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

August 27, 2006 Weekend Estimates Top Limited Releases Domestic Market Share Grid and Bare It ... Invincible would be hyperbole but the true life movie sports saga of the same name posted a sturdy debuted estimated at $16.9 million to finish at the front of a very crowded movie going field. New titles in the marketplace were generally soft with Beerfest grossing $6.6 million to rank fourth and How to Eat Worms further back with $3.9 million. The raucous Idlewild grossed $5.9 million and had the best screen average of all films in wide release. Mid-August has traditionally been a significant dumping ground for studio product and this year is no exception. Even with an increasing number of school districts beginning classes, the closing days of summer afford an extra boost for films perceived to have middling box office prospects. Weekend revenues just eked past $100 million to register an 8% decline from the prior frame. However the sheer volume of product accounted for a 6% increase from 2005 when the $16.3 million second weekend of The 40 Year Old Virgin nosed ahead of the $15.1 million bow of The Brothers Grimm. Disney has effectively mined the underdog sports drama with the likes of Remember the Titans, Miracle and Passing Glory. Invincible - the true story of an unlikely pro football athlete - ably continues the franchise and its performance justifies the company's policy even if the record is playoff rather than championship level. The slow, strategist expansion of Little Miss Sunshine finally reached a significant national exposure level that boosted it to third spot (behind Talladega Nights) with an impressive $7.3 million box office. The acquisition now appears headed for a hefty $40 million plus domestic tally. New entries grappled with fierce competition even if their commercial expectations were modest. The bawdy, irreverent Beerfest tapped almost exclusively into the young male crowd with expected potency. However, despite upbeat reviews and teen lit creds, How to Eat Worms will have to rely on subsequent ancillary revenues to make the grade. Idlewild, an unusual showcase for music dynamos Outkast, rang up better than $6,000 screen averages with strong indication for expansion prospects. Opening weekend demos included a strong African American tilt and a perhaps surprising 61% plus 30 year old audience. The groups wider and younger appeal should kick in with continued heat behind the picture. Among continuing titles there was a better than expected holdover for Accepted but fears that the crowd for Snakes on a Plane was all in line opening day appeared all too true. It decelerated 56% in a session where 50% plus drops were not uncommon. Continuing to expand in niche exposure, The Illusionist rang up a potent $1.8 million and $12,400 average. Debuting limited fare was struggling with the late summer blues including a $27,200 gross for horror entry The Quiet from seven locations and a $15,100 tally from five screens for the Spanish import Queens. - by Leonard Klady Weekend Estimates - August 25-27, 2006 Title Distributor Gross (average) % change Theaters Cume Invincible BV 16.9 (5,810) - 2917 16.9 Talladega Nights Sony 8.1 (2,400) -41% 3370 127.8 Little Miss Sunshine Fox Searchlight 7.3 (5,130) 31% 1430 22.9 Beerfest WB 6.6 (2,230) - 2964 6.6 Accepted Uni 6.5 (2,210) -36% 2917 21.1 World Trade Center Par 6.3 (2,090) -42% 3021 55.5 Snakes on a Plane New Line 6.2 (1,750) -56% 3555 26.5 Step Up BV 6.0 (2,260) -41% 2647 50.2 Idlewild Uni 5.9 (6,070) - 973 5.9 Barnyard Par 5.4 (1,810) -28% 3003 54.7 Pirates of Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest BV 4.0 (2,370) -23% 1701 407.6 How to Eat Worms New Line 3.9 (2,110) - 1870 3.9 Material Girls MGM 2.0 (1,430) -56% 1509 8.2 The Illusionist FreeStyle/Odeon 1.8 (1,240) 92% 144 3.1 Pulse Weinstein Co. 1.6 (1,010) -54% 1608 17.8 Monster House Sony 1.1 (1,190) -45% 906 69.3 The Descent Lions Gate 1.0 (1,140) -60% 859 24.4 Miami Vice Uni .93 (1,160) -62% 804 61.9 The Devil Wears Prada Fox .87 (1,490) -33% 585 120.6 Superman Returns WB .81 (2,600) -5% 311 195 Bon Cop Bad Cop Alliance .79 (3,030) -32% 261 6.7 Cars BV .73 (1,370) 67% 531 240.5 Ant Bully WB .67 (1,300) -36% 515 25.8 Zoom Sony .62 (710) -74% 868 10.8 You, Me and Dupree Uni .58 (1,110) -42% 522 73.9 Weekend Total ($500,000+ Films) - $96.60 - - - % Change (Last Year) - 6% - - - % Change (Last Week) - -8% - - - Also debuting/expanding Trust the Man Fox Searchlight .28 (1,750) 54% 158 0.53 Quincineara Sony Classics .18 (2,150) 8% 85 0.77 The Quiet Sony Classics 27,200 (3,920) - 7 0.03 Queens Regent 15,100 (3,020) - 5 0.02 Suicide Killers Intl Film Circuit 10,600 (5,300) - 2 0.01 Princesas IFC 4,500 (4,500) - 1 0.01 Top Limited Releases: January 1 - August 24, 2006 Match Point DmWks 23,052,317 An Inconvenient Truth Par Classics 22,575,982 Deep Sea 3-D WB 17,593,298 Mrs. Henderson Presents Weinstein Co. 10,662,712 Scoop Focus 9,442,574 Transamerica Weinstein Co. 8,771,637 Magnificent Desolation Imax 8,451,166 Good Night, and Good Luck WIP 8,203,593 Bon Cop Bad Cop Alliance 5,916,643 A Scanner Darkly WIP 5,222,455 The World's Fastest Indian Magnolia 5,128,124 Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada Sony Classics 4,996,040 The Libertine Weinstein Co. 4,773,768 Roving Mars BV 4,493,313 Keeping Up with the Steins Mrmx 4,354,174 Wild Safari 3-D nWave 4,161,816 Cache (Hidden) Sony Class/Alliance 3,732,437 Water Fox Searchlight 3,209,671 Wordplay IFC 2,978,617 Tsotsi Mrmx 2,912,606 * none greater than 563 theaters Domestic Market Share: January 1 - August 24, 2006 Sony (21) 1108.6 17.80% Buena Vista (18) 1084.5 17.40% Fox (18) 988.9 15.90% Universal (15) 675.6 10.80% Paramount (11) 633.3 10.20% Warner Bros. (15) 623.3 10.00% Weinstein Co. (10) 208.6 3.30% Lions Gate (13) 192.3 3.10% New Line (8) 139.5 2.20% Focus (9) 132.5 2.10% Fox Searchlight (8) 112.9 1.80% MGM (3) 52.6 0.80% Sony Classics (16) 49.9 0.80% Other * (196) 233.6 3.80% * none greater than 0.45% 6236.1 100.00%