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Weekend Box Office Report — December 26

Sunday, December 26th, 2010

Grit and Bear It

Little Fockers and True Grit led the Christmas charge with respective opening debuts estimated at $34 million and $25.5 million that topped weekend movie going. The session also featured a Christmas day bow for the animated Gulliver’s Travels, which netted a two-day gross of $6.9 million.

Bollywood’s seasonal offering Tees Maar Khann rang up an impressive $700,000. However, several other Hindi, Telegu and Tamil releases were non-starters. China’s If You Are the One 2 opened up day-and-date (a first) with its Mainland release and chimed in with a potent $208,000 launch.

The frame also featured a clutch of last-minute releases for award season consideration. Best of the bunch was Venice-prized Somewhere with $148,000 from seven venues. The animated The Illusionist displayed comparable strength with a two-day tally of $52,600 on two screens and a four screen push for Barney’s Version in Canada proved effective with $64,400 (a single U.S. Oscar qualifying run was unreported). Lastly, Country Strong lilted $33,800 from two sneak peeks.

Overall the Christmas session got clobbered with calendar positioning that landed the eve on Friday (expect something similar with New Years). And while an estimated $155 million weekend provided an 11% boost from the prior weekend it translated into a pounding 45% drop from 2009. As the door quickly closes on the year, box office gross has slipped behind the prior year and admissions are approaching close to double digit erosion. A year ago Avatar’s second weekend grossed $75.6 million and debuts of Sherlock Holmes and The Alvin Squeakquel added $62.4 million and $48.9 million respectively.

All that said, tracking wasn’t exactly on target for new entries and holdovers. The third in the Fockers series was expected to render a first weekend of between $40 million and $45 million while the sophomore edition of TRON: Legacy was pegged at $25 million. Conversely True Grit outperformed pundits soothsaying that had it shy of $20 million.

Holiday crowds clearly voted for The Fighter, Black Swan and The King’s Speech as their Oscar favorites. Still there are seven additional slots to fill and the campaigning is apt to intensify in the upcoming weeks.
__________________________________________________

Weekend Estimates – December 24-26, 2010

Title	Distributor	Gross (average)	% change *	Theaters	Cume
Little Fockers	Uni	34.0 (9,610)	NEW	3536	48.2
True Grit	Par	25.5 (8,360)	NEW	3047	36.6
Tron: Legacy	BV	20.6 (5,960)	-53%	3451	88.7
Chronicles of Narnia: Dawn Treader	Fox	10.9 (3,240)	-12%	3350	63.9
The Fighter	Par/Alliance	8.6 (3,430)	-29%	2511	27.7
Yogi Bear	WB	8.4 (2,380)	-55%	3515	36.3
Gulliver’s Travels *	Fox	6.9 (2,700)	NEW	2546	6.9
Tangled	BV	6.7 (2,590)	-24%	2582	143.8
Fox Searchlight	6.4 (4,390)	-23%	1466	28.9
The Tourist	Sony	5.6 (2,020)	-35%	2756	41.1
The King’s Speech	Weinstein Co.	4.6 (6,530)	317%	700	8.4
How Do You Know	Sony	3.7 (1,480)	-51%	2483	15.1
Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows, Part 1*	WB	3.3 (1,920)	-34%	1732	273.1
Tees Maar Khan	UTV	.70 (6,780)	NEW	103	0.7
Due Date	WB	.37 (910)	-71%	404	98.3
Unstoppable	Fox	.36 (920)	-80%	393	78.5
Megamind	Par	.35 (460)	-49%	764	142.6
Burlesque	Sony	.33 (660)	-77%	501	36.7
The Social Network	Sony	.31 (1,230)	9%	249	92.3
If You Are the One 2	China Lion	.21 (9,040)	NEW	23	0.21
127 Hours	Fox Searchlight	.20 (1,720)	-64%	115	9.8
* Christmas Day opening


Weekend Total ($500,000+ Films)		$145.90
% Change (Last Year)		-45%
% Change (Last Week)		11%


Also debuting/expanding
Somewhere	Focus	.15 (21,140)		7	0.2
Rabbit Hole	Lionsgate	88,700 (2,610)	65%	34	0.16
Barney’s Version	eOne	64,400 (16,100)		4	0.06
Casino Jack	IDP	60,500 (4,030)	75%	15	0.11
The Illusionist *	Sony Classics	52,600 (26,300)		2	0.05
Country Strong	Sony	33,800 (16,900)		2	0.05
The Tempest	Miramax/Maple	32,700 (2,520)	-44%	13	0.19
Toonpur Ka Superhero	Eros	9,600 (400)		24	0.01
Isi Life Mein	Rajshri	4,500 (250)		18	0.01

Domestic Market Share (Jan. 1 – Dec. 23, 2010)

Distributor (releases)	Gross	Market Share
Warner Bros. (30)	1861	18.40%
Paramount (19)	1634.7	16.10%
Fox (19)	1442.4	14.20%
Buena Vista (17)	1349.1	13.30%
Sony (26)	1239.1	12.20%
Universal (18)	798.7	7.90%
Summit (11)	522.2	5.20%
Lionsgate (16)	519.3	5.10%
Fox Searchlight (8)	105	1.00%
Overture (8)	87.4	0.90%
Focus (7)	75.2	0.70%
CBS (3)	72.5	0.70%
Weinstein Co. (9)	65.5	0.60%
Sony Classics (22)	59.5	0.60%
MGM (1)	50.4	0.50%
Other * (317)	253.5	2.50%
	10135.5	100.00%
* none greater than .04%

Top Limited Releases * (Jan. 1 – Dec. 23, 2010)

Title	Distributor	Gross
Hubble 3D	WB	19,359,509
The Ghost Writer	Summit	15,569,712
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo	Music Box/Alliance	11,287,817
The Young Victoria *	Apparition/Alliance	11,131,232
127 Hours	Fox Searchlight	9,321,571
Get Low	Sony Classics	9,106,802
Fair Game	Summit	8,650,388
A Single Man *	Weinstein Co.	7,935,872
The Girl Who Played with Fire	Music Box/Alliance	7,848,496
Cyrus	Fox Searchlight	7,461,082
Babies	Focus	7,444,272
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus	E1/Sony Classics	7,394,171
Conviction	Fox Searchlight	6,768,063
City Island	Anchor Bay	6,671,036
The Last Station	Sony Classics	6,617,867
Waiting for “Superman”	Par Vantage	6,410,257
The Secret in Their Eyes	Sony Classics	6,391,436
It’s Kind of a Funny Story	Focus	6,362,514
Winter’s Bone	Roadside Attraction	6,237,371
Under the Sea 3D *	WB	5,732,362
* does not include 2009 box office

Tags: 127 Hours, A Single Man, Babies, Barney's Version, Black Swan, Burlesque, Casino Jack, Chronicles of Narnia: Dawn Treader, City Island, Conviction, Country Strong, Cyrus, Due Date, Fair Game, Get Low, Gulliver's Travels, Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows, how do you know, Hubble 3D, If You Are the One 2, Isi Life Mein, It's Kind Of A Funny Story, Little Fockers, Megamind, Part 1, Rabbit Hole, Somewhere, Tangled, Tees Maar Khan, The Fighter, The Ghost Writer, The Girl Who Played With Fire, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, The Illusionist, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, The King's Speech, The Last Station, The Secret In Their Eyes, The Social Network, The Tempest, The Tourist, The Young Victoria, Toonpur Ka Superhero, Tron - Legacy, True Grit, Under the Sea 3D, unstoppable, Waiting For 'Superman', Winter's Bone, Yogi Bear
Posted in MCN Originals, MCN Weekend, The Weekend Report | Comments Off on Weekend Box Office Report — December 26

Weekend Box Office Report — November 28

Sunday, November 28th, 2010

Tangled Up in Blues … and Reds

A quartet of new releases for Thanksgiving failed to topple Harry Potter from the top of the charts during the gobble, gobble fest. The first part of the Potter finale — Deathly Hallows — grossed an estimated $51.2 million for the weekend portion of the holiday frame. Just a cluck behind was the animated Rapunzel of Tangled with $49.2 million ($69.1 million for the 5-days).

The other three wide release freshmen clustered in positions five to seven with indifferent results. The glitzy musical Burlesque crooned $11.4 million, rom-com Love and Other Drugs ingested $9.6 million and Faster added a tortoise-paced $8.2 million.

The big noise of the session proved to be the well positioned awards contender The King’s Speech that amassed a heady $86,000 screen average from just four venues. There was also an impressive $610,000 for local hockey comedy Lance et compte in Quebec, but a dull $212,000 for Bollywood entry Break Ke Baad. And a new seasonal Nutcracker in 3D was virtually D.O.A. with a $62,700 tally from 42 screens.

Adding it all up, Thanksgiving box office was a smidgen less than last year’s result.

Industry trackers generally predicted that Deathly Hallows would prevail at the box office but few anticipated that Tangled would be truly competitive with the Hogwart’s grad. They also generally over estimated the strengths of the remaining trio of new entries; especially Faster, which was given the edge over Love and Other Drugs.

Overall weekend numbers added up to roughly $187 million that translated into a 6% decline from the immediate prior session. It was also a slight 1% decline from Thanksgiving weekend 2009 when The Twilight Saga: New Moon and The Blind Side led with respectively $42.9 million and $40.1 million. The top new entry, Old Dogs, ranked fourth with $16.9 million.

The current session also saw expansions for 127 Hours and Fair Game that were encouraging but nonetheless displayed signs of fatigue. Still with critics groups just weeks away from announcements both films could well experience second winds. The potent arrival of The King’s Speech however has put that film in the forefront and its now vying with a real royal wedding as well as a smattering of pictures yet to be seen for late year honors.

__________________________________________________

Weekend Estimates – November 26-28, 2010

Title	Distributor	Gross (average)	% change *	Theaters	Cume
Harry Potter & the Deathly Hollows, Part 1*	WB	51.2 (12,420)	-59%	4125	221.2
Tangled	BV	49.2 (13,660)	NEW	3603	69.1
Megamind	Par	12.9 (3,770)	-20%	3411	130.5
Unstoppable	Fox	11.7 (3,670)	-10%	3183	60.6
Burlesque	Sony	11.4 (3,740)	NEW	3037	16.8
Love and Other Drugs	Fox	9.6 (3,920)	NEW	2455	13.8
Faster	CBS	8.2 (3,360)	NEW	2451	11.8
Due Date	WB	7.2 (2,830)	-19%	2555	84.9
The Next Three Days	Lionsgate	4.8 (1,860)	-27%	2564	14.5
Morning Glory	Par	4.0 (1,630)	-24%	2441	26.4
127 Hours	Searchlight	1.7 (5,900)	89%	293	4.4
Fair Game	Summit	1.6 (3,960)	8%	396	6
For Colored Girls …	Lionsgate	1.4 (2,360)	-38%	605	36.6
Red	Summit	1.4 (1,540)	-43%	914	86.2
Skyline	Uni/Alliance	1.1 (900)	-70%	1189	20.1
The Social Network	Sony	.73 (2,510)	-22%	291	90.4
Secretariat	BV	.66 (1.310)	-32%	502	57.6
Lance et compte	Seville	.61 (6,930)	NEW	88	0.61
The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest	Music Box/Alliance	.36 (1,970)	-10%	184	4.2
Despicable Me	Uni	.35 (1,320)	31%	266	249.7
The King’s Speech	Weinstein Co.	.34 (86,030)	NEW	4	0.34
Inside Job	Sony Classics	.31 (2,330)	-9%	132	2.6


Weekend Total ($500,000+ Films)		$179.40
% Change (Last Year)		-1%
% Change (Last Week)		-6%


Also debuting/expanding
Break Ke Baad	Reliance	.21 (2,500)		85	0.33
Nutcracker 3D	FreeStyle	62,700 (1,490)		42	0.09
Made in Dagenham	Sony Classics	62.500 (5,680)	64%	11	0.12
The Legend of Pale Male	Balcony	11,400 (11,400)		1	0.01
The Unjust	CJ	7,200 (7,200)		1	0.01
Tere Ishq Nachaye	Eros	4,200 (200)		21	0.01

Domestic Market Share (Jan. 1 – Nov. 21, 2010)

Distributor (releases)	Gross	Market Share
Warner Bros. (27)	1674.1	17.80%
Paramount (18)	1578.1	16.70%
Fox (17)	1333.8	14.10%
Buena Vista (15)	1174.6	12.50%
Sony (23)	1161.6	12.30%
Universal (18)	793.9	8.40%
Summit (11)	512.7	5.40%
Lionsgate (15)	500.4	5.30%
Overture (7)	81.8	0.90%
Fox Searchlight (7)	81.4	0.90%
Focus (7)	75.2	0.80%
Weinstein Co. (7)	62.6	0.70%
Sony Classics (21)	57.8	0.60%
MGM (1)	51.2	0.50%
CBS (2)	50	0.50%
Other * (296)	242.7	2.60%
	9431.9	100.00%
* none greater than .04%

Top Limited Releases * (Jan. 1 – Nov. 21, 2010)

Title	Distributor	Gross
Hubble 3D	WB	18,355,494
The Ghost Writer	Summit	15,569,712
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo	Music Box/Alliance	11,282,938
The Young Victoria *	Apparition/Alliance	11,131,232
Get Low	Sony Classics	9,080,285
A Single Man *	Weinstein Co.	7,935,872
The Girl Who Played with Fire	Music Box/Alliance	7,837,823
Cyrus	Fox Searchlight	7,461,082
Babies	Focus	7,444,272
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnasus *	E1/Sony Classics	7,394,171
City Island	Anchor Bay	6,671,036
The Last Station	Sony Classics	6,617,867
The Secret in Their Eyes	Sony Classics	6,391,436
It’s Kind of a Funny Story	Focus	6,350,058
Winter’s Bone	Roadside Attraction	6,225,414
Waiting for “Superman”	Par Vantage	6,130,466
Under the Sea 3D *	WB	5,504,062
Precious	Lions Gate	5,085,319
I Am Love	Magnolia	5,002,411
An Education *	Sony Classics	4,963,224
* does not include 2009 box office

Tags: 127 Hours, A Single Man, An Education, Babies, break ke baad, Burlesque, City Island, Cyrus, Despicable Me, Due Date, Fair Game, Faster, For Colored Girls …, Get Low, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Hubble 3D, I Am Love, Inside Job, It's Kind Of A Funny Story, Lance et compte, Love and Other Drugs, Made in Dagenham, Megamind, Morning Glory, Nutcracker 3D, Part 1, Precious, Red, Secretariat, skyline, Tangled, Tere Ishq Nachaye, The Ghost Writer, the girl who kicked the hornet's nest, The Girl Who Played With Fire, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnasus, The King's Speech, The Last Station, The Legend of Pale Male, The Next Three Days, The Secret In Their Eyes, The Social Network, The Unjust, The Young Victoria, Under the Sea 3D, unstoppable, Waiting For 'Superman', Winter's Bone
Posted in MCN Originals, MCN Weekend, Movie City News, The Weekend Report | Comments Off on Weekend Box Office Report — November 28

Weekend Box Office Report – November 7

Sunday, November 7th, 2010

No Brainer

Megamind led a torrid weekend box office frame (the largest for a pre-Thanksgiving November) with a first salvo estimated at $47.5 million. Two other national openers followed in succession with strong numbers. The comedy road trip Due Date grossed $33.4 million and the Afrocentric For Colored Girls bowed to $20.1 million.

There was also a pair of Bollywood films timed to the Dwali holiday. Golmaal 3 had solid returns of $443,000 from 86 screens while Action Replayy was disappointing with $232,000 from 99 venues. In Quebec Reste avec moi pancaked on a gross of $25,600 in an initial 19 playdates.

In limited and exclusive runs the politically charged Fair Game polled a respectable $663,000 that indicates challenging expansion plans. Among the remaining newcomers there was a good solo for Algerian Oscar submission Outside the Law of $7,500. But the big noise of the weekend was the not-for-the-squeamish 127 Hours, which played to near capacity at four and generated a staggering screen average of $66,570.

Weekend revenues ballooned as a result of buoyant new titles and some very strong holdovers.

The latest from DreamWorks Animation, Megamind, was generally pegged to debut in a mid-$40 million arena though some felt it could have performed better on a less competitive weekend. Though that contention is dubious, the rest of the year really doesn’t offer that option with both pre-sold and award titles beginning to open up the multiplex floodgates.

Due Date — with its obvious references to Trains, Planes & Automobiles — renewed faith in the power of a high concept comedy. But the riskier For Colored Girls, based upon the acclaimed play by Ntozake Shange, was the session’s major question mark. Many had pursued the property for decades and concluded that it was unfilmable, so when Tyler Perry unexpectedly stepped forward there was a collective shudder. Critical response was mixed to positive while the opening box office was better than anticipated.

Overall box office should top $155 million for the weekend and best the immediate prior session by 67%. It’s also a 28% improvement from 2009 with the launch of the animated A Christmas Carol opened to $30.1 million with the frame’s other debs The Men Who Stare at Goats and The Fourth Kind slotting third and fourth with respectively $12.7 million and $12.2 million.

If you believe that there’s no such thing as bad publicity, the opening weekend of 127 Hours would certainly buttress your argument. Aside from sterling reviews, the fact-inspired tale of endurance has generated a lot of ink centering on the intensity of the viewing experience that appears to cause at least a few patrons to faint at every screening. The industry will be watching intently to see whether it remains a date movie as it expands nationally.

Also under the microscope is Fair Game that fell short of dynamic initial business. There’s already debate about the decision to open in more than a handful of venues and a feeling that rapid expansion will result in further disappointment along the lines of Conviction.

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Weekend Estimates – November 5-7, 2010

Title	Distributor	Gross (average)	% change *	Theaters	Cume
Megamind	Par	47.5 (12,040)	New	3944	47.5
ue Date	WB	33.4 (9,960)	New	3355	33.4
For Colored Girls	Lionsgate	20.1 (9,440)	New	2127	20.1
Red	Summit	8.8 (2,720)	-18%	3229	71.8
Saw 3D	Lionsgate	7.9 (2,820)	-67%	2808	38.5
Paranormal Activity 2	Par	7.1 (2,250)	-57%	3168	77
Jackass 3D	Par	5.0 (2,330)	-41%	2165	110.8
Secretariat	BV	4.1 (1,570)	-18%	2614	51.1
Hereafter	WB	4.0 (1,680)	-38%	2365	28.7
The Social Network	Sony	3.5 (1,890)	-22%	1860	85
Life As We Know It	WB	3.1 (1,610)	-23%	1950	48.6
Conviction	Fox Searchlight	1.5 (2,280)	-16%	672	4.5
The Town	WB	1.2 (1,510)	-39%	801	89.8
The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest	Music Box/Alliance	.74 (3,720)	2%	199	2
Fair Game	Summit	.66 (14,410)	New	46	0.66
Easy A	Sony	.50 (1,070)	-53%	468	57.3
Legend of the Guardians	WB	.45 (610)	-74%	740	54
Golmaal 3	Eros	.44 (5,140)	New	86	0.44
Waiting for “Superman”	Par Vantage	.38 (1,570)	-36%	242	5.4
Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps	Fox	.34 (960)	-57%	353	51.9


Weekend Total ($500,000+ Films)		$149.10
% Change (Last Year)		28%
% Change (Last Week)		67%


Also debuting/expanding
127 Hours	Searchlight	.27 (66,570)		4	0.27
Action Replayy	Viva	.23 (2,340)		99	0.23
Stone	Overture	.18 (1,630)	-28%	109	1.5
Four Lions	Drafthouse	41,300 (5,160)		8	0.04
Reste avec moi	Seville	25,600 (1,350)		19	0.03
Client 9	Magnolia	18,400 (6,130)		3	0.02
Red Hill	Strand	8,400 (1,680)		5	0.01
Outside the Law (Hors-la-loi)	Cohen Media	7,500 (7,500)		1	0.01
Trapped	CJ Entertainment	4,400 (4,400)		1	0.01

Domestic Market Share (Jan. 1 – Nov. 4, 2010)

Distributor (releases)	Gross	Market Share
Warner Bros. (25)	1457.6	16.50%
Paramount (16)	1423.7	16.00%
Fox (16)	1290.9	14.50%
Buena Vista (15)	1163.9	13.10%
Sony (23)	1151.1	13.00%
Universal (17)	776.9	8.80%
Summit (10)	488.3	5.50%
Lionsgate (13)	444.2	5.00%
Overture (7)	81.2	0.90%
Fox Searchlight (6)	75.9	0.80%
Focus (7)	74.8	0.80%
Weinstein Co. (7)	62.3	0.70%
Sony Classics (21)	55.5	0.60%
MGM (1)	51.2	0.60%
CBS (2)	50	0.60%
Other * (281)	233.2	2.60%
	8880.7	100.00%
* none greater than .04%

Top Global Grossers * (Jan. 1 – Nov. 4, 2010)

Title	Distributor	Gross
Avatar	Fox	1,953,205,209
Toy Story 3	BV	1,061,408,156
Alice in Wonderland	BV	1,024,537,295
Inception	WB	831,539,135
Shrek Forever After	Par	737,766,901
Twilight: Eclipse	Summit	691,483,448
Iron Man 2	Par	622,718,600
How to Train Your Dragon	Par	495,792,295
Despicable Me	Uni	492,994,376
Clash of the Titans	WB	489,778,913
Sherlock Holmes *	WB	367,796,599
The Karate Kid	Sony	359,315,646
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time	BV	335,692,394
The Last Airbender	Par	318,404,181
Robin Hood	Uni	311,826,207
Shutter Island	Par	301,977,955
Sex and the City 2	WB	301,158,934
Salt	Sony	291,684,047
Resident Evil: Afterlife	Sony/Alliance	277,419,991
Grown Ups	Sony	270,265,798
The Expendables	Lionsgate/NuImage	269,273,037
Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel	Fox	264,341,533
Knight and Day	Fox	256,518,022
Percy Jackson & the Olympians	Fox	226,497,209
Valentine’s Day	WB	217,596,116
* does not include 2009 box office

Tags: 127 Hours, Action Replayy, Client 9 Red Hill Outside the Law (Hors-la-loi) Trapped, Conviction, Due Date, Easy A, Fair Game, For Colored Girls, Four Lions, Golmaal 3, Hereafter, Jackass 3D, Legend of the Guardians, Life As We Know It, Megamind, Paranormal Activity 2, Red, Reste avec moi, Saw 3D, Secretariat, Stone, the girl who kicked the hornet's nest, The Social Network, The Town, Waiting For 'Superman', Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps
Posted in Klady, MCN Originals, MCN Weekend, The Weekend Report | 1 Comment »

Weekend Box Office Report – October 31

Sunday, October 31st, 2010

See … Saw … Ouch!

Saw 3D whipped into cinemas with an estimated $24.3 million to take top spot in weekend movie going. Distributors gave a wide berth to the Halloween frame when traditionally there are sharp drops in attendance; making the Saw finale the sole new national release.

A different sort of ghoul — the Millennium finale The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest — went limited wide to solid returns of $890,000, but otherwise the frame’s new entries were dominated by niche and exclusive launches. The best of the bunch was the Chinese trembler Aftershock with a single screen entry of $17,600. Other newcomers with good but not spectacular returns included indie drama Welcome to the Riley’s, Brit spy spoof Wild Target, Mexican prize winner Nora’s Will, Claude Chabrol’s final effort Bellamy and non-fiction entry Waste Land.

Overall box office saw a sharp fall from last weekend and a slight bump from 2009 results.

The seventh annual edition of the Saw franchise was hoping for an exit with bite with the addition of stereoscopic imagery. But pre-release tracking indicated that with or without gimmicks the mania was fading and its mid-$20 million weekend tally was pretty much in line with pundit’s predictions. The gore crowd would appear to be sated with current splatter fare but the past month has seen every segment of the audience unenthusiastic for the new crop of movies beyond their opening sessions.

The global juggernaut for the Millennium trilogy continued with the U.S. bow of The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest. The first installment, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, has racked up $99 million internationally and it and its second chapter are the top grossing foreign-language movies in America post-Pan’s Labyrinth.

Weekend revenues generated about $95 million in sales that translated into a 28% drop from the immediate prior session. It was a modest 6% improvement from 2009 when Michael Jackson: This Is It bowed to $23.2 million followed by Paranormal Activity with $16.4 million.

The fact-based Conviction expanded nationally to fair results and appears to be headed to the same sort of indifferent commercial returns as the rest of the early award season contenders. A sharp drop for last weekend’s Hereafter departs from the sort of holds associated with recent films directed by Clint Eastwood whereas the better than expected stamina of the geezer spies of RED has confounded box office mavens.

But apart from Jackass 3D (which passed a $100 million tally this weekend) such well-reviewed positive word-of-mouth entries as The Social Network and Secretariat have struggled to maintain a presence (forget about momentum) in a marketplace that has all but eliminated the possibility of a second wind.

__________________________________________________

Weekend Estimates – October 29-31, 2010

Title	Distributor	Gross (average)	% change *	Theaters	Cume
Saw 3D	Lionsgate	24.3 (8,660)	New	2808	24.3
Paranormal Activity 2	Par	16.4 (5,070)	-60%	3239	65.6
Red	Summit	10.9 (3,250)	-28%	3349	59
Jackass 3D	Par	8.5 (2,720)	-60%	3139	101.7
Hereafter	WB	6.4 (2,630)	-47%	2424	22.2
Secretariat	BV	5.0 (1,610)	-28%	3108	44.7
The Social Network	Sony	4.7 (1,690)	-36%	2767	79.7
Life As We Know It	WB	4.1 (1,440)	-33%	2860	43.6
The Town	WB	2.0 (1,250)	-27%	1608	87.7
Conviction	Fox Searchlight	1.8 (3,220)	501%	565	2.4
Legend of the Guardians	WB	1.8 (880)	-46%	2010	52.7
Easy A	Sony	1.1(880)	-37%	1262	56.3
The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest	Music Box/Alliance	.89 (5,830)	New	152	0.89
Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps	Fox	.78 (840)	-37%	933	51.2
Waiting for “Superman”	Par Vantage	.52 (1,580)	-33%	330	4.6
Devil	Uni	.51 (800)	-21%	635	33.1
Alpha and Omega	Lionsgate	.48 (710)	-34%	676	24.1
It’s Kind of a Funny Story	Focus	.46 (960)	-32%	477	5.8
You Again	BV	.41 (610)	-37%	673	24.7
You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger	Sony Classics	.33 (1,022)	-24%	323	2.4
Toy Story 3	BV	.31 (920)	-34%	337	413.9


Weekend Total ($500,000+ Films)		$89.70
% Change (Last Year)		6%
% Change (Last Week)		-28%


Also debuting/expanding
Stone	Overture	.22 (1,760)	-39%	125	1.2
Nowhere Boy	Weinstein Co.	.13 (840)	-62%	153	1
10.50	Alliance	55,800 (4,290)		13	0.06
Welcome to the Riley’s	IDP	41,600 (4,160)		10	0.04
Nora’s Will	Menemsha	25,300 (4,220)		6	0.03
Wild Target	FreeStyle	23,200 (5,800)		4	0.02
Bellamy	IFC	19,700 (9,850)		2	0.02
Monsters	Magnolia	18,100 (6,030)		3	0.02
Aftershock	AMC	17,600 (17,600)		1	0.02
Waste Land	Arthouse	10.300 (10,300)		1	0.01
Walkaway	IABA	9,400 (360)		26	0.01
Strange Powers	Variance	4,800 (4,800)		1	0.01
The Kids Grow Up	Shadow	4,600 (4,600)		1	0.01

Domestic Market Share (Jan. 1 – Oct. 28, 2010)

Distributor (releases)	Gross	Market Share
Warner Bros. (25)	1436.3	16.40%
Paramount (16)	1389.1	15.90%
Fox (16)	1289.8	14.70%
Buena Vista (15)	1155.5	13.20%
Sony (23)	1142.4	13.10%
Universal (17)	774.3	8.90%
Summit (10)	473.3	5.40%
Lionsgate (12)	412.7	4.70%
Overture (7)	80.6	0.90%
Focus (7)	74.1	0.80%
Fox Searchlight (6)	73.4	0.80%
Weinstein Co. (7)	61.9	0.70%
Sony Classics (21)	54.7	0.60%
MGM (1)	51.2	0.60%
CBS (2)	50	0.60%
Other * (277)	229.7	2.70%
	8749	100.00%
* none greater than .04%

Top Limited Releases * (Jan. 1 – Oct. 28, 2010)

Title	Distributor	Gross
Hubble 3D	WB	17,246,918
The Ghost Writer	Summit	15,569,712
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo	Music Box/Alliance	11,270,373
The Young Victoria *	Apparition/Alliance	11,131,232
Get Low	Sony Classics	8,980,294
A Single Man *	Weinstein Co.	7,935,872
The Girl Who Played with Fire	Music Box/Alliance	7,768,761
Cyrus	Fox Searchlight	7,461,082
Babies	Focus	7,444,272
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus *	E1/Sony Classics	7,394,171
City Island	Anchor Bay	6,671,036
The Last Station	Sony Classics	6,617,867
The Secret in Their Eyes	Sony Classics	6,391,436
Winter’s Bone	Roadside Attractions	6,204,696
It’s Kind of a Funny Story	Focus	5,342,641
Under the Sea 3D *	WB	5,256,073
I Am Love	Magnolia	4,982,446
An Education *	Sony Classics	4,963,224
The Hurt Locker *	Summit	4,531,548
Solitary Man	Anchor Bay	4,360,548
* does not include 2009 box office

Tags: 10.50, A Single Man, Aftershock, Alpha and Omega, An Education, Babies, Bellamy, City Island, Conviction, Cyrus, Devil, Easy A, Get Low, Hereafter, Hubble 3D, I Am Love, It's Kind Of A Funny Story, Jackass 3D, Legend of the Guardians, Life As We Know It, Monsters, Nora's Will, Nowhere Boy, Paranormal Activity 2, Red, Saw 3D, Secretariat, solitary man, Stone, Strange Powers, The Ghost Writer, the girl who kicked the hornet's nest, The Girl Who Played With Fire, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, The Hurt Locker, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, The Kids Grow Up, The Last Station, The Secret In Their Eyes, The Social Network, The Town, The Young Victoria, Toy Story 3, Under the Sea 3D, Waiting For 'Superman', Walkaway, Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps, Waste Land, Welcome to the Rileys, Wild Target, Winter's Bone, You Again, You Will Meet A Tall Dark Stranger
Posted in MCN Originals, MCN Weekend, Movie City News, The Weekend Report | Comments Off on Weekend Box Office Report – October 31

Weekend Box Office Report – October 24

Sunday, October 24th, 2010

Back to Paranormal

Paranormal Activity 2 exceeded pundit expectation (though not necessarily fans) with an estimated $41.6 million to lead weekend movie ticket sales. The session’s only other national bow was Hereafter, which shot up to $11.9 million following last weekend’s limited opener.

Niche and regional bows included a solid $212,000 (in Hindi and Telegu versions) bow for the Indian crime saga Rakhtcharitra. Fans won’t have to wait long for its second part conclusion that’s scheduled for late November. Meanwhile up in Canada the Toronto fest curtain raiser Score: A Hockey Musical failed to live up to its name with a discordant $143,000 from 127 rinks.

Exclusives included good though unsensational debuts that included non-fiction Boxing Gym with a $6,100 TKO in its solo bout and Taqwacores — the tale of an Islamic rock band — grossing $5,500 also in a single outing.

Though there was a marginal dip from last weekend’s box office, the frame saw its first uptick from 2009 in a month with industry mavens already predicting expanded revenues through the end of the year.

Critical response to sleeper sensation Paranormal Activity 2 was at best tepid with the more negative reviews viewing it as a cynical rehash of its inspiration. Nonetheless avids were cueing up to provide Thursday midnight shows a record preview for an R-rated film. It lost traction as the weekend proceeded but the fast start was sufficient to speed past tracking that suggested an opening salvo of not much more than $30 million.

Exit polls for both Paranormal Activity 2 and Hereafter were disappointing. The latter film pretty much brought in the anticipated older crowd and filmmaker Clint Eastwood’s films have a history of hanging in for longer than typical runs and much higher multiples than is the industry norm. Still, this yarn could well stray from that trend.

Weekend revenues amassed roughly $130 million in torn ducats. It represented a slight 2% dip from seven days back but the unexpected Paranormal Activity 2 and overall strong holdovers translated into a 13% box office boost from 2009. A year ago the first Paranormal Activity (in its initial wide weekend) led with $21.1 million followed by Saw VI and Where the Wild Things Are with respective tallies of $14.1 million and $14 million.

With the exception of Waiting for “Superman” it’s been a brutal season for Oscar hopefuls trying to set an early footprint on the awards landscape. Granted, very few have received a wholehearted critical embrace, but even by niche standards the likes of Nowhere Boy, You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger and Jack Goes Boating among others have been comparative under-performers when measured against past films that have employed this tactic.

__________________________________________________

Weekend Estimates – October 22-24, 2010

Title	Distributor	Gross (average)	% change *	Theaters	Cume
Paranormal Activity 2	Par	41.6 (12,930)	New	3216	41.6
Jackass 3D	Par	21.5 (6,920)	-57%	3111	87.1
Red	Summit	15.1 (4,620)	-31%	3273	43.6
Hereafter	WB	11.9 (5,450)		2175	12.2
The Social Network	Sony	7.2 (2,450)	-31%	2921	72.8
Secretariat	BV	6.9 (2,210)	-26%	3108	37.3
Life As We Know It	WB	6.1 (2,010)	-32%	3019	37.5
Legend of the Guardians	WB	3.1 (1,390)	-26%	2236	50.1
The Town	WB	2.7 (1,390)	-33%	1918	84.6
Easy A	Sony	1.7 (1,050)	-35%	1632	54.7
Wal Street: Money Never Sleeps	Fox	1.2 (960)	-49%	1255	50
My Soul to Take	Uni/Alliance	1.0 (600)	-68%	1689	13.9
Waiting for “Superman”	Par Vantage	.76 (2,620)	2%	290	3.7
Alpha and Omega	Lionsgate	.71 (980)	-14%	727	23.5
It’s Kind of a Funny Story	Focus	.66 (1,180)	-46%	560	5.1
Devil	Uni	.63 (980)	-35%	642	32.4
You Again	BV	.61 (680)	-50%	901	24
N Secure	FreeStyle	.53 (1,190)	-55%	445	1.9
Toy Story 3	BV	.42 (1,211)	-21%	350	413.4
You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger	Sony Classics	.40 (1,060)	46%	381	1.8
Case 39	Par Vantage	.38 (530)	-69%	721	12.7


Weekend Total ($500,000+ Films)		$123.90
% Change (Last Year)		13%
% Change (Last Week)		-2%


Also debuting/expanding
Stone	Overture	.34 (3,030)	49%	113	0.76
Conviction	Fox Searchlight	.30 (5,420)	192%	55	0.34
Rakhtcharitra	Viva/Happy	.21 (6,230)		34	0.21
Nowhere Boy	Weinstein Co.	.21 (870)	-39%	215	0.76
Score: A Hockey Musical	Mongrel	.14 (1,130)		127	0.14
Jhootha Hi Sahi	Viva	64,700 (1,350)		48	0.06
My Girlfriend’s Boyfriend	Fiftyfilms	10,300 (5,150)		2	0.01
Boxing Gym	Zipporah	6,100 (6,100)		1	0.01
Taqwacores	Rumanni	5,500 (5,500)		1	0.01
Inhale	IFC	5,600 (2,800)		2	0.01

Domestic Market Share (Jan. 1 – Oct. 21, 2010)

Distributor (releases)	Gross	Market Share
Warner Bros. (25)	1403.9	16.30%
Paramount (15)	1310.6	15.30%
Fox (16)	1287.9	15.00%
Buena Vista (15)	1144.7	13.30%
Sony (23)	1129.9	13.20%
Universal (17)	771.4	9.00%
Summit (10)	453.6	5.30%
Lionsgate (12)	411.5	4.80%
Overture (7)	79.7	0.90%
Focus (7)	73.2	0.90%
Fox Searchlight (6)	72.7	0.80%
Weinstein Co. (7)	61.6	0.70%
Sony Classics (21)	53.7	0.60%
MGM (1)	50.4	0.60%
CBS (2)	50	0.60%
Other * (271)	226.9	2.70%
	8581.7	100.00%
* none greater than .04%

Top Domestic Grossers * (Jan. 1 – Oct. 21, 2010)

Title	Distributor	Gross
Avatar *	Fox	476,726,209
Toy Story 3	BV	413,013,123
Alice in Wonderland	BV	334,191,110
Iron Man 2	Par	312,445,596
Twilight: Eclipse	Summit	300,531,751
Inception	WB	289,881,124
Despicable Me	Uni	247,148,995
Shrek Forever After	Par	238,667,087
How to Train Your Dragon	Par	218,685,707
The Karate Kid	Sony	176,797,997
Clash of the Titans	WB	163,214,888
Grown Ups	Sony	161,942,598
The Last Airbender	Par	131,733,601
Shutter Island	Par	128,051,522
The Other Guy	Sony	118,236,912
Salt	Sony	118,229,865
Valentine’s Day	WB	110,509,442
Sherlock Holmes *	WB	106,967,985
Robin Hood	Uni	105,425,146
The Expendables	Lions Gate	103,068,524
* does not include 2009 box office

Tags: Alice in Wonderland, Alpha and Omega, Avatar, boxing gym, Case 39, Clash of the Titans, Conviction, Despicable Me, Devil, Easy A, Grown Ups, Hereafter, How to Train Your Dragon, Inception, inhale, Iron Man 2, It's Kind Of A Funny Story, Jackass 3D, Jhootha Hi Sahi, Legend of the Guardians, Life As We Know It, My Girlfriend's Boyfriend, My Soul To Take, N Secure, Nowhere Boy, Paranormal Activity 2, Rakhtcharitra, Red, Robin Hood, Salt, Score: A Hockey Musical, Secretariat, Sherlock Holmes, Shrek Forever After, Shutter Island, Stone, Taqwacores, The Expendables, The Karate Kid, The Last Airbender, The Other Guy, The Social Network, The Town, Toy Story 3, Twilight: Eclipse, Valentine's Day, Waiting For 'Superman', Walt Street: Money Never Sleeps, You Again, You Will Meet A Tall Dark Stranger
Posted in MCN Originals, MCN Weekend, Movie City News, The Weekend Report | 1 Comment »

Weekend Box Office Report – October 17

Sunday, October 17th, 2010

Jack’use!

Jackass 3D was better than all right with an estimated $49.3 million that easily ranked it at the top of the weekend movie going charts. Another freshman, the seasoned action-comedy Red, ranked second with $21.9 million. The session’s third national debut in medium-wide release was the inspirational N Secure with an OK $133,000 bow.

Among niche and regional bows the polemical documentary I Want Your Money failed to bring out the vote with a $236,000 tally from 537 screens. Telegu-language Brindaavanam rang up an impressive $10,320 average from 20 venues while Bollywood entry Aakrosh was a washout with a $46,400 gross from 24 screens.

Among the week’s exclusive newbies the clear favorite was Hereafter with a $37,380 per screen from six early peeks. There were also impressive openings for the three-hour plus portrait of a terrorist Carlos of $33,700 from single dates in Manhattan and Montreal and a sturdy $101,000 gross for the ripped from the headlines Conviction at 11 cells.

Overall weekend box office revenues topped $130 million for a sizeable 42% boost from seven days back. However, it fell 4% below last year’s tally and the 2010 box office has shrunk to just 2% better than the prior year’s gross for the same period.

Industry trackers had pegged the stereoscopic version of Jackass at roughly $30 million prior to its opening. But they obviously were deaf to bygone wag Henry Mencken’s observation that “no one ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American public.” The recently under-served young male audience were eager to don Polaroid glasses and see the aging stars of the reality skein making fools of themselves and others up close and personal.

Pundits also undervalued Red with early estimates in a $15 million to $18 million range. The single joke premise of over the hill spies conscripted back into service (more intentionally mawkish than The Expendables) skewed older but obviously had some appeal for a younger crowd in search of something marginally less mind numbing that required optical gimmicks.

The glacial expansion of Waiting for “Superman” continued to display stamina but it’s clear that Never Let Me Go has peaked and that the rapid expansion of Nowhere Boy left the early years of John Lennon stranded outside the Cavern Club. Stone was experiencing a better than expected hold as it increased its exposure from six to 41 venues.

The frame’s two award contenders – Hereafter and Conviction – constructed solid foundations for their platform bids. Still the early signs suggest a better than anticipated commercial run for the former with the latter yarn requiring a lot of TLC to reach a wider audience.

Among holdovers the second lap for Secretariat showed signs that audiences were discovering the heartfelt saga and The Social Network continues to be propped up by award buzz rather than Facebook fascination.

__________________________________________________

Weekend Estimates – October 15-17, 2010

Title	Distributor	Gross (average)	% change *	Theaters	Cume
Jackass 3D	Par	49.3 (16,010)	New	3081	49.3
Red	Summit	21.9 (6,740)	New	3255	21.8
The Social Network	Sony	10.8 (3,910)	-30%	2771	63
Secretariat	BV	9.4 (3,070)	-26%	3072	27.4
Life As We Know It	WB	9.2 (2,910)	-37%	3150	28.8
Legend of the Guardians	WB	4.2 (1,670)	-39%	2502	46
The Town	WB	4.0 (1,700)	-37%	2368	80.6
My Soul to Take	Uni/Alliance	3.1 (1,240)	-54%	2529	11.9
Easy A	Sony	2.6 (1,140)	-39%	2314	52.3
Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps	Fox	2.3 (1,110)	-50%	2045	47.8
N Secure	FreeStyle	1.3 (2,730)	New	486	1.3
It’s Kind of a Funny Story	Focus	1.3 (1,660)	-38%	757	4
You Again	BV	1.2 (750)	-53%	1588	22.7
Case 39	Par Vantage	1.2 (840)	-56%	1406	11.9
Devil	Uni	1.0 (1,100)	-46%	891	31.6
Let Me In	Overture	.83 (690)	-66%	1211	11.1
Alpha and Omega	Lions Gate	.81 (840)	-46%	969	22.6
Waiting for “Superman”	Par Vantage	.74 (4,060)	17%	182	2.5
Toy Story 3	BV	.52 (1,480)	-6%	350	412.8
Inception	WB	.35 (1,180)	-29%	297	289.7
Resident Evil: Afterlife	Sony/Alliance	.34 (780)	-73%	438	59.7


Weekend Total ($500,000+ Films)		$125.70
% Change (Last Year)		-4%
% Change (Last Week)		42%


Also debuting/expanding
Nowhere Boy	Weinstein Co.	.33 (1,550)	554%	215	0.41
Never Let Me Go	Searchlight	.32 (1,390)	-7%	232	1.65
You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger	Sony Classics	.27 (2,440)	1%	112	1.26
I Want Your Money	FreeStyle	.24 (440)		537	0.24
Stone	Overture	.23 (5,780)	199%	41	0.34
Hereafter	WB	.22 (37,380)		6	0.22
Brindaavanam	Blue Sky	.21 (10,320)		20	0.21
Buried	Lions Gate	.13 (1,270)	-41%	103	0.76
Conviction	Fox Searchlight	.10 (9,200)		11	0.1
Aakrosh	Eros	46,400 (1,930)		24	0.05
Carlos	IFC	33,700 (16,850)		1	0.03
Knockout	Eros	18,100 (700)		26	0.02
A Better Tomorrow	CJ Entertainment	5,800 (5,800)		1	0.01
Down Terrace	Magnolia	2,900 (1,450)		2	0.01
Samson and Delilah	Ipix	2,300 (1,150)		2	0.01

Domestic Market Share – January 1 – October 14, 2010

Distributor (releases)	Gross	Market Share
Warner Bros. (24)	1380.1	16.40%
Fox (16)	1284.6	15.30%
Paramount (14)	1242.3	14.80%
Buena Vista (15)	1129.6	13.40%
Sony (23)	1111.7	13.20%
Universal (17)	765.4	9.10%
Summit (9)	425.1	5.10%
Lionsgate (12)	410.1	4.90%
Overture (7)	78.2	0.90%
Fox Searchlight (5)	72.1	0.90%
Focus (7)	71.4	0.90%
Weinstein Co. (7)	61.1	0.70%
Sony Classics (20)	52.9	0.60%
MGM (1)	50.4	0.60%
CBS (2)	50	0.60%
Other * (266)	222.3	2.60%
	8407.3	100.00%
* none greater than .04%

Tags: A Better Tomorrow, Aakrosh, Alpha and Omega, Brindaavanam, Buried, carlos, Case 39, Conviction, Devil, down terrace, Easy A, Hereafter, I Want Your Money, Inception, It's Kind Of A Funny Story, jackass 3-d, Jackass 3D, Knockout, Legend of the Guardians, Let Me In, Life As We Know It, My Soul To Take, N Secure, Never Let Me Go, Nowhere Boy, Red, Resident Evil: Afterlife, samson and delilah, Secretariat, Stone, The Social Network, The Town, Toy Story 3, Waiting For 'Superman', Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps, Walt Street: Money Never Sleeps, You Again, You Will Meet A Tall Dark Stranger
Posted in MCN Originals, MCN Weekend, Movie City News, The Weekend Report | 1 Comment »

Gurus o’ Gold – A Post Toronto Look At The Field

Monday, October 11th, 2010

Updated on 10/11/10, 3p… adding Guru #15, Emanuel Levy and a few adjustments to others…

Tags: 127 Hours, Another Year, Biutiful, Black Swan, Blue Valentine, Everything You've Got, Fair Game, For Colored Girls, Get Low, Hereafter, Inception, Love and Other Drugs, Made in Dagenham, Never Let Me Go, Rabbit Hole, Secretariat, Shutter Island, Somewhere, The Fighter, The Kids Are All Right, The King's Speech, The Social Network, The Town, The Tree of Life, the way back, Toy Story 3, True Grit, Waiting For 'Superman', Winter's Bone
Posted in Awards Update, Awards Watch, Gurus o' Gold, MCN Originals, Movie City News | 15 Comments »

Weekend Box Office Report – October 10

Sunday, October 10th, 2010

Nobody Nose Anything

The Social Network surprised pundits with a better than expected hold and won the weekend movie going chase with an estimated $15.3 million. Three national debs were on its tail with lackluster returns. The rom-com Life As We Know It faltered in the clutch with $14.6 million while the much ballyhooed turf saga Secretariat posted $12.4 million, and there was a lack of stereoscopic shock for My Soul to Take with $6.9 million.

There was also a lack of oomph for the comic oddity It’s Kind of a Funny Story with $2 million tally-woo from 742 engagements.

In the niches Telegu-language Khaleja had a buoyant bow of $343,000 from 24 screens and OK returns of $72,700 for French thriller L’Immortel in Quebec. There were also a raft of exclusive bows with Darwinian winners that included the young John Lennon of Nowhere Boy grossing $51,300 at four venues, the squeezed of non-fiction Inside Job with $37,500 at two interviews and psychological thriller Stone with $71,400 from six couches.

Overall business once again took a dip with 2010 box office now less than 2% ahead of last year’s pace and industry mavens sweating out a quick reversal of fortune.

Tracking reports had pegged the uplifting tale of racing Triple Crowner Secretariat as the weekend’s odds-on favorite with estimates in the range of $16 million to $18 million. But its appeal to women and an older demo that remembered the four-legged wonder of the early 1970s failed to bring ‘em out in its maiden performance despite a considerable marketing push.

Life As We Know It was expected to be about a length behind Secretariat but pulled ahead right from the opening gate. It opened ahead of the pack on Friday with a $5.2 million bow but quickly lost ground to The Social Network as the weekend advanced.

And My Soul to Take fell smack in the middle of estimates in the $6 million to $8 million range. All three of the newbies skewed toward distaff viewers and there’s little question the marketplace is in dire need of something for the boys.

Weekend revenues pushed to roughly $92 million that represented a 4% dip from seven days back. It was a considerably steeped 16% fall from 2009 when the launch of Couples Retreat topped the charts on a $34.3 million first salvo.

On the expansion track, the “what’s wrong with our education” doc Waiting for “Superman” is holding up well and Woody Allen’s You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger continues to draw in aficionados. But the dour Never Let Me Go appears to have peaked early in the awards season. Among the new entries the highly enjoyable Tamara Drewe proved to be the surprise commercial disappointment with a dull $4,300 engagement average from four initial exposures.

__________________________________________________

Weekend Estimates – October 1-3, 2010

Title	Distributor	Gross (average)	% change *	Theaters	Cume
The Social Network	Sony	15.3 (5,520)	-32%	2771	45.9
Life As We Know It	WB	14.6 (4,630)	New	3150	14.6
Secretariat	BV	12.4 (4,050)	New	3072	12.4
My Soul to Take	Uni/Alliance	6.9 (2,670)	New	2572	6.9
Legend of the Guardians	WB	6.8 (2,100)	-38%	3225	39.2
The Town	WB	6.3 (2,310)	-36%	2720	73.7
Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps	Fox	4.5 (1,600)	-55%	2829	43.6
Easy A	Sony	4.1 (1,450)	-39%	2847	48.1
Case 39	Par Vantage	2.6 (1,160)	-55%	2212	9.5
You Again	BV	2.4 (1,030)	-58%	2332	20.7
Let Me In	Overture	2.4 (1,160)	-54%	2042	9.1
It’s Kind of a Funny Story	Focus	2.0 (2,670)	New	742	2
Devil	Uni	1.7 (1,210)	-51%	1442	30
Alpha and Omega	Lionsgate	1.4 (890)	-51%	1616	21
Resident Evil: Afterlife	Sony/Alliance	1.2 (1,210)	-56%	1012	58.8
Waiting for “Superman”	Par Vantage	.63 (6,120)	54%	103	1.4
Toy Story 3	BV	.55 (1,400)	140%	393	412
Inception	WB	.52 (1,290)	-43%	403	289.2
Takers	Sony	.39 (950)	-50%	412	56.8
Catfish	Uni/Alliance	.37 (2,590)	-37%	143	2.2
Khaleja	Ficus	.34 (14,290)		24	0.39
Never Let Me Go	Searchlight	.33 (1,990)	77%	167	1.1


Weekend Total ($500,000+ Films)		$86.30
% Change (Last Year)		-16%
% Change (Last Week)		-4%


Also debuting/expanding
You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger	Sony Classics	.25 (3,380)	15%	73	0.84
Buried	Lionsgate	.21 (2,300)	118%	92	0.5
L’Immortel	Seville	72,700 (3,030)		24	0.07
Stone	Overture	71,400 (11,900)		6	0.07
Nowhere Boy	Weinstein Co.	51,300 (12,820)		4	0.05
Inside Job	Sony Classics	37,500 (18,750)		2	0.04
Route 132	Alliance	37,300 (1,430)		26	0.06
I Spit on Your Grave	Anchor Bay	30,800 (2,570)		12	0.03
Tamara Drewe	Sony Classics	17,200 (4,300)		4	0.02
Ghetto Physics	IDP	10,700 (1,190)		9	0.01
Budrus	Balcony	8,400 (8,400)		1	0.01
It’s a Wonderful Afterlife	UTV	5,500 (770)		20	0.01
As Good as Dead	First Look	1,850 (1,850)		1	0.01

Domestic Market Share – January 1 – October 7, 2010

Distributor (releases)	Gross	Market Share
Warner Bros. (23)	1340.5	16.20%
Fox (16)	1277.7	15.40%
Paramount (14)	1237.4	15.00%
Buena Vista (14)	1107.4	13.40%
Sony (23)	1081.3	13.10%
Universal (16)	753.6	9.10%
Summit (9)	425.1	5.10%
Lionsgate (12)	407.1	4.90%
Overture (6)	74.5	0.90%
Fox Searchlight (5)	71.5	0.90%
Focus (6)	68.4	0.80%
Weinstein Co. (6)	60.9	0.70%
Sony Classics (19)	52.3	0.60%
MGM (1)	50.4	0.60%
CBS (2)	50	0.60%
Other * (260)	217.3	2.60%
	8275.4	100.00%
* none greater than .04%

Top Global Grossers: January 1 – October 7, 2010

Title *	Distributor	Gross
Avatar *	Fox	1,948,069,404
Toy Story 3	BV	1,047,492,510
Alice in Wonderland	BV	1,024,537,295
Twilight: Eclipse	Summit	691,330,829
Inception	WB	803,799,128
Shrek Forever After	Par	732,163,289
Iron Man 2	Par	622,718,660
How to Train Your Dragon	Par	494,288,254
Clash of the Titans	WB	489,778,913
Sherlock Holmes *	WB	367,796,599
Despicable Me	Uni	367,194,481
The Karate Kid	Sony	357,206,535
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time	BV	335,020,929
Robin Hood	Uni	311,610,747
The Last Airbender	Par	310,375,125
Shutter Island	Par	301,977,955
Sex and the City 2	WB	301,158,934
Salt	Sony	287,626,258
Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel	Fox	264,341,533
Grown Ups	Sony	261,324,243
The Expendables	Lionsgate	257,529,373
Resident Evil: Afterlife	Sony/Alliance	244,795,280
Knight and Day	Fox	229,686,302
Percy Jackson & the Olympians	Fox	226,497,209
Valentine’s Day	WB	217,596,116


* does not include 2009 box office

Tags: Alpha and Omega, As Good as Dead, Budrus, Buried, Case 39, Catfish, Devil, Easy A, Ghetto Physics, I Spit on Your Grave, Inception, Inside Job, It's a Wonderful Afterlife, It's Kind Of A Funny Story, khaleja, L'Immortel, Legend of the Guardians, Let Me In, Life As We Know It, My Soul To Take, Never Let Me Go, Nowhere Boy, Resident Evil: Afterlife, Route 132, Secretariat, Stone, Takers, Tamara Drewe, The Social Network, The Town, Toy Story 3, Waiting For 'Superman', Walt Street: Money Never Sleeps, You Again, You Will Meet A Tall Dark Stranger
Posted in MCN Originals, MCN Weekend, Movie City News, The Weekend Report | 3 Comments »

Friday Estimates – September 25

Saturday, September 25th, 2010

Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps|6.9|3565||6.9
The Town|5|2885|-40%|38.1
Legend of the Guardians|4.5|3575||4.5
Easy A|3.6|2856|-47%|25.7
You Again|2.7|2548||2.7
Devil|2.1|2809|-57%|17.3
Resident Evil: Afterlife|1.4|2642|-54%|48.5
Alpha and Omega|1.1 |2625|-53%|11.5
Takers|0.5|1413|-49%|53.7
Inception|0.4|907|-37%|286.2
Also Debuting
The Virginity Hit|0.1|700||0.1
Waiting for Superman|52,300|4||52,300
You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger|44,800|6||44,800
Like Dandelion Dust|37,100|26||37,100
Buried|34,100|11||34,100

Tags: Alpha and Omega, Buried, Devil, Easy A, Inception, Legend of the Guardians, like dandelion dust, Resident Evil: Afterlife, Takers, The Town, the virginity hit, Waiting For 'Superman', Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps, You Again, You Will Meet A Tall Dark Stranger
Posted in Friday Box Office Estimates, MCN Originals, MCN Weekend, Movie City News | Comments Off on Friday Estimates – September 25

Critics Roundup – September 23

Friday, September 24th, 2010

Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps|Yellow|Yellow|Green|Yellow|Green
Legend of the Guardians|||Yellow||Yellow
You Again|Red|Yellow|||
You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger |Green|Yellow|Yellow|Yellow|
Waiting for ‘Superman’|Green|Yellow|||
Jack Goes Boating||Yellow|Green||
Enter the Void|||Green||Yellow
Howl|||Green||Green
Buried |Green||Green||Yellow

Tags: Buried, Enter The Void, Howl, Jack Goes Boating, Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole, Waiting For 'Superman', Wall Street 2: Money Never Sleeps, You Again, You Will Meet A Tall Dark Stranger
Posted in MCN Critics Roundup, MCN Weekend | Comments Off on Critics Roundup – September 23