By Leonard Klady Klady@moviecitynews.com
Dancing on the Parade
While the debate entering the weekend focused on how competitive the debut of World Trade Center would be with Talladega Nights: The Legend of Ricky Bobby, the innocuous teen dance drama Step Up took to the floor to complicate the picture. When the dust settled the order was clear: Talladega led with an estimated $22.6 million with Step Up close behind with $20.9 million and WTC trailing at $18.8 million.
The frame also featured an OK bow for the horror remake Pulse and a misfire for the kid adventureZoom. There was also a potent bow for the Bollywood entry Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna and strong response for the Sundance grad Half Nelson in limited release.
Following its huge premiere last weekend, Talladega Nights geared down by 52% and that was just enough to cross the finish line ahead of a very competitive pack. The race was so tight that had the Will Ferrell comedy dipped by 60% it would have ranked third for the current session. It’s grossed close to $91 million in 10 days of release with the century mark looming on Wednesday.
The appeal of Step Up wasn’t completely unnoticed. Universal, for instance, moved its teen comedyAccepted off the current weekend and into Snakes on a Plane’s departure date. It was the first choice Friday with an $8.5 million gross but saw Saturday’s business dip by 20 percent. TheFlashdance spawn and a carbon copy of Save the Last Dance’s story, the new film effectively tapped into a niche and mined it for gold … or at least silver.
World Trade Center got in ahead of the pack with a Wednesday opening that was just 2% behind Talladega. However, the early debut likely squandered the picture’s bragging rights as weekend leader. Nonetheless, considering both its intrinsic appeal and the resistance to the material by a sliver of the audience, it performed very well. Tracking that had suggested a sizeable youth appeal didn’t translate initially with exit polls revealing opening weekend crowds composed 65% of over 25s and not surprisingly a 55%/45% male/female split.
Already generating considerable buzz in advance of next weekend is Snakes on a Plane. While tracking remains soft, industry pundits are savvy to the fact that interest methodology is likely not picking up on the picture’s core audience. There was also surprise that Friday’s trade screening to exhibitors generated very positive response to a crowd not expected to connect strongly to the material.
Weekend business was expected to tally close to $145 million in sales for a 9% drop from last weekend. However, it was 7% better than 2005 when new releases Four Brothers and Skeleton Key led with respective grosses of $21.2 million and $16.1 million.
The year to date saw Disney exceed $1 billion at the box office on August 3 with Sony hitting that mark five days later and moving to the top of the market share chart on Friday. Fox is poised to join the club this month and 2006 could well become the first time all major studios see domestic revenues of 10 figures.
The Weinstein Co. decided not to press screen its Americanized version of the Japanese cult horror favorite Pulse. With or without critical support its $8.3 million opening swath reflected the base appeal that last weekend generated an $8.9 million preem for The Descent. The latter film saw its second weekend ebb by 52%.
While not precisely the straw that broke the camel’s back, Zoom found no room in the family friendly arena. It scraped together $4.5 million and joins a list of recent casualities that include The Ant Bully and, despite a good second weekend hold, Barnyard.
Expected to be a strong opener Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna opened to record domestic business for a Bollywood movie. Its 95 screens is also a new record and it marks the first time a picture on the circuit grossed in excess of $1 million in its first weekend. Also scoring in its niche is Bon Cop Bad Cop that held strong in its second weekend in Quebec with a $1 million gross that was 87% of its opening salvo.
The new specialized hero is definitely Little Miss Sunshine that roughly tripled its playdates and still had screen averages close to $17,000. The crucial test of its crossover appeal occurs next weekend when it expands from 153 to roughly 600 theaters. There’s definitely a positive industry consensus. A notch down but still impressive was the second round of Quinceanera that saw a 33% boost as it climbed from eight to 26 engagements.
Newbies in specialized saw a potent bow for Sundance-prized drama Half Nelson with a $53,700 gross from two screens. Results were just fair for Conversations with Other Women of $52,200 from 11 chat rooms and a $31,500 for The House of Sand (but no Fog) of $31,500 in five situations.
Weekend Estimates – August 11-13, 2006
| Title | Distributor | Gross (avg) | % chang | Theater | Cume |
| Talladega Nights | Sony | 22.6 (5,800) | -52% | 3897 | 90.8 |
| Step Up | BV | 20.9 (8,490) | – | 2467 | 20.9 |
| World Trade Center | Par | 18.8 (6,360) | – | 2957 | 26.6 |
| Barnyard | Par | 10.2 (3,070) | -36% | 3311 | 34.2 |
| Pulse | Weinstein Co. | 8.3 (3,580) | – | 2323 | 8.3 |
| Pirates of Caribbean: Dead Ma | BV | 7.2 (2,440) | -35% | 2941 | 392.4 |
| Zoom | Sony | 4.5 (1,810) | – | 2501 | 4.5 |
| Miami Vice | Uni | 4.5 (1,680) | -56% | 2659 | 55 |
| The Descent | Lions Gate | 4.2 (2,020) | -52% | 2095 | 17.2 |
| Monster House | Sony | 3.3 (1,370) | -45% | 2434 | 63.7 |
| John Tucker Must Die | Fox | 3.0 (1,370) | -51% | 2213 | 35.8 |
| Little Miss Sunshine | Fox Searchligh | 2.6 (16,860) | 74% | 153 | 5.6 |
| The Devil Wears Prada | Fox | 1.9 (1,660) | -38% | 1135 | 116.5 |
| You, Me and Dupree | Uni | 1.8 (1,350) | -50% | 1352 | 70.7 |
| Ant Bully | WB | 1.7 (860) | -56% | 2005 | 22.3 |
| The Night Listener | Miramax | 1.4 (1,030) | -60% | 1370 | 6.2 |
| Superman Returns | WB | 1.2 (1,570) | -45% | 750 | 192.5 |
| Little Man | Sony | 1.1 (1,210) | -57% | 892 | 57.2 |
| Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna | Yash Raj | 1.1 (11,140) | 95 | 1.1 | |
| Bon Cop Bad Cop | Alliance | 1.0 (7,420) | -17% | 132 | 3.3 |
| Scoop | Focus | 1.0 (2.000) | -47% | 486 | 8 |
| Lady in the Water | WB | .84 (730) | -69% | 1155 | 40.8 |
| Cars | BV | .56 (1,100) | -48% | 509 | 238.8 |
| Weekend Total ($500,000+ Films) | $136.16 | – | – | – | |
| % Change (Last Year) | – | 7% | – | – | – |
| % Change (Last Week) | – | -9% | – | – | – |
| Also debuting/expanding | |||||
| Quinceanera | Sony Classics | .13 (4,870) | 33% | 26 | 0.26 |
| Half Nelson | Thinkfilm | 53,700 (26,850) | – | 2 | 0.05 |
| Conversations With Other Wom | Fabrication | 52,200 (4,750) | – | 11 | 0.05 |
| The House of Sand | Sony Classics | 31,500 (6,300) | – | 5 | 0.03 |
| Waltzing Anna | Kindred | 6,240 (2,080) | – | 3 | 0.01 |
Domestic Market Share: January 1 – August 10, 2006
| Sony (20) | 1035.2 | 17.60% |
| Buena Vista (17) | 1020.1 | 17.30% |
| Fox (18) | 975.6 | 16.60% |
| Universal (14) | 645.2 | 11.00% |
| Warner Bros. (15) | 612.3 | 10.40% |
| Paramount (11) | 565.2 | 9.60% |
| Weinstein Co. (9) | 192.3 | 3.30% |
| Lions Gate (13) | 181.6 | 3.10% |
| Focus (9) | 130.1 | 2.20% |
| New Line (7) | 119.3 | 2.00% |
| Fox Searchlight (8) | 100.1 | 1.70% |
| Sony Classics (15) | 49.1 | 0.80% |
| MGM (2) | 45.5 | 0.80% |
| Other * (187) | 216.7 | 3.70% |
| * none greater than 0.45% | 5888.3 | 100.00% |
