By Leonard Klady Klady@moviecitynews.com
Ring in the New…
The connection was strong for the debut of the cellular thriller One Missed Call but the strongest signal at the weekend box office remained National Treasure: Book of Secrets that generated an estimated $20.5 million in its third weekend in theaters. There was another close call as Juno and I Am Legend battled for the place position with their respective distributors both claiming victory.
Though the frame sported but a single new national premiere, holdovers and expansions proved unusually vigorous. Overall business set a new box office record for a January non-holiday weekend as revenues rose 7% from the opening weekend of 2007 with business eyeing about $141 million in ticket sales. .
In addition to Juno, both Atonement and There Will Be Blood experienced sizeable boosts on cautious expansions. The trio of films has been mounting strategic release plans all aimed at Oscar announcements and have yet to falter in the area of marketing acumen. Also fairing well toward that end are The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, The Savages and The Kite Runner while it appears that Sweeney Todd has lost traction and even No Country for Old Men may find itself absent in some key categories without a considerable reminder surge.
A Few Last Notes on 2007
The year at the box office crossed the finish line with a calendar tally of $9.68 billion that translated into a revenue increase of 4.9%. It wasn’t the double digit growth that had been predicted early in the year prior to the summer onslaught of sequels, remakes and adaptations of popular fare.
Ticket sales are only by the most liberal interpretation ahead of 2007. The spectacle of being able to see such films as I Am Legend, Spider-Man 3 and 300 in large format and/or 3-D versions at a higher admission price has made the special engagements disproportionately potent. A recent press release noted that Beowulf’s special presentations accounted for less than 20% of the playdates but more than one-third of its box office and the rule of thumb has evolved an expectation that those key screens will perform twice as well as conventional projections.
The reliance on retreads has proved repeatedly to be a bankrupt policy and the current box office surge is occurring in an environment that tilts toward originals.
And just for the record, all six majors recorded annually domestic grosses of more than $1 billion for the first time. However, collectively they’re claiming (and there’s no reason to doubt their veracity) that profit margins are shrinking in the current round of negotiations with the talent unions and guilds.
Weekend Estimates – January 4-6, 2008
| Title | Distributor | Gross (averag | % chng | Theas | Cume |
| National Treasure: Book of Secrets | BV | 20.5 (5,450) | -43% | 3762 | 171.1 |
| I Am Legend | WB | 16.2 (4,440) | -41% | 3648 | 228.5 |
| Juno | Fox Searchlight | 16.1 (8,360) | 51% | 1925 | 51.9 |
| Alvin and the Chipmunks | Fox | 15.4 (4,450) | -47% | 3462 | 176.1 |
| One Missed Call | WB | 13.6 (6,060) | – | 2240 | 13.6 |
| Charlie Wilson’s War | Uni | 8.1 (3,170) | -33% | 2555 | 52.5 |
| P.S. I Love You | WB | 7.7 (3,110) | -17% | 2471 | 39.1 |
| The Water Horse | Sony | 6.2 (3,300) | -33% | 1874 | 30.8 |
| Sweeney Todd | Par | 5.4 (4,310) | -34% | 1249 | 38.5 |
| Atonement | Focus | 5.0 (8,540) | 59% | 583 | 20.5 |
| Alien vs. Predator: Requiem | Fox | 4.3 (1,640) | -58% | 2617 | 36.9 |
| The Great Debators | MGM | 4.2 (3,240) | -30% | 1299 | 22 |
| Enchanted | BV | 3.7 (1,920) | -42% | 1932 | 119.7 |
| The Golden Compass | New Line | 2.6 (1,600) | -44% | 1611 | 65.4 |
| Walk Hard | Sony | 1.8 (860) | -54% | 2041 | 17.2 |
| No Country for Old Men | Miramax | 1.7 (2,110) | -22% | 819 | 44.7 |
| The Kite Runner | Par Vantage | 1.6 (4,220) | -12% | 384 | 8.6 |
| There Will Be Blood | Par Vantage | 1.4 (26,860) | 617% | 51 | 1.9 |
| The Orphanage | Picture/Christal | .52 (7,540) | 123% | 69 | 0.9 |
| Weekend Total ($500,000+ Films) | $136.00 | – | – | – | |
| % Change (Last Year) | 7% | – | – | – | |
| % Change (Last Week) | -25% | – | – | – | |
| Also debuting/expanding | |||||
| The Savages | Fox Searchlight | .45 (4,130) | -13% | 110 | 2.5 |
| Diving Bell and the Butterfly | Miramax | .34 (6,020) | 26% | 57 | 1.5 |
| The Bucket List | WB | .32 (20,010) | -5% | 16 | 1.3 |
| Persepolis | Sony Classics | 88,400 (12,630) | -1% | 7 | 0.32 |
| The Killing of John Lennon | IFC | 2,620 (2,620) | – | 1 | 0.01 |
Domestic Market Share – 2007 Calendar Year
| Rank | Distributor (releases) | Gross (millions) | Mkt Share | % Change | Rank ‘0 |
| 1 | Paramount (21) | 1500.9 | 15.50% | 58% | 5 |
| 2 | Warner Bros. (32) | 1417.9 | 14.60% | 33% | 4 |
| 3 | Buena Vista (20) | 1350.8 | 14.00% | -8% | 2 |
| 4 | Sony (30) | 1261 | 13.00% | -27% | 1 |
| 5 | Universal (20) | 1098.7 | 11.40% | 35% | 6 |
| 6 | Fox (23) | 1007.9 | 10.40% | -28% | 3 |
| 7 | New Line (14) | 490.1 | 5.10% | 94% | 8 |
| 8 | Lions Gate (20) | 369.5 | 3.80% | 11% | 7 |
| 9 | MGM (26) | 365.9 | 3.80% | 119% | 11 |
| 10 | Fox Searchlight (14) | 132.7 | 1.40% | -20% | 12 |
| 11 | Miramax (10) | 126.1 | 1.30% | 175% | 16 |
| 12 | Focus (9) | 120.3 | 1.20% | -15% | 10 |
| 13 | Par Vantage (9) | 60.5 | 0.60% | 30% | 15 |
| 14 | Picturehouse (8) | 57.2 | 0.60% | 139% | 23 |
| 15 | Other (309) | 323.2 | 3.30% | N/A | – |
| – | – | 9682.7 | 100% | 4.90% | – |
| Other Distributors | |||||
| 16 | Sony Classics (19) | 39.2 | 0.40% | -34% | 13 |
| 17 | Weinstein Co. (11) | 37.1 | 0.40% | -84% | 9 |
| 18 | FreeStyle (15) | 32.4 | 0.30% | -42% | 14 |
| 22 | Warner Independent (7) | 15.7 | 0.20% | -43% | 18 |
