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

June 3 , 2007 Weekend Estimates Domestic Market Share Shiver Me Trimester .. The scurvy crew of Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End once again plundered heartiest with an estimated weekend booty of $43.7 million. However, its fiercest competition came not from a tent pole but the bawdy high concept comedy Knocked Up that grossed $29.3 million. The frame also featured less stellar result for national debuts of the thriller Mr. Brooks with a fourth place finish of $9 million and listless returns of $1.3 million for the inspirational sage Gracie. Limited release freshmen included a substantial $46,200 from five venues for Russia sci-fi odyssey Day Watch and a three-screen gross of $15,600 for the documentary profile Mad Love. While business didn't sail off the edge of the world, sharp drops were anticipated following the Memorial weekend holiday. In a summer that thus far has trued to the adage: the bigger they are, the harder they fall, Pirates took a hard 62% decline on the comparative three-day spans. Overall business declined by 37% from seven days earlier and slipped 2% from 2006 when the opening salvo of The Break-Up was the first seasonal surprise with a $39.2 million box office. There had long been an inkling that Knocked Up - a randy relationship comedy with a soft center - would be well received pitted against the summer behemoths. However, no one anticipated the film would be warmly embraced by the critics. The film both exceeded expectations and skewed unexpectedly older and female and that adds up to prospects of a more durable theatrical run. It was no such luck for Mr. Brooks, a nasty little thriller with Kevin Costner cast against type in a malevolent role. The nagging question boiled down to whether audiences weren't buying the actor in the role or simply weren't buying him period. And one had the sneaking suspicion that the masses steered clear of Gracie because its upbeat arc felt just a little bit to familiar and redundant. The slow roll out of the Irish musical-romance Once continued to surprise. Industry wisdom almost demands distribution strike while the iron is hot but with such a subtle confection there's every suspicion an aggressive push would squander its true potential. The latest from Bollywood - Fool In Final - proved a disappointment and one suspects the bow of the contemporary vampire yarn Rise: Blood Hunter was propelled by contractual demands rather than commercial prospects. The frame also featured Day Watch, the Russian follow up to Night Watch that garnered positive critical response but spurted out commercially in the U.S. The new entry shows signs of repeating that scenario and one has to speculate whether Fox will make good on its past promise of investing in a third episode to be shot English-language tovarich. by Leonard Klady Weekend Estimates - June 1-3, 2007 Title Distributor Gross (average) % Change Theaters Cume Pirates of Caribbean: At World's End BV 43.7 (10,020) -62% 4362 217.1 Knocked Up Uni 29.3 (10,190) - 2871 29.3 Shrek the Third Par 26.8 (6,520) - 4109 254.7 Mr. Brooks MGM 9.0 (3,660) - 2453 9 Spider-Man 3 Sony 7.6 (2,040) -47% 3723 318.3 Waitress Searchlight 1.9 (3,160) -38% 605 9.3 Gracie Picturehouse 1.3 (1,120) - 1164 1.3 Bug Lions Gate 1.2 (710) -64% 1664 6.1 28 Weeks Later Fox 1.1 (1,010) -56% 1121 26.5 Disturbia Par 1.1 (1,050) -44% 1035 76.7 Wild Hogs BV .79 (2,150) -43% 368 164.4 Georgia Rule Uni .58 (610) -69% 953 18.1 Fracture New Line .52 (860) -59% 608 38.1 Away from Her Mongrel/LGF .51 (1,660) -52% 308 3.9 Weekend Total ($500,000+ Box Office) - $125.40 -- - - % Change (Last year) - -2% -- - - % Change (Last wknd) - -37% -- - - Also debuting/expanding Once Searchlight .44 (7,370) 33% 60 1.07 Fool In Final Shamaroo 84,500 (2,280) - 37 0.08 Day Watch Searchlight 46,200 (9,240) - 5 0.05 Rise: Blood Hunter IDP 23,700 (990) - 24 0.02 Crazy Love Magnolia 15,600 (5,530) - 3 0.02 International Grosses: To May 24, 2007 Title Distributor Gross Spider-Man 3 Sony 770,965,080 300 WB 440,949,612 Night at the Museum * Fox 393,645,651 Wild Hogs BV 236,820,424 Ghost Rider Sony 225,790,901 The Pursuit of Happyness * Sony 209,105,741 Mr. Bean's Holiday Uni/Wk Title 176,801,339 Shrek the Third Par 169,008,690 Norbit Par 158,344,470 Music and Lyrics WB 145,956,146 Meet the Robinsons BV 145,630,981 Blood Diamond * WB 134,413,770 Blades of Glory Par 131,256,376 Bridge to Terabithia BV/Summit 119,149,335 Dreamgirls * Par 117,549,536 Rocky Balboa * MGM/Fox 106,742,344 Casino Royale * Sony 102,970,798 Happy Feet * WB 93,972,684 TMNT WB/Weinstein 88,726,509 Shooter Par   88,673,463 * does not include 2006 box office Domestic Market Share: To May 24, 2007 Distributor (releases) Gross Mrkt Share Sony (16) 774.2 22.60% Paramount (13) 669.7 19.60% Warner Bros. (17) 461.6 13.50% Buena Vista (13) 398.7 11.70% Fox (13) 282.2 8.30% Universal (9) 216.9 6.30% New Line (6) 105.2 3.10% MGM (11) 81.7 2.40% Lions Gate (9) 73.1 2.10% Fox Searchlight (8) 59.9 1.80% Miramax (4) 43.2 1.30% Focus (2) 38.2 1.10% Picturehouse (2) 37.2 1.10% Sony Classics (8) 28.3 0.80% Weinstein Co. (5) 25.9 0.80% Paramount Vantage (3) 25.3 0.70% IDP (5) 21.9 0.60% Other * (107) 74.6 2.20% * none greater than 0.4% 3417.8 100.00%