..Gary Dretzka
..Noah Forrest
..Leonard Klady
..R.J. Matson
..David Poland
..Douglas Pratt
..Ray Pride
..Michael Wilmington

March 11, 2007 Weekend Estimates Domestic Market Share Sparkin' Spartans ... The eye-popping graphics of 300 corralled close to half of weekend business with a staggering estimate of $69.5 million. The historic drama was virtually the only new national release though the inspirational The Ultimate Gift did unspool in 800 locations for a $1.2 million tally. Additionally there was an excellent $40,000 per screens for the six exclusives of The Namesake. The Battle of Thermopylae had previously inspired the 1962 outing The 300 Spartans that was pretty spectacular stuff in its day. The new 300 is derived from the Frank Miller graphic novel and its combination of animation and capture motion anticipated a strong debut that grew from $35 million to $50 million leading up to its opening. Not unexpectedly exit polls identified young males as 60% of its audience though an R-rating kept some teens away. Nonetheless it scored as the highest grossing March debut and third biggest opening for a Restricted film behind Matrix Reloaded and The Passion of the Christ. Imax versions were estimated to have grossed $3.4 million from 62 sites that exceeded Superman Returns' prior apex of $3 million. On the heels of last weekend's better than expected bow of Wild Hogs, the mood is buoyant in the exhibition sector that begins its annual convention ShoWest tomorrow in Las Vegas. Weekend revenues were slightly in excess of $150 million for a 23% boost from the prior weekend. Box office was 43% improved from 2006 when debuts of Failure to Launch, The Shaggy Dog and The Hills Have Eyes led with respective grosses of $24.4 million, $16.3 million and $15.7 million. Holdover titles were generally strong though the 49% decline of Zodiac was more extreme than expected and bodes ill for the highly lauded, high profile entry. Ghost Rider became the first 2007 release to hit $100 million and Wild Hogs relatively modest 30% erosion and $77.4 million cume in 10 days is headed for the same benchmark. The Ultimate Gift flexed no better than fair business for an inspirational family offering. Its DVD prospects are proportionally better. Meanwhile, the stealth appeal of Amazing Grace continued with the addition of 210 playdates and a slim 6% decline in its theater average. The last gasps of the Oscar slate has winnowed down to Pan's Labyrinth, The Queen and The Last King of Scotland.The only winner that's translating is late starter foreign-language recipient The Lives of Others. In exclusives only the drama of transplanted Indians in Manhatten _ The Namesake _ demonstrated commercial potential from six screens in four cities. The Host _ the slick horror movie and South Korea's all-time box office champ _ didn't translate well into English with a $280,000 gross and roughly $4,000 per engagement average. It's done considerably better in its launches in France and Spain. Other new entries included Believe in Me based on the true saga of a girls' basketball team that grossed about $80,000 from 56 courts and the critically lauded Beyond the Gates on Rwanda's dark days that rang up $6,400 from a single Manhattan screen. Into Great Silence, a doc on sequestered European monks, added a theater and grossed better than $20,000 from its two engagements. - Leonard Klady Weekend Finals - March 9-11, 2007 - - Title Distrib Weekend % Change Theaters Cume Wks 1 New 300 WB 70,885,301 - 3103 70,885,301 1 2 1 Wild Hogs BV 27,601,291 -31% 3296 77,016,616 2 3 4 Bridge to Terabithia BV 6,779,315 -24% 3210 66,934,360 4 4 3 Ghost Rider Sony 6,670,463 -42% 3347 104,012,146 4 5 2 Zodiac Par 6,641,870 -50% 2379 23,595,973 2 6 6 Norbit Par 4,278,099 -33% 2505 88,295,349 5 7 5 The Number 23 New Line 4,082,292 -37% 2489 30,233,459 3 8 7 Music and Lyrics WB 3,744,084 -23% 2280 43,761,368 4 9 10 Breach Uni 2,505,640 -31% 1505 29,021,080 4 10 11 Amazing Grace IDP 2,478,036 -12% 1000 11,392,034 3 11 8 Black Snake Moan Par Vantage 1,884,690 -54% 1253 7,294,743 2 12 9 Reno 911!: Miami Fox 1,400,035 -65% 1745 19,129,868 3 13 New The Ultimate Gift Bigger Picture 1,241,079 -- 816 1,241,079 1 14 12 Daddy's Little Girls Lions Gate 1,229,553 -46% 798 30,121,004 4 15 13 The Astronaut Farmer WB 1,015,921 -54% 1450 9,354,438 3 16 14 Night at the Museum Fox 922,474 -37% 739 244,766,562 12 17 19 The Lives of Others Sony Classics 852,558 9% 163 3,460,248 5 18 16 Pan's Labyrinth Picturehouse 780,957 -35% 549 35,407,181 11 19 15 Because I Said So Uni 712,545 -47% 709 41,615,740 6 20 17 The Last King of Scotland Fox Searchlight 656,921 -32% 490 16,262,830 24 21 23 Happy Feet WB 622,474 33% 550 195,551,538 17 22 18 The Queen Miramax 573,487 -37% 460 55,154,689 24 23 20 The Messengers Sony 394,920 -44% 412 34,992,867 6 24 New The Host Magnolia 314,488 - 71 314,488 1 25 21 Dreamgirls Par   312,255 -46% 314 102,579,252 13 26 35 The Pursuit of Happyness Sony 296,274 102% 366 163,161,945 13 27 New The Namesake Fox Searchlight 248,552 - 6 248,552 1 28 45 Charlotte's Web Par 232,343 123% 366 82,129,469 12 29 24 Notes on a Scandal Fox Searchlight 200,149 -33% 190 17,061,885 11 30 27 Stomp the Yard Sony 184,301 -18% 238 61,122,643 9 31 34 Deep Sea 3-D WB 184,229 13% 35 24,367,665 54 32 RE Miss Potter MGM 179,803 - 71 1,143,802 11 33 22 Hannibal Rising MGM 179,581 -65% 824 27,356,284 5 34 28 Ma Fille, Mon Ange Alliance 154,599 -26% 85 2,038,574 4 35 31 Volver Sony Class/Seville 137,141 -26% 110 13,428,405 19 36 32 Blood Diamond WB 134,204 -26% 77 56,711,165 14 37 50 Arthur and the Invisibles MGM 129,119 64% 171 14,618,662 9 38 53 Breaking and Entering Weinstein Co. 126,464 95% 95 699,598 7 39 29 Epic Movie  Fox 120,456 -36% 194 39,373,725 7 40 41 The Painted Veil WIP 109,734 -8% 98 7,587,074 12 41 26 The Departed WB 102,265 -57% 120 132,310,442 23 42 25 Letters from Iwo Jima WB 100,167 -60% 175 13,521,691 12 43 38 Children of Men Uni 96,785 -28% 88 35,286,428 12 44 40 Happily Never After Lions Gate 92,080 -26% 197 15,975,520 10 45 46 Avenue Montaigne (Orchestra Seats) Thinkfilm/Seville 89,059 -14% 17 563,525 24 46 36 Casino Royale Sony 81,709 -41% 123 167,361,480 17 47 New Believe in Me IFC 81,569 - 54 81,569 1 48 44 Eragon Fox 77,681 -29% 131 74,828,499 12 49 47 Nos Voisins dhamtsu Christal 74,782 -24% 47 515,020 3 50 54 Roving Mars BV 70,426 12% 18 6,318,325 59 51 33 Babel Par Vantage 69,737 -60% 84 34,237,104 20 52 37 Venus Miramax 63,229 -54% 91 3,186,768 12 53 39 Smokin' Aces Uni 61,875 -51% 99 35,635,046 7 54 55 Magnificent Desolation Imax 56,676 11% 14 17,729,806 76 55 51 Little Children New Line 56,246 -19% 59 5,307,219 23 56 43 Freedom Writers Par 53,227 -53% 131 36,581,633 10 57 RE The Hitcher Focus 47,176 - 101 16,426,758 8 58 66 Starter for 10 Picturehouse 45,968 230% 20 121222 3 59 42 Rocky Balboa MGM 39,745 -66% 115 70,229,242 13 60 30 The Abandoned After Dark 38,102 -79%<