By Leonard Klady Klady@moviecitynews.com
The Greening of America
May 20, 2007
Weekend Estimates
Domestic Market Share
The new jolly giant, Shrek the Third, broke box office records with an estimated $122.2 million debut that accounted for roughly two-thirds of all ticket sales in North America. The competition steered clear of the commercial behemoth, though rapturous reviews for the Irish import Oncegenerated sell-out business in two exclusive engagements.
Expectations for a $100 million plus onslaught for Shrek the Third were high and the animated opus did not disappoint. Barring a natural or man-made catastrophe it will rank as the third largest box office debut and bests the second Shrek‘s $108 million bow as the largest grossing non-live action opening.
Shrek the Third opted not to launch a day-and-date assault internationally, with Russia the sole major territory receiving exposure. Generally critical response was tepid and that could translate into a future primarily fueled by younger viewers, as has occurred with Spider-Man 3. The web master experienced another significant drop to rank second with $28.6 million.
Overall box office should check in with slightly less than $180 million for a 73% boost from last weekend’s business. It was also 11% improved from 2006 when opening weekends of The Da Vinci Code and Over the Hedge dominated with respective grosses of $77.1 million and $38.4 million.
The quartet of freshmen from last weekend each experienced approximately 50% declines but longer running titles such as Disturbia, Fracture and Hot Fuzz proved to be more resilient in albeit the less rungs forced upon them by the seasonal event titles.
The relative absence of adult fare has advantaged both Waitress and Away from Her with the titles continuing to expand strategically. Coincidentally both had 65% box office boosts during the current frame.
Limited debuts were largely unimpressive with no better than fair results for such American independent entries as Fay Grim, The Wendell Baker Story and Even Money. The surprise of the frame was Once, an Irish production with a musical-romantic backdrop. The film had only modest box office response when it debuted in Great Britain earlier in the year. However, a string of four star reviews generated near capacity crowds in two engagements and has ramped up expectations and sped up expansion plans in hopes of fueling that interest into a significant niche success.
Weekend Estimates – May 18-20, 2007
Title |
Distributor
|
Gross (averag
|
% change
|
Theaters
|
Cume
|
Shrek the Third |
Par
|
122.2 (29,650)
|
–
|
4122
|
123.1
|
Spider-Man 2 |
Sony
|
28.6 (6,610)
|
-51%
|
4324
|
282
|
28 Weeks Later |
Fox
|
5.0 (2,180)
|
-49%
|
2305
|
18.5
|
Disturbia |
Par
|
3.6 (1,410)
|
-24%
|
2547
|
71.2
|
Georgia Rule |
Uni
|
3.5 (1,370)
|
-49%
|
2531
|
12.6
|
Fracture |
New Line
|
2.3 (1,420)
|
-23%
|
1607
|
34.5
|
Delta Farce |
Lions Gate
|
1.8 (920)
|
-48%
|
1931
|
4.28
|
The Invisible |
BV
|
1.3 (940)
|
-44%
|
1378
|
17.6
|
Hot Fuzz |
Focus
|
1.2 (1,210)
|
-31%
|
973
|
21
|
Waitress |
Searchlight
|
1.1 (9,310)
|
65%
|
116
|
2.1
|
Next |
Par
|
1.0 (1,010)
|
-41%
|
1008
|
16.5
|
Blades of Glory |
Par
|
.88 (1,080)
|
-39%
|
812
|
115.2
|
Away from Her |
Mongrel/Lions
|
.72 (3,660)
|
65%
|
197
|
1.6
|
The Ex |
MGM
|
.69 (740)
|
-51%
|
936
|
2.6
|
Meet the Robinsons |
BV
|
.51 (540)
|
-72%
|
941
|
95.3
|
Weekend Total ($500,000+ Films) |
$174.40
|
–
|
–
|
–
|
|
% Change (Last Year) |
–
|
11%
|
–
|
–
|
–
|
% Change (Last Week) |
–
|
73%
|
–
|
–
|
|
Also debuting/expanding | |||||
The Namesake |
Fox Searchligh
|
.32 (1,270)
|
-23%
|
253
|
12.5
|
Fay Grim |
Magnolia
|
69,200 (2,560)
|
–
|
27
|
0.07
|
Once |
Fox Searchligh
|
59,300 (29,650)
|
–
|
2
|
0.07
|
The Wendell Baker Story |
Thinkfilm
|
50,600 (2,970)
|
–
|
17
|
0.05
|
Even Money |
FreeStyle
|
23,100 (3,850)
|
–
|
6
|
0.02
|
Severance |
Magnolia
|
7,700 (3,850)
|
–
|
2
|
0.01
|
Hollywood Dreams |
Rainbow
|
3,780 (945)
|
–
|
4
|
0.01
|
Flanders |
IFC
|
1,820 (1,820)
|
–
|
1
|
0.01
|
Limited* Grosses: To May 17, 2007
Title |
Distributor
|
Gross
|
Notes on a Scandal |
Fox Searchlight
|
16,887,112
|
The Last King of Scotland |
Fox Searchlight
|
13,984,463
|
The Namesake |
Fox Searchlight
|
12,223,747
|
The Lives of Others |
Sony Classics
|
9,778,929
|
Volver |
Sony Class/Seville
|
8,667,072
|
The Painted Veil |
WIP
|
7,552,537
|
Deep Sea 3-D |
WB
|
5,300,896
|
Venus |
Mrmx
|
3,233,893
|
Little Children |
NLC
|
2,987,970
|
Peaceful Warrior (reissue) |
Uni
|
2,914,450
|
Miss Potter |
MGM
|
2,760,128
|
Black Book |
Sony Classics
|
2,436,560
|
Magnificent Desolation |
Imax
|
2,403,130
|
Ma Fille, Mon Ange |
Alliance
|
2,334,815
|
Perfume: Story of a Murderer |
Par
|
2,205,318
|
The Host |
Magnolia
|
2,159,252
|
Guru |
Adlabs
|
2,096,000
|
Salaam-E-Ishq |
Eros
|
1,954,100
|
The Wind That Shakes the Barle |
IFC/Christal
|
1,905,345
|
Avenue Montaigne (Fauteuils d’Orch |
Thinkfilm/Seville
|
1,745,409
|
* none greater than 689 playdates |
Domestic Market Share: To May 17, 2007
Distributor (releases) |
Gross
|
Mrkt Share
|
Sony (16) |
736.1
|
23.20%
|
Paramount (12) |
511.4
|
16.10%
|
Warner Bros. (17) |
460.3
|
14.50%
|
Buena Vista (12) |
378.5
|
11.90%
|
Fox (13) |
274.2
|
8.70%
|
Universal (9) |
211.6
|
6.70%
|
New Line (6) |
101.5
|
3.20%
|
MGM (11) |
80.6
|
2.50%
|
Lions Gate (9) |
69.5
|
2.20%
|
Fox Searchlight (7) |
57.8
|
1.80%
|
Miramax (4) |
43.1
|
1.40%
|
Picturehouse (2) |
37.2
|
1.20%
|
Focus (2) |
36.3
|
1.10%
|
Sony Classics (8) |
27.2
|
0.90%
|
Weinstein Co. (5) |
25.9
|
0.80%
|
Paramount Vantage (3) |
25.1
|
0.80%
|
IDP (5) |
21.8
|
0.70%
|
Other * (102) |
72.3
|
2.30%
|
– |
3170.4
|
100.00%
|