Something Borat but definitely not blue was elevated to an estimated $28.6 million to lead weekend movie options. Freshman entries however were on the soft side with the off center comedy Stranger Than Fiction proving best in show with a $14.2 million debut that ranked fourth overall. The genre entry The Return had no better than fair response of $4.7 million, A Good Year generated a less than vintage $3.8 million and Harsh Times had a prophetic $1.8 million tally.

Limited releases were also unremarkable with a 3-D version of Night of the Living Dead receiving chilling returns that translated in not much better than a $1,000 screen average.

Overall movie going was consistent with 2005 and a couple of points off last weekend’s attendance level.

The exploits of Khazkh journalist Borat Sardiyev in America continued to amuse its target audience as it expanded aggressively in the domestic marketplace and retained a vigorous $11,000 plus engagement average. While it’s generated a very impressive $67.4 million gross after 10 days in theaters, the debate continues whether the 11th hour decision to scale back on its opening was economically and strategically effective. From this vantage point, it appears to have cost its distributor several million dollars that likely won’t materialize on the back end.

Duking it out again for second spot were family fare titles The Santa Clause 3 and Flushed Away with the former a winner by a frigid nose. Both films held well and took significant chunks out of the box office for similar appeal movies. Next week’s bow of Happy Feet is likely to take the wind out of the two film’s commercial sails heading into the Thanksgiving holiday session.

Revenues for the frame should be in the vicinity of $127 million or about 3% off of last weekend’s pace. The result is a virtual carbon copy result from 2005 when the $31.6 million second weekend return of Chicken Little clucked loudest and tepid debuts of Zathara, Derailed and Get Rich or Die Tryin’ clustered between $12 million and $14 million.

None of the frame’s national debuts were expected to be potent performers and their respective results elicited no shock response of a positive or negative kind. Stranger Than Fiction with Will Farrell in an odd Charlie Kaufman-style existential comedy benefited from star power and appears to be the sole freshman capable of sustaining itsel in the marketplace with good word-of-mouth.

Conversely, A Good Year was not the Russell Crowe movie the public was ready to embrace. The light comic effort of a businessman that inherits a vineyard failed to ignite audience passion or mirth.

The supernatural thriller The Return had at best passable results and the gritty social thriller Harsh Times could at least lay claim to receiving commercial exposure following more than a year of delays in the theatrical maelstrom.

The moribund results for the newly reconceived Night of the Living Dead in 3-D indicate it arrived too late in the horror cycle or too far from Halloween on the calendar. Both the period drama Copying Beethoven and the American indie Come Early Morning could claim no better than OK commercial response in limited exposure while the truly bizarre biopic of photographer Diane Arbus – Fur – and the documentary F*ck had exclusive results that do not bode well for more than modest expansion.

– by Leonard Klady

Top Limited Releases: To October 26, 2006

Domestic Market Share: To October 26, 2006

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