History be damned, 10,000 B.C. went to the head of the class with an opening weekend estimated at $35.1 million. In an otherwise depressed frame, there was also positive spin for College Road Trip that debuted in second spot with $13.8 million and a rather respectable $5.4 million launch for the ripped from the headlines The Bank Job.

The session also featured fair returns for the period dramedy Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day of $2.4 million in a high end limited bow. Additionally, local boxing drama La Ligne Brisee wasn’t quite a knockout with a $230,000 opening jab in Quebec and Gus Van Sant’s Cannes-prizedParanoid Park raised anxiety levels to $55,000; again primarily from 11 Quebec playdates. There were also encouraging initial results for independents Married Life, Last Stop for Paul and Snow Angels in exclusive starts but there was nothing distinctive about the Bollywood entry Black & White.

Weekend revenues experienced an OK 9% bounce from the prior frame but got comparatively clobbered when placed beside the anomalous 2007 session that was led by the unexpectedly huge $70.9 million debut of 300. Combined with Wild Hogs strong hold, the current session is down 32% and the current 13% improved box office pace is expected to continue to shrink at least into early April.

Critics delighted in making sport of the scientific inanities of 10,000 B.C. but clearly the intent was not to replicate the success d’estime of bygone caveman epic Quest for Fire. The inside studio (and theater owner) projection was optimistically nudging $40 million but came up shy as its audience proved to be tilted toward ogling males (61% according to exit polls) rather than evolving as a date movie. Its $25 million gross in 20 overseas markets including Spain, Mexico, Germany and Australia also reflects a slightly softer than expected start but the situation is hardly on the catastrophic scale of, shall we say, Poseidon.

Also slightly below expectations was College Road Trip and one can speculate that audiences may not have been quite ready for another ride with Martin Lawrence with Roscoe Carmichael still on screen. It’s also likely that Raven-Symone required a stronger vehicle to make the transition from television.

The weekend critical darling was unquestionably The Bank Job that was marketed to an action crowd likely mystified by the low-tech antics of the period heist film. The prospect of the film becoming a crossover success remains a long shot theatrically though it does appear to have met minimum commercial benchmarks for the U.S.

Holdover titles largely experienced 50% declines with a not unexpectedly steeper drop for last week’s leader Semi-Pro. It was also clear – apart from foreign-language winner The Counterfeiters – that Oscar got out of town faster than usual.

It may be no more than coincidence that the exit of award season fare saw an unusually brisk number of niche entries entering the marketplace. None of the dozen or so titles evinced signs of breakout potential but at least a few appeared to have sufficient appeal to hang around for a weeks on the circuit.

CJ7, Stephen Chow’s E.T.-inspired follow up to Kung Fu Hustle was deemed too specialized to push his appeal outside his formidable Asian fan base. And the cable saturation marketing for mockumentary Last Stop for Paul has yet to prove its effectiveness … though it remains early in the film’s theatrical penetration.

– Leonard Klady

Domestic Market Share – To March 5, 2008

Top Limited Grossers – To March 6, 2008

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