By Leonard Klady Klady@moviecitynews.com
Trick or Treat?
September 3, 2007
Weekend Finals
Summer Market Share
The calendar challenged folks at MGM sprang forward with Halloween as the Labor Day weekend’s top viewing choice with an estimated $33.4 million. It was also balls out for the ping pong madness of Balls of Fury that ranked third with $13.8 million and a strong screen average for the Spanish-language thriller Ladron Que Roba a Ladron on its $2.1 million tally. And while not quite living up to its title commercially, Death Sentence was close to moribund with a $5.2 million debut.
Summer’s last frame provided a 23% closing boost from the 2006 Labor Day session and provided the season with a closing tally of $4.17 billion that amounted to an 11% year-to-year increase as well as a 7% uptick in admissions.
The industry just grinned when it was announced that Halloween was ignoring a late October berth for the traditionally fallow first week of September. Entering the weekend most pundits were predicting a top end estimate of slightly more than $20 million but as Friday matinee figures began flowing in the projections rapidly accelerated to $30 million.
There also wasn’t a lot of heat generated for Balls of Fury that opened Wednesday and rang up close to $3 million pre-weekend. And a big question mark hung over Ladron Que Roba a Ladron, a tongue-in-cheek U.S. made caper movie that was looking to tap into the large and elusive Hispanic market and with a $6,100 screen average ranks close to the top in terms of response.
There was general surprise about the summer’s last burst of activity and, of course, the industry waited breathlessly for a seasonal total. Pundits are likely to pump up the volume about a double-digit boost and any plus has to be a better than a rollback. However, it’s tough to ignore prognostications of a gargantuan summer early in the year and the fact that it took three months to turn around declining numbers that had put the industry into a blue funk.
The difference boiled down to a handful of potent grossing attractions that appeared much later in the season than is normally seen. The Bourne Ultimatum, The Simpsons Movie and Rush Hour 3had been anticipated as strong titles but no one was willing to bank on the success of Hairspray orSuperbad or I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry.
In a sense it was a summer like any other with half the majors experiencing increased revenues and the other half taking it on the chin. And with so much of the summer consisting of high profile, very expensive sequels the math demanded revenue boosts of between 30% and 50% simply to stay even.
While some of the majors likely met minimum benchmarks, it was the likes of New Line and MGM that experienced the sort of conspicuous growth that reflected the expectations that had been predicted. And apart from Rush Hour 3 they did it without benefit of pre-sold titles. So, what lessons will be learned … and which ones will be applied?
Weekend Estimates – August 31 – September 3, 2007
| Title |
Distributor
|
Gross (average)
|
%Chg
|
Theas
|
Cume
|
| Halloween |
MGM
|
33.4 (9,630)
|
–
|
3472
|
33.4
|
| Superbad |
Sony
|
15.4 (5,140)
|
-31%
|
3002
|
76.83
|
| Balls of Fury |
Focus
|
13.8 (4,520)
|
–
|
3052
|
16.8
|
| The Bourne Ultimatum |
Uni
|
13.1 (3,980)
|
-18%
|
3290
|
202.5
|
| Rush Hour 3 |
New Line
|
10.3 (3,420)
|
-28%
|
3008
|
122.1
|
| Mr. Bean’s Holiday |
Uni
|
8.0 (4,540)
|
-41%
|
1765
|
21
|
| The Nanny Diaries |
MGM
|
6.6 (2,520)
|
-31%
|
2636
|
16.8
|
| War |
Lions Gate
|
5.3 (2,310)
|
-58%
|
2277
|
18.1
|
| Death Sentence |
Fox
|
5.2 (2,870)
|
–
|
1822
|
5.2
|
| Stardust |
Par
|
3.8 (2,160)
|
-22%
|
1766
|
31.8
|
| The Simpson Movie |
Fox
|
3.5 (1,700)
|
-37%
|
2066
|
178.4
|
| Hairspray |
New Line
|
3.3 (2,080)
|
-19%
|
1604
|
112.1
|
| Harry Potter & the Order of the Phoeni |
WB
|
2.4 (2,380)
|
-24%
|
1017
|
286.7
|
| Ladron Que Roba a Ladron |
Lions Gate
|
2.1 (6,090)
|
–
|
340
|
2.1
|
| Becoming Jane |
Miramax
|
2.0 (1,740)
|
-11%
|
1162
|
15.6
|
| Underdog |
BV
|
2.1 (1,320)
|
-38%
|
1602
|
39.8
|
| I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry |
Uni
|
1.6 (1,500)
|
-37%
|
1076
|
116.6
|
| Ratatouille |
BV
|
1.5 (1,420)
|
-3%
|
1068
|
201.1
|
| The Invasion |
WB
|
1.4 (1,040)
|
-64%
|
1375
|
14
|
| Death at a Funeral |
MGM
|
1.4 (5,260)
|
-2%
|
264
|
4.7
|
| Transformers |
Par
|
1.4 (1,500)
|
-5%
|
937
|
310.4
|
| No Reservations |
WB
|
1.2 (1,540)
|
-25%
|
783
|
40.7
|
| Illegal Tender |
Uni
|
.76 (1,480)
|
-60%
|
514
|
2.6
|
| Resurrecting the Champ |
FreeStyle
|
.64 (500)
|
-69%
|
1284
|
2.9
|
| Weekend Total ($500,000+ Films) |
–
|
$140.20
|
–
|
||
| % Change (Last Year) |
–
|
23%
|
–
|
||
| % Change (Last Week) |
–
|
7%
|
–
|
||
| Also debuting/expanding | |||||
| Self-Medicated |
Thinkfilm
|
59,200 (3,700)
|
–
|
16
|
0.06
|
| The Nines |
Newmarket
|
29,300 (14,650)
|
–
|
2
|
0.03
|
| Exiled |
Magnolia
|
19,100 (9,550)
|
–
|
2
|
0.02
|
| Vanaja |
Emerging
|
10,500 (10,500)
|
–
|
1
|
0.01
|
| * % change is 3-day to 3-day | |||||
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%
|
–
|
