March 18, 2007
Weekend Finals
Domestic Market Share

The Spartans of 300 were still commanding the field even as their energies diminished by 56% to an estimated $31.3 million. Meanwhile the incoming forces had mixed effect with the chiller Premonition scarring up an impressive $17.7 million to rank third; followed by OK returns of $7.7 million for the horror entry Dead Silence and a disappointing $5.6 million launch of the Chris Rock marital comedy I Think I Love My Wife.

The frame was also rife with regional and specialized openers with particular good results for the Cannes-prized The Wind That Shakes the Barley in exclusives and the Quebec release of the Edith Piaf biopic La Vie en Rose.

Response to 300 has been considerably stronger than anticipated with the bygone heroics generating in excess of $100 million domestically in eight days of release. Wild Hogs also crossed that benchmark this past weekend and the two films along with Norbit and Ghost Rider have converted the slow starting first quarter from a deficit into a 2% improvement for the year to date.

Though primarily associated with romantic comedies Sandra Bullock‘s choice to go spooky in Premonition translated into the performer’s best ever opening weekend debut. The presence of that film and the similar appeal Dead Silencesuggested both films would suffer some commercial erosion but weekend results belied that forecast with both films hitting their target audience and extending beyond.

The fates were less kind to Chris Rock with the more thoughtful and less raucous I Think I Love My Wife. It fell short of bringing in his core audience and demonstrated little effect of developing new converts. Loosely based on the vintageLove in the Afternoon, the redo definitely got lost in translation.

On the heels of the dynamic bow of 300 weekend revenues experienced a sharp 27% decline from seven days earlier. However, ticket sales were 9% better than the comparable 2006 frame when V for Vendetta launched with $25.6 million.

New openers included an unusual number of national and provincial debuts in Canada. In Quebec the tuneful if tragic Piaf homage La Vie en Rose bowed at 42 locations to roughly $270,000. The film has grossed a very strong $40 million in a handful of European nations since its bow last month. Indigenous movies did not nearly as well with the horror-comedy Fido grossing about $93,000 from 72 sites across the country and Cashback generating slightly better than $35,000 from 22 Quebec venues.

The latest Bollywood release Hat Trick was also a niche disappointment with a slim $13,500 at 22 screens. Other weekend casualties included the comedy Tortilla Heaven that failed to spark at a targeted Hispanic crowd with a $61,800 return at 76 theaters; the horror opus Behind the Mask with a listless $29,300 from 72 playdates; and the epic adventure Nomad from the real Kazakhstan struggling to $13,100 from 30 locations. The latter was in desperate need of some Borat cross-promotion.

The bright spot proved to be Ken Loach‘s Cannes Palme d’or winner The Wind That Shakes the Barley set in 1920s Ireland during its turbulent steps toward independence. Critical hosannas translated into better than $9,000 per engagement averages from 14 engagements in the U.S. and Canada.

– Leonard Klady

Weekend Finals – March 16-18, 2007

Estimates – March 16-18, 2007

Domestic Market Share: Jan 1 – March 15, 2007

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