Weekend movie going was dominated by a couple of unusual females as the debuts of Big Momma’s House 2 and Nanny McPhee ranked first and second in box office sales with respective estimates of $27.4 million and $14 million. There was also a passable national bow for the military romance Annapolis and good limited bows for the Imax formatted Roving Mars and the Brit importTristram Shandy. However, there was no discernable pop for The Bubble.

While there was a slight 1% pop from the prior weekend’s box office, ticket sales dipped by 1% from 2005 when there was heavy Sunday competition from the Super Bowl.

The sequel to the surprise 2000 Martin Lawrence gender-bender comedy Big Momma’s House 2arrived with comparable force in its new incarnation. Pundits were anticipating a slightly lower result but buzz has been positive on the outrageous undercover yarn and its fan base has been solid. A potent second weekend hold bodes the possibility of a $100 million gross and based on the original’s performance internationally, sizeable foreign returns.

Already a huge success in the U.K. and doing well in a handful of overseas markets, the kid lit favorite Nanny McPhee also exceeded expectations. As in other territories, the presence of Emma Thompson has provided the film with an additional crossover appeal and its attention to detail and quality has been a real asset to providing better than average commercial legs.

Weekend sales approached about $125 million with about one-third of that figure coming from the top two films. However, while business appeared to be on par with last year, the absence of Super Bowl Sunday eased what would have been a more significant drop in attendance.

Echoes of An Officer and a Gentleman were present in Annapolis and that appeared to be enough to provide the film with an OK opening frame of $7.5 million. Still, it looks likely to experience sharp second weekend declines and make a hasty about face from theaters.

If current box office vitality proves to be any sort of bellwether for next week’s Academy Award announcements, Brokeback Mountain, Walk the Line, Capote, Syriana and Match Point can anticipate nominations in Oscar’s top category. However, while the awards always provide a commercial boost, the seeming victory of Brokeback may mute the box office benefit for other contenders. Academy attention is all that remains now for Munich and The New World to stave off the slow fade to black on domestic screens.

Activity in the niches was once again lively and eclectic. Rang de Basanti on the Bollywood circuit rang in with one of the best bows in the arena over the past six months, grossing close to $500,000 from 60 screens. Also literally big was the Imax venture Roving Mars that grossed about $380,000 from 27 venues and a surprisingly strong initial foray of about $58,000 for the very British Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story at three sites.

A number of other films including Manderlay and Imagine Me & You had good openings but the major focus for the frame was the bow of The Bubble at 32 theaters the same weekend as its cable debut and four-days ahead of its video release. The low-budget thriller grossed an estimated $72,300 for a $2,260 average. The result neither indicated a boost or decline in the picture’s theatrical potential and that minimally will provide this and other experiments with validation to work on a formula that works for producers, exhibitors and filmmakers in terms of windows releases.

– by Leonard Klady

Domestic Market Share: January 1 – 25, 2006

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