By Leonard Klady Klady@moviecitynews.com
We Own the Altar….
October 14, 2007 Weekend Estimates Domestic Market Share
Why Did I Get Married?, the latest from actor-filmmaker Tyler Perry, led weekend movie going in its debut with an estimated $22.9 million. The frame also saw the thriller We Own the Night bow third overall with $10.8 million and an OK bow for Elizabeth: The Golden Age of $6.1 million. However, the independent sports themed The Final Season was left off base with $690,000. Niche preems included a hefty single screen launch of $26,400 for Control about the Brit band Joy Division and a good golly Miss Dolly $12,600 theater average for Lars and the Real Girl in seven exposures. There was also good response to a couple of new Bollywood releases but only tepid returns for the remake of Sleuth. Overall business bumped up 18% to roughly $101 million but slipped back 10% from the comparable 2006 session. A year ago the debut of The Grudge 2 edge out the second weekend of The Departed in a close finish that netted grosses of $20.8 million and $19 million. The year to date is now running a bit less than 6% ahead of last year’s pace. Since his 2002 film debut Diary of a Mad Black Woman, Tyler Perry has been effectively mining a core Afrocentric audience with tales of the middle class contemporary Black experience. Why Did I Get Married? is again based on one of his plays already available on DVD. Perry has emerged quite rapidly as a potent commercial filmmaker even though he’s only inched slightly beyond his base audience. The crime drama We Own the Night earned generally positive reviews and good if unspectacular box office. The same could be said for Elizabeth: The Golden Age though critical response tilted toward the negative when it was compared to the 1998 film on the monarch’s early reign. The question for both is how well they will withstand the ceaseless wave of upcoming releases targeted at adult audiences. Last weekend’s toe tester for the legal thriller Michael Clayton didn’t appear to have any impact – pro or con – on the picture’s national launch. Its $10.7 million weekend was certainly credible and title star George Clooney‘s popularity appears to be an asset for sustaining interest in the coming weeks. The more traditionally platformed Across the Universe finally expanded to national proportions and appears to be situated in a comfortable niche somewhere between niche and mainstream appeal. Still, the costly venture has a long road ahead of theatrical, CD and DVD exposure to return the roll of the dice. The slow, steady roll outs of both The Darjeeling Limited and Lust, Caution continue to be on track while one can see The Assassination of Jesse James losing steam. Positive response to Lars and the Real Girl translated well commercially for the black comic tale of a boy and his blow up doll girlfriend. Nonetheless the outré comedy will definitely have to earn its playdates. That uphill drive will be considerably harder for the re-envisioned Sleuth that’s darker and less playful than its prior screen incarnation from 1972. The sheer volume of movies both currently in theaters and scheduled through the end of the year has already created a Darwinian environment in which it’s difficult to ascertain why some survive and others succumb. The heartier types include The Game Plan and 3:10 to Yuma while Eastern Promises, The Seeker and The Heartbreak Kid are disappearing into the tar pit and In the Valley of Elah never quite stepped up to the plate. Weekend Estimates – October 12-14, 2007
Canada Box Office – To October 5-11, 2007
Domestic Market Share – October 11, 2007
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