By Leonard Klady Klady@moviecitynews.com
Property Values
The less than huggable E.T.s of District 9 led weekend box office viewing with an estimated $36.8 million. A clutch of new film releases with varying commercial potency buoyed ticket sales including the romantic sci-fi of The Time Traveler’s Wife that ranked third with $19.3 million. There were passable returns for the comic perspective on car salesman The Goods: Live, Hard, Sell Hard of $5.3 million and an OK $3.4 million bow for the Japanese anime Ponyo but Bandslam’s $2.2 million preem tagged it as an instant casualty.
Among niche and limited debuts was a potent $580,000 launch for Kaminey, a Bollywood film with Slumdog Millionaire resonance. Also very strong was the $92,400 gross on seven screens for rock doc It Might Get Loud but the bawdy humor of Spread landed with a thud on box office of $113,000 at 101 venues.
Overall revenues dipped modestly from last weekend but experienced a double digit boost from 2008 and the season appears headed for a modest box office bump (though admissions trail last year) come the Labor Day finish line.
The buzz was effective for District 9 and even critics responded favorably to the parable of immigrant discrimination and revolt. Pundits anticipated a potent bow between $35 million and $40 million and the film performed as expected and might just beat the odds with a less than intense second weekend drop.
There was also positive anticipation for The Time Traveler’s Wife based on the weepie bestseller. Again, opening response and upbeat word-of-mouth could provide extended theatrical length despite the current fierce competition for distaff viewers.
The Goods ushered in a new slant for Paramount Vantage that appears to rob the banner of any distinction from its mother studio. The specialty division seems to be evolving as Paramount’s equivalent to Screen Gems at least in concept.
Disney still hasn’t figured out how to translate Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki’s popularity to American mainstream audiences. Ponyowas embraced critically and arrived with a $180 million international box office but as with past efforts skewed toward aficionados rather than a family crowd.
Weekend box office added up to roughly $144 million that translated into a slight 4% decline from seven days back. However, it exceeded 2008 revenues by 15%. A year back openings of Tropic Thunder, Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Mirrors racked up respective grosses of $25.8 million, $14.6 million and $11.2 million.
Bollywood cinema is notorious (though not unique) for cobbling American plots but more than a few eyebrows were raised when Kamineycribbed from Slumdog Millionaire’s script. Slumdog failed to secure an Indian distributor and Fox agreed to handle the film that wound up doing well but not extraordinary business there. This spin appears headed for more conspicuous success on home turf.
Weekend Estimates: August 14-16, 2009
| Title | Distributor | Gross (average) | % change * | Theaters | Cume |
| District 9 | Sony | 36.8 (12,080) | – | 3049 | 36.8 |
| G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra | Par | 22.6 (5,630) | -59% | 4007 | 98.8 |
| The Time Traveler’s Wife | WB | 19.3 (6,450) | New | 2988 | 19.3 |
| Julie & Julia | Sony | 12.2 (5,190) | -39% | 2354 | 43.5 |
| G-Force | BV | 7.0 (2,240) | -30% | 3065 | 99 |
| The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard | Par Vantage | 5.3 (2,890) | New | 1838 | 5.3 |
| Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince | WB | 5.2 (1,870) | -42% | 2771 | 283.9 |
| The Ugly Truth | Sony | 4.4 (1,620) | -35% | 2733 | 77.4 |
| Ponyo | BV | 3.4 (3,700) | New | 927 | 3.4 |
| (500) Days of Summer | Fox Searchlight | 3.0 (2,840) | -20% | 1048 | 17.9 |
| Funny People | Uni | 3.0 (1,150) | -63% | 2584 | 47.9 |
| A Perfect Getaway | Uni/Alliance | 2.7 (1,280) | -54% | 2159 | 11.5 |
| Bandslam | Summit | 2.2 (1,040) | New | 2121 | 2.2 |
| The Hangover | WB | 2.0 (1,720) | 39% | 1185 | 265.8 |
| Orphan | WB | 1.6 (1,280) | -56% | 1261 | 38.4 |
| Aliens in the Attic | Fox | 1.4 (910) | -66% | 1535 | 20.5 |
| Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen | Par | 1.4 (1,410) | -53% | 1007 | 396.6 |
| The Proposal | BV | 1.3 (1,180) | -55% | 1084 | 157.7 |
| Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs | Fox | 1.2 (1,440) | -54% | 858 | 190.8 |
| The Hurt Locker | Summit | .62 (1,380) | -51% | 450 | 10.3 |
| Kaminey | UTV | .58 (6,910) | New | 84 | 0.58 |
| Weekend Total ($500,000+ Films) | – | $137.20 | – | ||
| % Change (Last Year) | – | 15% | – | ||
| % Change (Last Week) | – | -4% | – | ||
| Also debuting/expanding | |||||
| In the Loop | IFC | .19 (2,550) | -14% | 74 | 1.2 |
| Adam | Searchlight | .21 (3,150) | 100% | 66 | 0.52 |
| Paper Heart | Overture | .16 (2,400) | -26% | 68 | 0.51 |
| Spread | Anchor Bay | .11 (1,120) | – | 101 | 0.11 |
| It Might Get Loud | Sony Classics | 92,400 (13,200) | – | 7 | 0.09 |
| Cold Souls | IDP | 69,200 (3,460) | 10% | 20 | 0.17 |
| Thirst | Focus | 49,600 (3,310) | -11% | 15 | 0.23 |
| Grace | Anchor Bay | 6,500 (3,250) | – | 2 | 0.01 |
| Taxidermia | Regent | 4,100 (2,050) | – | 2 | 0.01 |
| Earth Days | Zeitgeist | 1,100 (1,100) | – | 1 | 0.01 |
Domestic Market Share: To August 13, 2009
| Distributor (releases) | Gross | Mrkt Share |
| Warner Bros. (23) | 1389.1 | 20.40% |
| Paramount (13) | 1252.4 | 18.40% |
| Fox (13) | 899.4 | 13.20% |
| Buena Vista (13) | 846.7 | 12.40% |
| Sony (15) | 728.4 | 10.70% |
| Universal (16) | 665.5 | 9.70% |
| Lions Gate (7) | 237.4 | 3.50% |
| Fox Searchlight (8) | 209.7 | 3.10% |
| Summit (7) | 157.2 | 2.30% |
| Focus (6) | 105.1 | 1.50% |
| Paramount Vantage (2) | 52.4 | 0.80% |
| MGM (3) | 42.3 | 0.60% |
| Miramax (5) | 41.3 | 0.60% |
| Weinstein Co. (6) | 34.5 | 0.50% |
| Other * (194) | 154.6 | 2.30% |
| * none greater than 0.4% | 6816 | 100.00% |
