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

My Kingdom for a Trojan Horse Troy, the movie, may not have launched 1000 ships but it did command the playing field with an estimated $45.5 million while the second weekend of Van Helsing took a sharp 60% downturn to rank second with $20.5 million. The only other national release was the niche-targeted Jamie Foxx comedy Breakin' All the Rules that slotted fourth overall with roughly $5.3 million. The marketplace was on the lethargic side with movie going dipping about 2% from one weekend earlier and a significant 33% off the pace of 2003. A year ago Matrix Reloaded got a jump on the weekend with a Wednesday debut that generated $134.3 million ($91.8 for the 3-day span) with the counter-programming of Down with Love turning in a lackluster $7 million. In addition to its domestic tally, Troy will add roughly $55 million from 47 overseas markets for a global gross approaching $100 million. Figures were dribbling in Sunday but early reports had the historic Greek epic eyeing roughly $8 million in Germany, $7 million in Australia and $6 million from Spain. France should finish close to $5 million with Mexico adding about $2.5 million. The film also had excellent previews in the U.K but has yet to open in Japan, Italy or Russia. Troy rang in with an opening day figure of $17.5 million that was slightly off the pace of Van Helsing's bow last weekend and like the vampire hunter saw no improvement at the Saturday box office. Outward appearance would suggest the audience is skewing toward a male crowd but Warner Bros. distribution president Dan Fellman says exit polls indicate the film is pretty close to a 50/50 gender split. The Burbank crew is putting the best face on the launch citing it among the best openers for an R-rated non-sequel. It ranks second to 8 Mile ($51.2 million) and significantly ahead of Gladiator ($34.8 million). However, those films opened outside of summer. Overseas it's tracking better than either The Last Samurai or Van Helsing. Still, one senses a degree of disappointment, or at least frustration that they were unable to crack $50 million or better for the 160 minute spectacle. Initial results overseas for Van Helsing's second weekend also experienced sharp drops but still not as severe as in the U.S. While Breakin' All the Rules held no great sway in the marketplace, a couple of niche releases were attracting potent business. Televisa's controversial satire A Day Without a Mexican connected with better than $500,000 from 55 theaters that bodes well for expansion into non-Latino markets. Also ringing up impressive numbers was the quirky omnibus yarn Coffee and Cigarettes with a weekend gross of slightly more than $100,000 from five screens. Additionally, the documentary Super Size Me roughly doubled its playdates to 89 engagements and got a 43% jump to $740,000. Never to receive a McDonald's tie-in, the film is demonstrating the same sort of commercial fire as Bowling for Columbine but will require careful expansion and clever promotion if it hopes to generate comparable commercial returns. The marketplaces other super sizer - the 1954 Japanese version of Godzilla - planted its paw on L.A. and continued to breathe monster grosses on a couple of screens. The frame was also awash with specialized openers with the French import Strayed tallying up a quite strong with about $20,000 from two Manhattan venues. Another French title, Jeux d'enfants (Love Me If You Dare) bowed in 16 locations in Quebec but figures were unavailable Sunday morning. Hector Babenco's prison comedy-drama Carandiru locked up a disappointing $17,000 plus from six cells and a couple of American indies had mixed results. The streetwise After Freedom looked respectable with $11,200 from two sites but the oddball drama A Slipping Down Life sank with slightly less than $10,000 from five theaters. - by Leonard Klady