By Leonard Klady Klady@moviecitynews.com
June 17, 2007
June 17, 2007 Weekend Estimates Domestic Market ShareFantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer glided to an estimated $57.7 million to take command of weekend movie going. In a slightly depressed marketplace the box office gods dismissed a revivedNancy Drew that ranked seventh overall with a meager $7.2 million. Similarly specialty newcomers were largely unimpressive though the Bollywood entry Jhoom Barabar Jhoom had a better than respectable $440,000 box office from 83 theaters.Exceeding industry expectations the Fantastic Four sequel arrived with a marginally better gross than its inspiration that opened to $56 million two years ago. The studio strategy of targeting to under 18s and the first film’s appeal to a youth audience certainly translated in the picture’s launch. Going forward it may have a more difficult time pitted against family friendly movies. Conversely the bow of Nancy Drew though perceived as soft turned out to be less of a draw than predicted. There was scant evidence of rooted interest among young girls or past generations weaned on the teenage sleuth. Weekend ticket sales inched toward $145 million for a 6% boost from last week’s Ocean’s Thirteenframe. Still it lagged behind 2006 when the $33.7 million second weekend of Cars led with debuts ofNacho Libre and The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift on its tail. The year to date tally of $4.2 billion is roughly 3.5% improved from the comparable 2006 pace and just marginally better in terms of admissions. In that respect it conforms to viewing trends of the past two decades. However, this was supposed to be the summer that would turn around the industry’s fortunes with the troika of Pirates, Spider-Man and Shrek spearheading the onslaught. The reality is considerably less rosy in large part because those and other titles haven’t expended the base of frequent movie goers or enticed those that rarely attend to abandon the comfy perch of their sofa. Holdover titles generally experienced 40% declines with the continued exception of Knocked Upthat has weathered buffeting from the season’s tent poles and sailed through with aplomb. It’s yet to be determined whether Ocean’s Thirteen with a bias toward an older crowd will replicate that tenacity. In limited wide release the genre DOA: Dead or Alive lived up to half its title with a grim $460 theater average that eked out $230,000. Last weekend’s frosh Hostel Part II took a brutal 66% plunge following a disappointing launch. Good but hardly exceptional preems were the order of the day for exclusive engagements of the New Zealand comedy Eagle vs. Shark and the documentary Gypsy Caravan. Considerably more encouraging was the expansion of the musical bio La Vie en Rose that added 57 engagements and maintained an impressive $8,230 theater average. Weekend Estimates – June 15-17, 2007
Limited Releases: To June 13, 2007
Domestic Market Share: To June 13, 2007
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