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

January 2, 2006 Weekend Estimates Top Worldwide Grosses Domestic Market Share Not With ABang ... As 2005 segued into 2006 The Chronicles of Narnia and King Kong once again battled for the weekend box office crown and respectively grossed an estimated $33.3 million and $31.5 million. Activity at the nation’s multiplexes was generally brisk, just not quite as brisk as it had been in 2004 when one places the comparable 3-day spans side by side. Initial figures for the calendar year show box office revenues taking a 6% hit and admissions declining into the low double digits. The industry expectations for Kong fell short while Narnia and Fun with Dick and Jane have performed in excess of prognostications. However, the balance ultimately swung toward the negative. The brunt of major releases held steady or experienced modest boosts from the Christmas weekend. Family pictures did just a bit better and Brokeback Mountain appears to be the major beneficiary of awards buzz this season. The traditional log jamb of 11th hour “for your consideration” titles did not occur. Woody Allen’s highly lauded Match Point bowed on eight screens last Wednesday and drew a fast $210,000; adding another $530,000 for the filmmaker’s most impressive initial returns in more than the decade. The only other film wading into the fray was the offbeat comic thriller The Matador with a close to $90,000 gross from four venues. The second weekend of Terence Malick’s The New World at three locations had a 34% upturn and though it’s not official, its national bow next month will see the version currently in theaters trimmed by about 20 minutes. Going right to the wire, Universal hit domestic revenues of $1 billion on December 31 to rank third in overall market share. Industry insiders were buzzing late last week on the news that Sony plans to include an additional $80 million in box office gross based on its acquisition date of MGM though that company’s distribution department continued to function through the release of Jiminy Glick. Market share remains a sort of dining out award as opposed to providing an effective measure of profitability. However, determining what ought to be included or disregarded in a studio’s annual gross is problematic. Though specialized divisions have a fair degree of autonomy in such areas as production and acquisition, it’s often the case that marketing and distribution duties will fall to the mother entity. Warner Bros. for instance did most of the bookings for Warner Independent of March of the Penguins when it expanded nationally and Fox has handled the distribution of Searchlight’s The Ringer. Conversely, Universal handed over distribution chores to Focus on Pride and Prejudice and similar free flow occurs with regularity at the majors and their adjuncts based on either entities ability to manage distribution and marketing chores. Regardless of ranking, there’s not a single player that emerged unblemished in 2004. Every single one had a conspicuous failure as well as a mix of potent performers that often exceeded bean counter projections. One didn’t have to wait seven years to witness a segue from lean to fat; the peaks and troughs were visible during the calendar and most conspicuously evident at Disney. Sony and Paramount. But in all instances one could draw a sigh of relief in the knowledge that libraries and ancillaries continued to bolster the bottom line. … and to all a happy new year. - by Leonard Klady Weekend Estimates - December 30, 2005 - January 2, 2006 - Title Distributor Gross (average) % change Theaters Cume The Chronicles of Narnia BV 33.3 (8,640) 5% 3853 225.3 King Kong  Uni 31.5 (8,690) -5% 3627 174.3 Fun with Dick and Jane Sony 21.4 (7,010) -1% 3056 65 Cheaper by the Dozen Fox 19.3 (6,020) 26% 3211 55.2 Rumor Has It WB 11.7 (4,170) 56% 2815 26.9 The Family Stone Fox 10.3 (4,170) 3% 2464 46.3 Memoirs of a Geisha Sony 10.1 (6,540) 0% 1547 30.6 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire WB 7.9 (3,400) 23% 2316 277.3 The Ringer Fox 7.8 (4,220) 2% 1853 21.4 Munich Uni 6.2 (11,580) 2% 532 15.7 Syriana WB 5.4 (3,120) 12% 1725 39 The Producers Uni 5.3 (5,390) 59% 978 11.9 Brokeback Mountain Focus 5.1 (18,880) 72% 269 15.3 Wolf Creek Weinstein Co 4.8 (2,740) -2% 1761 13.2 Walk the Line Fox 3.5 (3,000) 41% 1160 92.6 Yours, Mine and Ours Par 1.5 (1,250) 16% 1174 51 Pride and Prejudice Focus 1.3 (3,270) 15% 407 34.1 Chicken Little BV 1.1 (1,410) 67% 803 132.3 The Polar Express Imax (reissue) WB .92 (13,940) -33% 66 172.8 Casanova BV .55 (1,490) 138% 37 1.04 Match Point DreamWorks .53 (65,980) 8 0.74 Weekend Total ($500,000+ Films) $189.50 % Change (Last Year) -13% % Change (Last Week) 9% *Percentages are 3-day to 3-Day Also Debuting/Expanding Cache Sony Classics .1 (19,750) 22% 5 0.23 The Matador Weinstein Co 89,400 (22,350) 4 0.09 The New World New Line 77,300 (25,770) 34% 3 0.18 Top Worldwide Grosses - To December 29, 2005 Title Distributor Gross Star Wars: Epi III - Revenge of the Sith Fox 846,418,340 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire WB 788,776,312 War of the Worlds Par/UIP 595,837,019 Madagascar DmWks 527,956,804 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory WB 472,878,902 Mr. & Mrs. Smith Fox/Regency 460,864,910 Meet the Fockers * Uni 372,804,625 Batman Begins WB 371,251,827 Hitch Sony 367,964,803 The Chronicles of Narnia BV 362,114,739 King Kong Uni 339,918,018 Fantastic Four Fox 327,461,443 Wedding Crashers New Line 284,725,663 Robots Fox 259,591,326 Constantine WB 229,853,022 Million Dollar Baby * WB/Lakeshore 216,048,335 Chicken Little BV 211,835,624 Kingdom of Heaven Fox/Pathe 211,046,553 The Pacifier BV 198,267,140 Flightplan BV 192,642,246 * does not include 2004 box office Domestic Market Share - To December 29, 2005 Distributor (releases) Gross Percentage Warner Bros. (32) 1486.1 16.90% Fox (21) 1336.6 15.20% Universal (24) 982.6 11.20% Buena Vista (23) 903.4 10.30% Sony (27) 903.2 10.30% Paramount (16) 831.3 9.50% DreamWorks (10) 503.5 5.70% New Line (17) 425.1 4.80% Miramax (22) 360.6 4.10% Lions Gate (19) 284.8 3.30% MGM (8) 182.6 2.10% Focus (11) 157.3 1.80% Fox Searchlight (10) 98.4 1.10% Sony Classics (27) 62.9 0.70% Other * (244) 266.4 3.00% * none greater than .05% 8784.8 100.00%