By Leonard Klady Klady@moviecitynews.com
Tu Tu Much …
September 30, 2007 Weekend Estimates Domestic Market Share
The ground war multiplex to multiplex encounter between the family friendly The Game Plan and the Rambo-unctious The Kingdom led to a one-two finish respectively estimated at $22.9 million and $17.8 million. The solid, relatively predictable box office failed to spike business as hold over titles generally experienced 50% declines. The frame also featured a flaccid national bow for the couple’s drama Feast of Love of $1.7 million and was chock-a-block with expansions and regional and limited openings. Hot off New York Film Festival screenings Lust, Caution had a potent single screen bow of $62,800 while The Darjeeling Limited, that opened Saturday, scored $141,600 at two sites. The hard hitting Rwanda drama Shake Hands with the Devil bowed to an impressive $170,000 in Canada and French import Odette Toulemonde was OK with $78,800 in Quebec. However, there was little bite for the doc Sharkwater that waded into Florida waters with $49,200 and the international sex commerce of Trade barely stirred interest with $101,000 from 90 houses. Employing The Pacifier template, The Game Plan cast tough guy Dwayne “The Rock” Johnsonas a gridiron giant forced to turn domestic with the arrival of a hitherto unknown pre-teen daughter. Whatever substantive issues might have been inherent in the material were passed off laterally for porridge that’s pure mush. But the pure hokum should sustain well in the coming weeks. The Kingdom also looks to benefit in the lack of immediate competition. The visceral thriller about FBI investigators tracking down terrorists in Saudi Arabia has a faux political agenda and a discomfiting racist bent that will restrict its international passport. It should nonetheless get decent domestic mileage as a flag waver. The two films accounted for about 45% of weekend business that translated into a 6% drop for last weekend and a further 9% abatement from last year. In 2006, debuts of Open Season and The Guardian held the top positions with bows of $23.6 million and $18 million. Industry pundits anticipate soft business to continue through October but for the moment yearly box office is running about 6.5% better than a year earlier. Whatever potential the emotionally charged Feast of Love may have had with adult viewers was largely lost in an indifferent campaign and lukewarm reviews. Meanwhile, slow steady expansions for the Beatles homage Across the Universe and the survival saga Into the Wild displayed sustained interest while the Iraq aftermath of In the Valley of Elah continued to lose commercial traction. Toronto fest premiere Shake Hands with the Devil focusing on the Canadian general in charge of U.N. forces during the Rwanda genocide bowed north of the border to good returns that will still demand the TLC campaigns necessary to sustain non-warm bath movies in a sated marketplace Weekend Estimates – September 28-30, 2007
Top Domestic Grosses – To September 26, 2007
Domestic Market Share – To September 26, 2007
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
