Weekend Estimates
Domestic Market Share

The second weekend of The Game Plan reigned supreme at the top of the charts with an estimated $16.2 million. However, it was the debut of The Heartbreak Kid that had tongues wagging and not simply because of its disappointing $13.9 million opening.

The frame also saw disappointing bows of the kid lit fave The Seeker: The Dark is Rising and the dance-themed Feel the Noise that ranked fifth and sixth with respective grosses of $3.6 million and $3.4 million. The noise was considerably louder among limited and regional premieres including a torrid $46,100 venue average for the legal thriller Michael Clayton from 15 theaters.

There was also a good result of $14,700 for the American indie Finishing the Game from a single location and the indefatigable Blade Runner (now definitivo) returned with $91,200 at two sites. Less potent outings included a $183,000 gross for the large screen Sea Monsters 3-D in 252 outings and the non-fiction Quebec sur ordonnance struggled to $46,100 at 62 exposures.

Overall business experienced another downturn with box office dipping 11% from seven days earlier and taking an even steeper 26% erosion from 2006. Last year the bows of Oscar-winner The Departed and Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning led with box office of $26.9 million and $18.5 million.

While it hadn’t been tracking vigorously, the quasi-remake of Elaine May‘s classic The Heartbreak Kid was expected to debut at the top of the charts with somewhere between $18 million and $20 million. The short fall and generally flaccid business sent industry strategists scurrying for explanations but neither good weather nor professional sport playoffs seemed to suffice for movies the general audience wasn’t motivated to see. There also appeared to be an imperceptible bump accorded to holiday activity from Canadian Thanksgiving and Columbus Day revelers.

The other Kid controversy surrounded DreamWorks’ execs insisting that its gross be separated from that of Paramount. The mother studio agreed, as did tracking outfits Rentrak and Entertainment data, though the relationship between the two wasn’t much different from that of Imagine at Universal or Silver Pictures at Warner Bros.

The long gestating adaptation of The Dark is Rising proved to be less potent than Harry Potter or the Narnia cycle and significantly short of franchise consideration. And the sort of quick hit such toe tappers as Stomp the Yard and Step Up experienced were not to be joined by the unheeded response to Feel the Noise.

One had to delve deeper to find pockets of activity. Obviously the initial platform for the George Clooney vehicle Michael Clayton was a potent draw and small broadenings for the likes of The Darjeeling Limited and Lust, Caution maintained strong interest. A more aggressive 102 screen boost for the critically acclaimed Into the Wild was also very encouraging but the push behind The Jane Austen Book Club saw its stamina petering out. Next weekend both Across the Universeand The Assassination of Jesse James make the jump to wide exposure and in light of recent soft business the anxiety level about crossover potential is off the charts.

Though off the beaten track, returns for Sea Monsters 3-D were also discomfiting. While the film clearly was more warmly embraced in large format than conventional screens even the Imax outings were sub-par. The frame’s other non-fiction debuts were also on the soft side and largely confirmed industry fears that the marketplace satiation of documentaries has diminished the alternative potency that existed just a few seasons back. One could only ascribe fair returns for My Kid Could Paint That and Kurt Cobain: About a Son and one could only wonder why high media interest in the abortion issue didn’t elevate Lake of Fire’s box office above its tepid single screen box office of $2,330.

– Leonard Klady

Weekend Estimates – October 5-7, 2007

Top Limited Grosses – To October 4, 2007

Domestic Market Share – October 4, 2007