..Gary Dretzka
..Noah Forrest
..Leonard Klady
..David Poland
..Douglas Pratt
..Ray Pride
..Kim Voynar
..Michael Wilmington

Déjà vu .. All Over Again Aka And That's Why They're Called Estimates The tussle for bragging rights that just two weeks ago engaged Sony and New Line, this weekend pits New Line against Universal. In one corner there's the romantic-comedy Along Came Polly that debuted to record numbers last weekend. In another quadrant we have the NLC newcomer The Butterfly Effect, a psychological thriller targeted to a teen and 20 crowd. There's no question that the competition for top spot is ferocious. It also quite clear that Butterfly was first on its opening day but dropped to second spot Saturday when Polly's business shot up 50% while the opener had to settle for a 10% boost according to industry samplings. Neither film should be seriously hurt by the Golden Globe broadcast with Polly, again, likely to have a better Sunday. So, while New Line is reporting estimates that give The Butterfly Effect first place, MCN estimates Along Came Polly the winner by a nose with $16.9 million to the other film's $16.8 million tally. It was a very good hold for the Ben Stiller-Jennifer Aniston movie and a strong debut for Butterfly though industry tracking suggested it might bow around $20 million. Overall business for the frame should ring up about $100 million, a decline of 12% from the three-day period that incorporated last weekend's Martin Luther King holiday span. It's also a marginal 1% decline from 2003 when the sole national release was first place finisher Darkness Falls at $12 million. The other national debut - DreamWorks' Win a Date with Tad Hamilton - trailed in third spot with an estimated $7.4 million. The youth comedy is yet another commercial disappointment for the company that has been experiencing the box office yips of late and is due for a reversal of fortunes in the coming months. Continuing films in the marketplace were performing as expected with popular titles generally experiencing declines between 25% and 35%. Non starters - including last weekend's freshmen Torque and Teacher's Pet - took harder hits and a cluster of films hoping to shine at the Globes and in next Tuesday's Oscar nominations were holding steady. In anticipation of award's glory, Warner Bros. added almost 1,200 runs for Mystic River and generated a respectable $2.9 million weekend. A company spokesman said the decision was made to go prior to the nominations to secure screens while other companies are taking a wait and see stance. A Fox executive said he doesn't anticipate problems finding playdates for Master and Commander should it receive significant Oscar attention. However, realizing there are only so many slots on the ballot, that company is not unexpectedly nervous about winning Academy favor for both the sea going epic and its more modest critical favorite In America. There's a general feeling within the industry that the announcements will be rife with surprises and, obviously for some, they won't all be pleasant. The frame also saw a number of niche and specialized bows including a modest $110,000 debut for Khakee, the latest offering on the Bollywood circuit. Considerably more impressive was the five screen launch of IFC's Touching the Void, a harrowing non-fiction saga of survival and conquest that grossed roughly $86,000. Actor Tony Shaloub's feature directing debut Made-Up had a disappointing $21,000 bow on three screens. - by Leonard Klady