Kid-lit fave Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs claimed bragging rights in the weekend box office race with an estimated $30.3 million debut. The frame was rife with new entries including three other national releases that bowed to tepid commercial response. The black comic The Informant!ranked second with $10.5 million trailed by the darkly romantic Love Happens at $8.4 million and the femme empowered chiller Jennifer’s Body with $6.7 million.

There were more than a dozen freshman titles that premiered in a broad spectrum of niches. The live broadcast of the Merryweather/Marquez title bout knocked out $254,000 from 171 open circuits while the mentoring saga The Secrets of Jonathan Sperry gathered in $261,000 from 117 amen corners. A trio of Indian movies bowed with only Dil Bole Hadippa! showing commercial potency though Unnaipol Oruvun spread its bets with simultaneous releases in both Tamil and Telegu versions.

Easily best of the limited newcomers was the maiden release of Apparition Film’s critically acclaimed period drama Bright Star with a per screen average of almost $10,000 from 19 exposures. Another debuting company, Paladin, did OK with the Australian drama Disgrace that grossed $11,800 at three venues. There was good response for French imports Paris and 35 Shots of Rum but little applause for local entry Detour in Quebec.

Volume generally trumped all other factors in providing a double-digit boost in box office revenues as audiences waded into the new Fall season.

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs was the anticipated champ heading into the weekend though pundits pegged its bow in the mid-$20 million range. The animated yarn went out with roughly 59% of its dates in 3-D including 127 in large format. Those 1,828 stereoscopic venues generated about two-thirds of the gross according to the studio and finals might easily bump that percentage slightly upward. Regardless one has to wrestle with whether the split is a triumph of substance over gimmickry or a sign that audiences won’t automatically shell out for just any 3-D experience.

The other lower budgeted new entries targeted narrower audiences and the studio spin is that each hit or slightly exceeded their bottom line expectations. However, as the box office sage often observed, studios aren’t in the business to break. Only The Informant! displayed signs of a second weekend hold that might translate into profits among the group.

Weekend revenues were headed toward a $100 million overall total that translated into a 9% improvement from seven days prior that was also 13% better than the 2008 comparable frame. A year ago the premiere of Lakeview Terrace led with a $15 million box office with other debs My Best Friend’s Girl and Igor adding respectively to the till with $8.3 million and $7.8 million.

The Saturday livecast of the Merryweather/Marquez fight is another instant hit for Fathom Productions that has effectively employed the one-time only strategy for everything from opera broadcasts to the upcoming anniversary screening of The Wizard of Oz. Digital projection blue skiers have talked about the switch from celluloid providing a more diverse slate at the multiplex but to date this is the only company that has effectively zeroed in on very specific niches. Whether there’s room in the auditorium for competition will be determined in time but one has to hope in light of the otherwise risk averse in the mainstream production environment.

by Leonard Klady

Domestic Market Share: To September 17, 2009

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