Weekend Estimates
Summer Market Share

Mammy Yokum used to say that “Good is better ‘n evil cause it’s nicer.” Obviously the comic book matriarch isn’t abreast with the new Hollywood that decreed Resident Evil: Extinction the weekend box office champ with an estimated $23.9 million debut to runner up Good Luck Chuck at $13.6 million.

The session’s other national freshman Sydney White was rather forlorn in sixth position with $5.2 million and a number of last week’s debs including Eastern Promises began expanding on their platforms.

The frame was also rife with new entries testing the waters and the results ranged from boiling returns for the likes of Into the Wild and The Assassination of Jesse James by that Coward Robert Ford to temperate response for The Jane Austen Book Club. Limited and regional openers including Sea of Dreams and Randy and the Mob were largely subsumed by the wave of new titles.

The third entry in the Resident Evil franchise performed pretty much as anticipated though its gross was slightly better than prior outings. The same was true for the comic inanities of Good Luck Chuck and it didn’t appear to matter that both films largely appealed to the same viewing quadrant.

Sydney White, a tale of sorority outcasts, may have looked good on paper as effective counter programming but didn’t translate at the ticket counter. It certainly puts the lie to studies that have concluded women make the ultimate conclusion when couples go to the movies.

Overall business was inching toward $97 million for a tidy 23% boost from the immediate prior weekend but still experienced a slight 3% decline from 2006. Twelve months back preems ofJackass Number Two and Fearless were top of the charts with respective bows of $29 million and $10.6 million. So far this year three of the six majors have recorded revenues of excess of $1 billion and once again there’s a strong possibility all six sisters will hit that level – a previously unrealized precedent.

Industry pundits weren’t quite sure why Eastern Promises decided to open limited a week ago. It came as no surprise that the London-set tale of the ultra violent Russian mafia would have its critical supporters but it was a bit of a long shot that media endorsement would expand its appeal. Its first weekend in wide release certainly provided no indication to the contrary and its distributor faces an uphill climb to equal filmmaker David Cronenberg‘s prior returns for A History of Violence.

More obvious platforms also appeared to be confronting some hard driving to buck the tide of new movies. The Beatles’ homage Across the Universe added 253 engagements and maintained a healthy $7,350 average and a quite respectable 42% decline on the 23 screens it opened on seven days earlier. However the Iraq War-themed In the Valley of Elah was struggling with a $3,810 average and 54% drops in the nine venues it opened a week ago.

The almost across the board hosannas for Into the Wild, the surprisingly effective tale of redemption and tragedy, translated into high capacity crowds and a buoyant $50,000 plus average in four situations. The mixed reviews for Jesse James nonetheless translated into an impressive $29,500 average from five playdates and factoring in its 160 minute running time improves the picture. The $148,000 bow of The Jane Austen Book Club at 25 sites shaped up as the niche equivalent of Sydney White business.

– Leonard Klady

Weekend Estimates – September 14-16, 2007

Top Domestic Grosses – To September 20, 2007

Domestic Market Share – To September 20, 2007