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

May 20, 2007 Weekend Estimates Domestic Market Share The Greening of America The new jolly giant, Shrek the Third, broke box office records with an estimated $122.2 million debut that accounted for roughly two-thirds of all ticket sales in North America. The competition steered clear of the commercial behemoth, though rapturous reviews for the Irish import Once generated sell-out business in two exclusive engagements. Expectations for a $100 million plus onslaught for Shrek the Third were high and the animated opus did not disappoint. Barring a natural or man-made catastrophe it will rank as the third largest box office debut and bests the second Shrek's $108 million bow as the largest grossing non-live action opening. Shrek the Third opted not to launch a day-and-date assault internationally, with Russia the sole major territory receiving exposure. Generally critical response was tepid and that could translate into a future primarily fueled by younger viewers, as has occurred with Spider-Man 3. The web master experienced another significant drop to rank second with $28.6 million. Overall box office should check in with slightly less than $180 million for a 73% boost from last weekend's business. It was also 11% improved from 2006 when opening weekends of The Da Vinci Code and Over the Hedge dominated with respective grosses of $77.1 million and $38.4 million. The quartet of freshmen from last weekend each experienced approximately 50% declines but longer running titles such as Disturbia, Fracture and Hot Fuzz proved to be more resilient in albeit the less rungs forced upon them by the seasonal event titles. The relative absence of adult fare has advantaged both Waitress and Away from Her with the titles continuing to expand strategically. Coincidentally both had 65% box office boosts during the current frame. Limited debuts were largely unimpressive with no better than fair results for such American independent entries as Fay Grim, The Wendell Baker Story and Even Money. The surprise of the frame was Once, an Irish production with a musical-romantic backdrop. The film had only modest box office response when it debuted in Great Britain earlier in the year. However, a string of four star reviews generated near capacity crowds in two engagements and has ramped up expectations and sped up expansion plans in hopes of fueling that interest into a significant niche success. by Leonard Klady Weekend Estimates - May 18-20, 2007 Title Distributor Gross (average) % change Theaters Cume Shrek the Third Par 122.2 (29,650) - 4122 123.1 Spider-Man 2 Sony 28.6 (6,610) -51% 4324 282 28 Weeks Later Fox 5.0 (2,180) -49% 2305 18.5 Disturbia Par 3.6 (1,410) -24% 2547 71.2 Georgia Rule Uni 3.5 (1,370) -49% 2531 12.6 Fracture New Line 2.3 (1,420) -23% 1607 34.5 Delta Farce Lions Gate 1.8 (920) -48% 1931 4.28 The Invisible BV 1.3 (940) -44% 1378 17.6 Hot Fuzz Focus 1.2 (1,210) -31% 973 21 Waitress Searchlight 1.1 (9,310) 65% 116 2.1 Next Par 1.0 (1,010) -41% 1008 16.5 Blades of Glory Par .88 (1,080) -39% 812 115.2 Away from Her Mongrel/Lions Gate .72 (3,660) 65% 197 1.6 The Ex MGM .69 (740) -51% 936 2.6 Meet the Robinsons BV .51 (540) -72% 941 95.3 Weekend Total ($500,000+ Films) $174.40 - - - % Change (Last Year) - 11% - - - % Change (Last Week) - 73% - - Also debuting/expanding The Namesake Fox Searchlight .32 (1,270) -23% 253 12.5 Fay Grim Magnolia 69,200 (2,560) - 27 0.07 Once Fox Searchlight 59,300 (29,650) - 2 0.07 The Wendell Baker Story Thinkfilm 50,600 (2,970) - 17 0.05 Even Money FreeStyle 23,100 (3,850) - 6 0.02 Severance Magnolia 7,700 (3,850) - 2 0.01 Hollywood Dreams Rainbow 3,780 (945) - 4 0.01 Flanders IFC 1,820 (1,820) - 1 0.01 Limited* Grosses: To May 17, 2007 Title Distributor Gross Notes on a Scandal Fox Searchlight 16,887,112 The Last King of Scotland Fox Searchlight 13,984,463 The Namesake Fox Searchlight 12,223,747 The Lives of Others Sony Classics 9,778,929 Volver Sony Class/Seville 8,667,072 The Painted Veil WIP 7,552,537 Deep Sea 3-D WB 5,300,896 Venus Mrmx 3,233,893 Little Children NLC 2,987,970 Peaceful Warrior (reissue) Uni 2,914,450 Miss Potter MGM 2,760,128 Black Book Sony Classics 2,436,560 Magnificent Desolation Imax 2,403,130 Ma Fille, Mon Ange Alliance 2,334,815 Perfume: Story of a Murderer Par 2,205,318 The Host Magnolia 2,159,252 Guru Adlabs 2,096,000 Salaam-E-Ishq Eros 1,954,100 The Wind That Shakes the Barley IFC/Christal 1,905,345 Avenue Montaigne (Fauteuils d'Orchestre) Thinkfilm/Seville 1,745,409 * none greater than 689 playdates Domestic Market Share: To May 17, 2007 Distributor (releases) Gross Mrkt Share Sony (16) 736.1 23.20% Paramount (12) 511.4 16.10% Warner Bros. (17) 460.3 14.50% Buena Vista (12) 378.5 11.90% Fox (13) 274.2 8.70% Universal (9) 211.6 6.70% New Line (6) 101.5 3.20% MGM (11) 80.6 2.50% Lions Gate (9) 69.5 2.20% Fox Searchlight (7) 57.8 1.80% Miramax (4) 43.1 1.40% Picturehouse (2) 37.2 1.20% Focus (2) 36.3 1.10% Sony Classics (8) 27.2 0.90% Weinstein Co. (5) 25.9 0.80% Paramount Vantage (3) 25.1 0.80% IDP (5) 21.8 0.70% Other * (102) 72.3 2.30% - 3170.4 100.00%