There’s nothing quite like a hot movie to reinvigorate movie going and Ice Age: The Meltdown needn’t have worried about a chilly reception. The very animated sequel arrived with an estimated $69.3 million that sent revenues and attendance airborne. The film also added $43 million from international bows. The competition was pallid using the Ice Age 2 yardstick but the urban drama ATL had a very good $12.2 million debut to rank third while the horror yarn Slither eked by with $3.8 million and Basic Instinct 2 undressed a flimsy $3.2 million. There was also an impressive two-screen opening for the American indie Brick.

Expectations were high for Ice Age: The Meltdown but few expected the tale of bygone critters to debut more than 20% better than its inspiration’s $45 million premiere weekend. According to sources at Fox the difference in the bounty appeared to come from an unexpected high turnout from adults that were going without children in tow. “It’s not the film you’d earmark as a date movie,” said Fox distribution president Bruce Snyder. “But with these type of numbers and the preliminary exit polls we have to conclude it’s playing to a very broad audience.

The opening was better than any other first quarter non-holiday bow with the sole exception of The Passion of the Christ.And international debuts replicated and topped domestic performance. It’s headed for the best debut ever in Mexico and the biggest animated opening in Russia.

Ice Age 2 accounted for close to half of weekend ticket sales that should reach about $145 million. It propelled revenues skyward by 35% from the prior weekend and exceeded 2005 by 38%. A year ago the marketplace leaders were freshmen entries Sin City and Beauty Shop that respectively grossed $29.1 million and $12.8 million.

Curiosity rather than anticipation marked the debuts of other entries. Obviously programmed as adult alternatives, most found few nibblers. Both ATL and Slither targeted the teen crowd but creepy worms failed to spark much interest. The tale from the hood fared considerably better with a rather potent theater average of $7,640. However, this type of film tends to have a brief theatrical life with precipitous drops in interest.

Long in development, Basic Instinct 2 suffered from an absence of interest in continuing the yarn. Plagued by an inability to attract a prominent male lead, the critics were less than kind to the sequel and the audience got the message.

Activity in the niches was fairly brisk with the high school whodunit Brick drawing in near capacity crowds that translated into about $92,600 from just two theaters. There was also a sturdy single screen bow of $17,400 for the documentaryDrawing Restraint 9.

Local entry La Rage de l’Ange faired well in Quebec with more than $90,000 from 25 venues but the remaining limited releases ranged from fair to poor. The gay-themed comedy Adam & Steve had no more than a commercial chuckle of $68,700 from 18 screens and Marilyn Hotchkiss’ Ballroom Dancing tripped but not the light fantastic with $78,300 at 38 engagements. The rock doc Awesome: I … Shot That lived up to its title in reverse $15,200 from 18 stands.

– by Leonard Klady

Top Canadian Grossers: January 1 – March 30, 2006

Domestic Market Share: January 1 – March 30, 2006

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