By Leonard Klady Klady@moviecitynews.com
More Bang For The Bucks
The Departed left the station with an estimated $26.5 million to claim weekend bragging rights as the session’s top attraction. There were also upbeat returns for freshmen entries The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning that ranked second with $19.1 million and a fourth place finish for Employee of the Month of $11.7 million.
Additionally Trailer Park Boys had a potent bow of $1.2 million in Canada for its Thanksgiving holiday frame and exclusive bows for both Little Children and ShortBus drew strong response.
Overall business spiked noticeably from both last weekend and the comparable 2005 frame.
Based on a Hong Kong police thriller that spawned two sequels, The Departed arrived in the marketplace with high hopes both commercially and artistically. It didn’t disappoint on either level with many citing it as a return to form and roots for director Martin Scorsese. Dan Fellman, Warner Bros. distribution president, said box office was slightly better than anticipated but surprises came elsewhere. Anticipated to skew older and male, exit polls showed a near equal gender split as well as a 50/50 balance for over and under 25s.
The significant youth appeal of The Departed did not appear to drain business from either TCM: The Beginning or Employee of the Month. The umpteenth incarnation of the power tool saga sliced through the marketplace with abandon while the high concept comedy easily out-performed expectations that pegged box office at decidedly less than $10 million.
Weekend ticket sales will be in the vicinity of $112 million for a 13% boost from seven days earlier. It also represents an 8% increase from 2005 when the debut of the Wallace & Gromit movie took top spot with a $16 million gross and three other freshmen entries failed to crack an individual gross of $10 million.
The majority of holdover titles took hard hits with the exception of family fare such as Open Season and upscale outings that include The Illusionist.
Trailer Park Boys, a raucous comedy from Ivan Reitman’s company, proved muscular with a $1.2 million gross. Yet to secure U.S. distribution, its performance should tip the balance in its favor.
The first wave of Oscar hopefuls were all playing like contenders. The Queen was most regal with just shy of $400,000 from 11 engagements while the rise and fall of Idi Amin in The Last King of Scotland garnered $293,000 from 30 locations. New to the mix was Little Children with theater averages of $20,640 from five play pens.
Also demonstrating considerable heft was the sexually explicit ShortBus with a $77,300 gross from four outings. Less inspirational was Love’s Abiding Joy with roughly $130,000 from 185 pulpits and the teenage spy yarn Alex Rider: Operation Stormbreaker eking out $100,000 in Canadian release prior to next week’s U.S. launch.
There was also no better than fair response to a pair of documentaries in exclusive release. The Tony Kushner portrait Wrestling with Angels generated $5,840 from a single Manhattan screen and the political So Goes the Nation drew $1,940 from two venues.
Weekend Estimates – October 8, 2006
Title | Distrib | Gross (avg) | % Chg | Thea | Cume |
The Departed | WB | 26.5 (8,790) | x | 3017 | 26.5 |
Texas Chainsaw: The Beginning | New Line | 19.1 (6,780) | x | 2820 | 19.1 |
Open Season | Sony | 15.9 (4,140) | -33% | 3833 | 44 |
Employee of the Month | Lions Gate | 11.7 (4,550) | x | 2579 | 11.7 |
The Guardian | BV | 9.7 (3,000) | -46% | 3241 | 32.5 |
Jackass: Number Two | Par | 6.4 (2,120) | -56% | 3007 | 62.7 |
School for Scoundrels | MGM | 3.5 (1,170) | -59% | 3007 | 14.1 |
The Gridiron Gang | Sony | 2.4 (1,060) | -48% | 2228 | 36.7 |
Fearless | Focus | 2.3 (1,400) | -55% | 1617 | 21.7 |
The Illusionist | YF/FS/Odeon | 1.8 (1,600) | -33% | 1149 | 34.1 |
Little Miss Sunshine | Fox Searchlight | 1.3 (1,540) | -36% | 824 | 55 |
Trailer Park Boys | Alliance | 1.2 (6,680) | 181 | 1.2 | |
Flyboys | MGM | 1.1 (730) | -55% | 1471 | 11.9 |
Facing the Giants | IDP | 1.0 (2,250) | -27% | 435 | 2.7 |
The Science of Sleep | WIP/Seville | .74 (3,290) | -34% | 225 | 2.8 |
The Black Dahlia | Uni | .56 (600) | -74% | 931 | 22 |
Weekend Total ($500,000+ Films) | x | $105.20 | x | x | x |
% Change (Last Year) | x | 8% | x | x | x |
% Change (Last Week) | x | 13% | x | x | x |
Also debuting/expanding | |||||
The Queen | Miramax | .39 (35,270) | 132% | 11 | 0.62 |
The Last King of Scotland | Fox Searchlight | .29 (9,770) | 105% | 30 | 0.53 |
Love’s Abiding Joy | Bigger Pics | .13 (720) | x | 185 | 0.13 |
Alex Rider: Operation Stormbreaker | Alliance | .10 (900) | x | 115 | 0.1 |
Little Children | New Line | .10 (20,640) | x | 5 | 0.1 |
ShortBus | Thinkfilm | 77,300 (19,330) | x | 4 | 0.08 |
Cheech | Alliance | 53,600 (1,790) | x | 30 | 0.05 |
49 Up | First Run | 49,500 (2,480) | x | 20 | 0.05 |
Kettle of Fish | Aloha | 5,900 (1,950) | x | 3 | 0.01 |
Wrestling with Angels | Balcony | 5,840 (5,840) | x | 1 | 0.01 |
So Goes the Nation | IFC | 1,940 (970) | x | 2 | 0.01 |
Top Worldwide Releases: To October 5, 2006
Title | Distributor | Gross |
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest | BVI | 1,052,988,514 |
The Da Vinci Code | Sony | 754,716,173 |
Ice Age: The Meltdown | Fox | 643,632,908 |
X-Men: The Last Stand | Fox | 454,810,466 |
Cars | BVI | 449,117,700 |
Mission: Impossible III | Par | 396,110,014 |
Superman Returns | WB | 389,211,658 |
Over the Hedge | Par/UIP | 320,380,013 |
The Chronicles of Narnia * | BV | 287,636,880 |
The Break-Up | Uni | 200,626,088 |
Click | Sony | 200,273,999 |
Inside Man | Uni | 184,030,941 |
Scary Movie 4 | Weinstein/BVI | 177,972,649 |
Brokeback Mountain * | Focus | 169,023,817 |
Poseidon | WB | 167,243,651 |
The Pink Panther | Sony/Fox | 159,660,454 |
Talladega Nights: Legend of Ricky Bobby | Sony | 157,801,193 |
The Fast & the Furious: Tokyo Drift | Uni | 156,229,348 |
Miami Vice | Uni | 152,465,641 |
The Devil Wears Prada | Fox | 147,833,013 |
* does not include 2005 box office |
Domestic Market Share: To September 28, 2006
Distributor (releases) | Gross | Percentage |
Sony (26) | 1245.1 | 17.80% |
Buena Vista (20) | 1205.9 | 17.30% |
Fox (20) | 1009.9 | 14.50% |
Paramount (13) | 744.8 | 10.70% |
Universal (17) | 736.4 | 10.60% |
Warner Bros. (17) | 675.5 | 9.70% |
Weinstein Co. (12) | 224.2 | 3.20% |
Lions Gate (15) | 223.1 | 3.20% |
Focus (11) | 167.2 | 2.40% |
New Line (9) | 166.2 | 2.40% |
Fox Searchlight (11) | 152.9 | 2.20% |
MGM (5) | 79.4 | 1.10% |
Sony Classics (19) | 52.2 | 0.70% |
FreeStyle (8) | 46.7 | 0.70% |
Other * (220) | 243.7 | 3.50% |
* none greater than 0.05% | 6973.2 | 100.00% |