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Leonard Klady

By Leonard Klady Klady@moviecitynews.com

Posted Sunday, September 9th, 2007 - Comments Off on Gunfight Corrals OK …
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Gunfight Corrals OK …

September 9, 2007
Weekend Estimates
Summer Market Share

It was high noon at the box office as 3:10 to Yuma got to the station ahead of the posse with an estimated $13.5 million. As the summer rode into the sunset, the sound of the fall came in a blazin’ … sort of. The debut of Yuma didn’t quite leave the competition choking dust and the other national bow, Shoot ‘Em Up was mostly firing blanks with a $5.8 million weekend that ranked fourth overall.

They were laughing in the wrong way at Brothers Solomon in its medium wide release at the shallow end of $500,000 while Dhamaal on the Bollywood circuit had a fair gross of $161,000 from 39 locations. Hatchet was a dull blade with $98,000 at 82 chopping blocs.

The situation wasn’t any better for the season’s first wave of limited release freshmen. There was some promise in the space doc In the Shadow of the Moon of $39,100 from four launch sites and the political thriller The Hunting Party did $38,300 from another quartet of screens. Israeli importThe Bubble had a $3,600 average in 10 exposures while single screen encounters for two belated comedy releases saw encouraging respective starts of $17,700 for Romance & Cigarettes and $13,600 for I Need Someone to Eat Cheese With.

Overall business took a 35% hit from the prior weekend but saw a 14% gain from 2006 when preems of The Covenant and Hollywoodland entered the fray with respective grosses of $8.8 million and $5.9 million.

There was a high degree of anxiety surrounding the opening of 3:10 to Yuma with nay sayers anticipating that a western yarn simply wouldn’t cut it with the current generation of filmgoers and fans expecting a surprise. In the end it chugged to a middle ground that was respectable but hardly a call to boots and saddles.

Sheer energy clearly wasn’t enough for Shoot ‘Em Up that performed markedly below expectations and Brothers Solomon appeared to be in theaters more out of contractual obligation than commercial conviction.

– Leonard Klady

Weekend Estimates – September 7-9, 2007

Title
Distributor
Gross (aver
% chang
Theater
Cume
3:10 to Yuma
Lions Gate
13.5 (5,100)
–
2652
13.5
Halloween
MGM
9.4 (2,702)
-64%
3475
43.6
Superbad
Sony
7.4 (2,410)
-41%
3069
103.1
Shoot ‘Em Up
New Line
5.8 (2,740)
–
2108
5.8
The Bourne Ultimatum
Uni
5.6 (1,870)
-46%
3010
210.3
Balls of Fury
Focus
5.5 (1,790)
-51%
3081
24.1
Rush Hour 3
New Line
4.9 (1,830)
-42%
2690
128.9
Mr. Bean’s Holiday
Uni
3.3 (1,870)
-45%
1778
25
The Nanny Diaries
MGM
3.2 (1,310)
-38%
2444
20.9
Stardust
Par
1.8 (1,240)
-42%
1423
34.6
Hairspray
New Line
1.7 (1,250)
-36%
1393
114.7
Death Sentence
Fox
1.6 (870)
-63%
1823
7.9
The Simpson Movie
Fox
1.4 (950)
-51%
1440
180.3
War
Lions Gate
1.3 (810)
-68%
1634
20.5
Harry Potter & the Order of the Ph
WB
1.0 (1,320)
-46%
775
288.2
Becoming Jane
Miramax
.85 (880)
-47%
968
17
I Now Pronounce You Chuck & La
Uni
.81 (980)
-41%
830
117.7
Underdog
BV
.78 (700)
-54%
1121
41
Death at a Funeral
MGM
.71 (2,250)
-34%
316
5.7
Transformers
Par
.63 (1,040)
-45%
607
311.4
Ladron Que Roba a Ladron
Lions Gate
.61 (1,790)
-62%
340
2.9
No Reservations
WB
.56 (820)
-41%
685
41.5
Ratatouille
BV
.54 (870)
-55%
620
202
Brothers Solomon
Sony
.51 (730)
–
700
0.51
Weekend Total ($500,000+ Films)
$73.40
–
–
–
% Change (Last Year)
––
14%
–
–
–
% Change (Last Week)
––
-35%
–
–
–
Also debuting/expanding
Dhamaal
Shemaroo
.16 (4,130)
–
39
0.16
Hatchet
Anchor Bay
97,600 (1,190)
–
82
0.1
In the Shadow of the Moon
Thinkfilm
39,100 (9,780)
–
4
0.04
The Hunting Party
MGM
38,300 (9,570)
–
4
0.04
The Bubble
Strand
36,200 (3,620)
–
10
0.04
Fierce People
Lions Gate
20,400 (10,200)
–
2
0.02
Romance & Cigarettes
SPC
17,700 (17,700)
–
1
0.02
I Want Someone to Eat Cheese
IFC
13,600 (13,600)
–
1
0.01

Domestic Summer Market Share (May 3 – Sept 3, 2007)

Rank 2007
 Distributor
Gross
Mkt Share
% Change
From 2006
Rank
2006
1
 Paramount
724.6
17.40%
45%
4
2
 Universal
609.5
14.60%
61%
6
3
 Buena Vista
580.7
13.90%
-26%
1
4
 Warner Bros.
544.7
13.10%
31%
5
5
 Sony
521.3
12.50%
-26%
2
6
 Fox
470.1
11.30%
-14%
3
7
 New Line
251.2
6.00%
386%
14
8
 MGM
169.3
4.10%
373%
11
9
 Lions Gate
92.3
2.20%
36%
7
10
 Focus
43.2
1.00%
33%
8
11
 Fox Searchlight
34.2
0.80%
203%
15
–
 Other
127.5
3.10%
–
–
–
 –
4168.6
100.00%
11%
–
% Change 2006 (Other Distributors)
–
 Paramount Vantage
–
–
-58%
–
–
 Picturehouse
–
–
-47%
–
–
 Sony Classics
–
–
-11%
–
–
 Weinstein Co.
–
–
-81%
–
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