Records fell as Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Making Benefit Glorious of Kazakhstan posted an estimated $25.9 million to ascend to the top of the list for weekend movie going. The session also featured good openings for family fare The Santa Clause 3 and Flushed Away that ranked second and third with respective grosses of $20.1 million and $18.9 million and an excellent five screen launch of Spanish Oscar submission Volver of $187,000. Additionally, many leading holdover titles were unusually strong.

The video journal of Kazakh journalist Borat Sagdiyev proved unexpectedly potent to American viewers and once again a political documentary emerged as a commercial hit. Surpassing the $23.9 million debut of Fahrenheit 911, Borat can now claim the best debut for a non-fiction movie. Concerns that the film’s international accent would not play in the heartland pared back its initial exposure by 50% and the targeted 837 screens had few soft engagements. According to a studio spokesman, additional multiplex screens had to be added Saturday to accommodate the appeal and boosted box office by 10 percent. The very potent initial salvo now paves the way for aggressive expansion through the holiday season.

Concerns of a different stripe were apparent with the simultaneous release of Disney franchise The Santa Clause and Ardman Studio’s animated Flushed Away. Pitting two family oriented movies in direct competition suggested one might seriously falter though ultimately the erosion was minor for each entry. Spokespeople for the two distributors said that the strategic value of opening prior to Thanksgiving outweighed other factors and expressed confidence their films would continue strong through the upcoming holiday periods.

Business expanded a significant 28% from the immediate prior weekend to approximately $132 million. Ironically, it was still 2% behind the comparable 2005 span when preems of Chicken Little and Jarhead lead box office with $40 million and $27.7 million respectively.

Among the continuing films that held strong against the competition were The Departed that ascended to $102.2 million and became director Martin Scorsese’s top grossing movie; The Prestige, and surprisingly, Marie Antoinette. Also unexpectedly strong was Man of the Year that appeared to be the beneficiary of things political as Tuesday mid-term elections approached.

The Queen once again opted for cautious expansion and maintained potent returns as did Babel. The latter title will face the acid test when it steps up to about 1,200 venues next weekend. Meanwhile, the award season had its first casualty with the South Africa-set political thriller Catch a Fire failing to ignite despite critical hosannas. It sank by 46% and has barely eked out $3.7 million after 10 days in theaters.

Another critical favorite, Pedro Almodovar’s Volver, began wooing the American public with an alluring $37,400 screen average from five venues. A prize winner at Cannes, its Spain’s foreign-language submission and Penelope Cruz’s performance is viewed as a potential Oscar contender. The film has grossed a very impressive $63 million plus from engagements throughout Europe to date.

Other new limited releases barely registered a commercial pulse including acclaimed Jamaican import Shottas and the American indie Unknown. Freshman Bollywood entry Umrao Jaan was just fair with an opening weekend close to $180,000 from 65 locations.

– by Leonard Klady

Top Limited Releases: To October 26, 2006

Domestic Market Share: To October 26, 2006

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