MCN Columnists
Leonard Klady

By Leonard Klady Klady@moviecitynews.com

Shaken, But Not Destirred …

April 22, 2007
Weekend Finals
Domestic Market Share

While four new films entered the marketplace, last week’s top-slotted Disturbia held first place with an estimated $13.7 million gross. The freshmen class included a place position for the psychological thriller Fracture of $10.7 million; the chiller Vacancy ranked fourth with $7.5 million; Brit hit comedyHot Fuzz grossed $5.8 million but generated a strong per location average; and the distaff appeal In the Land of Women entered the arena with $4.9 million.

Additionally a handful of titles debuted in limited release with only the French comedy The Valetdemonstrating strength with a $12,000 per location average in six exposures.

Overall business took a 19% hit from 2006 and rolled back 26% from the prior weekend with revenues of roughly $88 million. The current glut of product unquestionably isn’t expanding the audience but it’s not unreasonable to conclude that fewer titles would have generated about the same marketplace gross. A year ago such fungible entertainment as Silent Hill and The Sentinelbowed in first and third positions with respective grosses of $20.1 million and $14.4 million.

The fleeting appeal of the April releases was aptly reflected in 65% to 70% drops for last weekend’s debuts with the exception of Disturbia that fell 38%. The current debs likely won’t be hit as hard but are wading in a much shallower pool. Despite upbeat reviews and strong tracking Fracture – the current frame’s anticipated leader – was hit by audience ennui and with a campaign that mirroredSilence of the Lambs it’s no wonder a jaded public refrained from buying tickets.

Ticket buyers were also deterred from checking into Vacancy or In the Land of Women and one has to conclude they’ve grown tired of cookie cutter formulas. The observation is propped up by the comparative strength of Hot Fuzz, a wry English comedy about an ordinarily peaceful village disrupted by overzealous local cops. Its $7,050 theater average was 55% better than the next film in national release.

The bulwark titles of the past two months remained consistent including Blades of Glory that pushed past a $100 million domestic gross Sunday.

The redoubtable Francis Veber was back in fine form with The Valet that’s struggled to find an American distributor for a year despite his enviable U.S. track record. The antic comedy grossed $74,200 from six venues. Another French hit, the thriller Ne le dit a personne, was indifferently received in Quebec with a $37,500 box office from 17 situations. Other exclusives were largely moribund especially a 50 screen break for the genre entry The Tripper that eked out about $21,100.
– Leonard Klady

Weekend Estimates – April 20-22, 2007

Title
Distributor
Gross (averag
% change
Theaters
Cume
Disturbia
Par
22.8 (7,800)
2925
22.8
Blades of Glory
Par
14.2 (4,090)
-37%
3467
90.3
Meet the Robinsons
BV
12.0 (3,700)
-28%
3238
71.9
Perfect Stranger
Sony
11.4 (4,300)
2661
11.4
Are We Done Yet?
Sony
9.0 (3,780)
-37%
2877
32.8
Pathfinder
Fox
4.7 (2,720)
1720
4.7
Wild Hogs
BV
4.6 (1,630)
-31%
2825
152.2
The Reaping
WB
4.5 (1,740)
-55%
2603
19.7
300
WB
4.4 (1,640)
-48%
2674
200.9
Grindhouse
Weinstein Co.
4.1 (1,570)
-64%
2629
19.6
Redline
Chicago Pics
3.9 (2,440)
1607
3.9
Shooter
Par
3.1 (1,630)
-47%
1907
42.1
Aqua Teen Hunger Team
First Look
2.9 (3,330)
877
2.9
Firehouse Dog
Fox
2.8 (960)
-28%
2881
9.9
TMNT
WB
2.1 (1,140)
-56%
1855
50.7
The Hoax
Miramax
1.5 (3,560)
1%
413
3.4
The Namesake
Fox Searchlight
1.3 (3,840)
-26%
331
8.7
Premonition
Sony
1.2 (1,180)
-62%
992
46.9
Reign Over Me
Sony
.86 (870)
-65%
990
19.1
Slow Burn
Lions Gate
.74 (640)
1163
0.74
Weekend Total ($500,000+ Films)
$112.10
% Change (Last Year)
-2%
% Change (Last Week)
-6%
Also debuting/expanding
Black Book
Sony Classics
.22 (7,960)
97%
28
0.4
Year of the Dog
Par Vantage
.10 (14,770)
7
0.1
Moliere
Christal
78,500 (2,800)
28
0.08
Lonely Hearts
IDP
73,400 (3,190)
23
0.07
Red Road
Tartan
17,700 (5,900)
3
0.02
Private Fears in Public Places
IFC
14,600 (7,300)
2
0.01
Dreaming Lhasa
First Run
7,820 (7,820)
1
0.01
Everything’s Gone Green
First Independe
4,100 (4,100)
1
0.01

Worldwide Grosses – Jan 1 – April 19, 2007

300
WB
409,145,844
Night at the Museum *
Fox
389,603,498
Ghost Rider
Sony
222,613,046
The Pursuit of Happyness *
Sony
206,478,360
Wild Hogs
BV
181,808,880
Norbit
Par
153,942,042
Music and Lyrics
WB
133,949,748
Mr. Bean’s Holiday
Uni/UIP
131,377,809
Blood Diamond *
WB
129,894,135
Dreamgirls *
Par
117,295,053
Meet the Robinsons
BV
111,390,892
Bridge to Terabithia
BV/Summit
108,523,774
Casino Royale *
Sony
102,900,633
Blades of Glory
Par
100,143,163
Rocky Balboa *
MGM/Fox
97,255,258
Happy Feet *
WB
93,233,569
The Holiday *
Sony
83,580,408
Eragon *
Fox
83,760,181
Charlotte’s Web *
Par
82,799,416
Epic Movie
Fox
77,340,771
* does not include 2006 box office

Domestic Market Share: Jan 1 – April 19, 2007

Distributor (releases)
Gross
Mrkt Share
Sony (13)
438.9
17.00%
Warner Bros. (15)
430.7
16.70%
Paramount (11)
430.1
16.60%
Buena Vista (11)
333.8
12.90%
Fox (12)
253.4
9.80%
Universal (8)
202.1
7.80%
MGM (9)
78.1
3.00%
New Line (5)
68.4
2.70%
Lions Gate (6)
56.3
2.20%
Fox Searchlight (6)
53.4
2.10%
Miramax (4)
39.7
1.50%
Picturehouse (2)
36.9
1.40%
Paramount Vantage (3)
24
0.90%
Weinstein Co. (5)
22.7
0.90%
Sony Classics (6)
22.4
0.90%
IDP (3)
20.7
0.80%
Focus (1)
16.5
0.60%
Other * (82)
56.1
2.20%
* none greater than 0.4%
2584.2
100.00%
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Klady

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It shows how out of it I was in trying to be in it, acknowledging that I was out of it to myself, and then thinking, “Okay, how do I stop being out of it? Well, I get some legitimate illogical narrative ideas” — some novel, you know?

So I decided on three writers that I might be able to option their material and get some producer, or myself as producer, and then get some writer to do a screenplay on it, and maybe make a movie.

And so the three projects were “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep,” “Naked Lunch” and a collection of Bukowski. Which, in 1975, forget it — I mean, that was nuts. Hollywood would not touch any of that, but I was looking for something commercial, and I thought that all of these things were coming.

There would be no Blade Runner if there was no Ray Bradbury. I couldn’t find Philip K. Dick. His agent didn’t even know where he was. And so I gave up.

I was walking down the street and I ran into Bradbury — he directed a play that I was going to do as an actor, so we know each other, but he yelled “hi” — and I’d forgot who he was.

So at my girlfriend Barbara Hershey’s urging — I was with her at that moment — she said, “Talk to him! That guy really wants to talk to you,” and I said “No, fuck him,” and keep walking.

But then I did, and then I realized who it was, and I thought, “Wait, he’s in that realm, maybe he knows Philip K. Dick.” I said, “You know a guy named—” “Yeah, sure — you want his phone number?”

My friend paid my rent for a year while I wrote, because it turned out we couldn’t get a writer. My friends kept on me about, well, if you can’t get a writer, then you write.”
~ Hampton Fancher

“That was the most disappointing thing to me in how this thing was played. Is that I’m on the phone with you now, after all that’s been said, and the fundamental distinction between what James is dealing with in these other cases is not actually brought to the fore. The fundamental difference is that James Franco didn’t seek to use his position to have sex with anyone. There’s not a case of that. He wasn’t using his position or status to try to solicit a sexual favor from anyone. If he had — if that were what the accusation involved — the show would not have gone on. We would have folded up shop and we would have not completed the show. Because then it would have been the same as Harvey Weinstein, or Les Moonves, or any of these cases that are fundamental to this new paradigm. Did you not notice that? Why did you not notice that? Is that not something notable to say, journalistically? Because nobody could find the voice to say it. I’m not just being rhetorical. Why is it that you and the other critics, none of you could find the voice to say, “You know, it’s not this, it’s that”? Because — let me go on and speak further to this. If you go back to the L.A. Times piece, that’s what it lacked. That’s what they were not able to deliver. The one example in the five that involved an issue of a sexual act was between James and a woman he was dating, who he was not working with. There was no professional dynamic in any capacity.

~ David Simon