition in the doldrums.
Holdover titles almost uniformly experienced drops between 30% and 40%. One not unexpected sharper decline was The Polar Express. Its 64% erosion is historically in keeping with holiday-themed movies moving into the New Year and would have been even more extreme save for a continuing potency in large format 3-D engagements.
Cited as best picture of the year by the National Society, Million Dollar Baby added 100 theaters to its initial nine engagements and maintained a very sturdy average of $17,900. There remains concern in the industry that the dark nature of the story will limit its commercial potential and its next expansion won’t occur until Jan. 28, following the announcement of Oscar nominees. Baby is expected to figure prominently in the Academy Awards while Hotel Rwanda is nervously on the cusp of final ballot mentions. Nonetheless Rwanda had a very impressive expansion similar to the Eastwood picture that translated into a $10,800 engagement average.
Also adding playdates in hopes of at least securing acting nominations were The Woodsman and The Assassination of Richard Nixon. The bar isn’t particular set high in terms of commercial expectations for either of these dark, brooding dramas with the former showing more modest muscle. In either case award attention would be a box office asset and a hedge against early expiration.
In Good Company, the light drama about contemporary corporate politics, held rock steady buoyed by strong revues with close to $150,000 from three venues. It expands to 1,500 theaters next weekend.
The session was light on specialized openers with the documentary Hitler’s Hit Parade off to a very good start with an $11,000 gross at New York’s Film Forum and Travelers and Musicians also faring well with $8,800 also from a single screen.
