By Leonard Klady Klady@moviecitynews.com
King of the Box Office
Avatar continued to fend off all contenders as b.o. champ with an estimated $54.1 million over the four-day Martin Luther King holiday stanza. Its closest rival was the incoming science-fiction allegory Book of Eli that racked up an impressive $38.3 million. The session’s other national debut was the Jackie Chan action comedy The Spy Next Door that grossed a disappointing $12.9 million that ranked it fifth in the lineup.
Also notable was the wide expansion of The Lovely Bones with a $20.5 million tally that surpassed expectations and breathes new life into the downbeat tale.
Niche and exclusive premieres included a buoyant $96,500 bow for The Last Station at three venues and a not too shabby $33,100 two-screen for British independent Fish Tank. However, Bollywood entry Chance Pe Dance withered on the vine with $116,300 from 68 circuit stops.
Overall box office expanded to about $209 million for a tidy 6% boost (3-day to 3-day) from last weekend. It nonetheless dipped by 11% from 2009 when the opening of Paul Blart: Mall Cop scored with $39.2 million. Last year’s other freshmen My Bloody Valentine, Notorious and Hotel for Dogs were closely packed with respective first laps of $24.1 million, $23.1 million and $22.9 million.
This time of year one expects some additional traction from the scrum of award contenders but that’s little in evidence apart from Avatar and the still limited exposure for Crazy Heart. Up in the Air is maintaining itself but the likes of such films as Invictus and Nine are approaching the exit door and efforts to theatrically re-launch The Hurt Locker have been met with indifference. Perhaps, the latter will experience a spike in interest with its imminent DVD launch.
Anticipation was high for Book of Eli with top end estimates of around $40 million and the hope of a sharper decline for the very resilient blue folk that might translate into king toppling status. Next weekend sees Tooth Fairy taking a shot by trying to replicate Dwayne Johnson’s past success at poking fun at his tough guy image. Still in light of Chan’s _ someone who’s always mixed comedy and action _ just fair results with The Spy Next Door, Avatar could well make it six weekends at the top and counting.
Weekend Estimates: January 15-18, 2010
Title | Distributor | Gross (average) | % change * | Theaters | Cume |
Avatar | Fox | 54.1 (16,460) | -15% | 3285 | 505.5 |
Book of Eli | WB | 38.3 (12,320) | New | 3111 | 38.33 |
The Lovely Bones | Par | 20.5 (7,990) | – | 2563 | 20.9 |
Alvin & the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel | Fox | 15.2 (4,620) | -30% | 3296 | 196.3 |
The Spy Next Door | Lions Gate | 12.9 (4,420) | — | 2924 | 12.9 |
Sherlock Holmes | WB | 11.6 (3,660) | -41% | 3173 | 181.8 |
It’s Complicated | Uni | 9.5 (3,570) | -26% | 2673 | 90.1 |
Leap Year | Uni | 7.0 (2,770) | -36% | 2512 | 18.7 |
The Blind Side | WB | 6.5 (2,720) | -27% | 2408 | 227.7 |
Up in the Air | Par | 6.5 (3,100) | -24% | 2107 | 63.9 |
Daybreakers | Lions Gate | 5.8 (2,290) | -68% | 2523 | 25 |
The Princess and the Frog | BV | 4.0 (2,240) | -40% | 1777 | 97.5 |
Youth in Revolt | Weinstein Co. | 3.5 (1,880) | -57% | 1873 | 12.7 |
Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus | E1/Sony Classics | 1.4 (2,280) | -41% | 606 | 6.1 |
The Young Victoria | Apparition/Alliance | 1.2 (2,740) | -14% | 449 | 7.1 |
Twilight: New Moon | Summit | 1.1 (1,530) | -46% | 724 | 292.4 |
Carmen Live | Fathom | 1.1 (3,300) | New | 332 | 1.1 |
A Single Man | Weinstein Co. | 1.0 (4,660) | 136% | 219 | 3.5 |
Invictus | WB | .95 (1,580) | -53% | 602 | 35.1 |
Crazy Heart | Fox Searchlight | .78 (16,600) | 41% | 47 | 2.2 |
Nine | Weinstein Co. | .67 (1,590) | -64% | 422 | 18.2 |
Broken Embraces | Sony Classics | .51 (2,520) | 11% | 202 | 3.2 |
Weekend Total ($500,000+ Films) | – | $203.90 | – | ||
% Change (Last Year) | – | -11% | – | ||
% Change (Last Week) | – | 6% | – | ||
Also debuting/expanding | |||||
Chance Pe Dance | UTV | .12 (1,710) | – | 68 | 0.12 |
The White Ribbon | Sony Classics | .10 (8,500) | 211% | 12 | 0.3 |
The Last Station | Sony Classics | 96,500 (32,170) | – | 3 | 0.13 |
Fish Tank | IFC | 33,100 (16,550) | – | 2 | 0.03 |
High Life | Union | 11,800 (5,900) | – | 2 | 0.01 |
Domestic Market Share: 2009
Distributor (releases) | Gross (millions) | Mkt Share | % Change | Rank ’09 | |
1 | Warner Bros. (34) | 2099.1 | 19.70% | 19% | 1 |
2 | Paramount (15) | 1477.8 | 13.80% | -6% | 2 |
3 | Sony (24) | 1459.6 | 13.70% | 14% | 3 |
4 | Fox (18) | 1388.1 | 13.00% | 37% | 5 |
5 | Buena Vista (22) | 1233.1 | 11.60% | 22% | 6 |
6 | Universal (21) | 890.7 | 8.30% | -20% | 4 |
7 | Summit (11) | 483.9 | 4.50% | 114% | 8 |
8 | Lions Gate (14) | 407.8 | 3.80% | -7% | 7 |
9 | Fox Searchlight (13) | 263.4 | 2.50% | 23% | 9 |
10 | Weinstein Co. (11) | 205.8 | 1.90% | 306% | 17 |
11 | Focus (10) | 161.7 | 1.50% | 16% | 11 |
12 | Overture (8) | 157.8 | 1.50% | 53% | 12 |
13 | Paramount Vantage (13) ** | 67.6 | 0.60% | -23% | 13 |
14 | MGM (17) | 64.8 | 0.60% | -60% | 10 |
15 | Miramax (8) | 62.3 | 0.60% | -24% | 14 |
Other (316) | 253.2 | 2.40% | N/A | ||
10676.7 | 100% | 0% | |||
Other Distributors | |||||
16 | Sony Classics (20) | 45.4 | 0.40% | 11% | 20 |
20 | Apparition (4) * | 16.2 | 0.15% | N/A | |
*New Distributor | |||||
**Close distribution during 2009 | |||||
Top Domestic Releases – To December 20, 2009
Title | Distributor | Gross |
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen | Par | 402,195,608 |
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince | WB | 301,959,197 |
Up | BV | 293,283,811 |
The Hangover | WB | 277,334,275 |
The Twilight Saga: New Moon | Summit | 274,598,319 |
Star Trek | Par | 257,807,784 |
Monsters vs. Aliens | Par | 198,377,900 |
Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs | Fox | 196,624,037 |
X-Men Origins: Wolverine | Fox | 179,883,157 |
Night at the Museum 2 | Fox | 177,245,443 |
The Blind Side | WB | 164,725,525 |
The Proposal | BV | 163,958,031 |
2012 | Sony | 159,028,696 |
Fast & Furious | Uni | 155,239,768 |
G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra | Par | 150,329,089 |
Paul Blart: Mall Cop | Sony | 146,777,505 |
Taken | Fox | 145,000,989 |
Gran Torino * | WB | 142,251,852 |
Angels & Demons | Sony | 133,859,408 |
A Christmas Carol | BV | 130,813,354 |