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

June 24, 2007 Weekend Estimates Domestic Market Share Sequels Aren't Equals ... The Evan Almighty wave crested at an estimated $32.3 million to lead all titles in the domestic marketplace. The session also featured the national bow of the Stephen King chiller 1408 in second place with a sturdy $20.4 million and a disappointing $3.9 million bow for the highly lauded saga of journalist Daniel Pearl in A Mighty Heart. Additionally there were effective limited launches of the offbeat thriller You Kill Me and the French adaptation of Lady Chatterley’s Lover. The single screen sneak peak of Michael Moore’s hot button Sicko was playing at near capacity with a three-day gross of $72,300. Anticipation ran as high as $40 million for Evan Almighty, a loose continuation of the Jim Carrey vehicle Bruce Almighty. Promoting the film as the most expensive comedy of all-time was no asset as it’s essentially a family film with more warmth than hilarity. Crossing over to its true audience will be crucial to the film’s fortunes as its theatrical run continues. Of late adaptation of the Stephen King canon have been disappointing both artistically and commercially. So, 1408 was a pleasant surprise as it effectively mined a tale of frightening claustrophobia. Still it’s future hinges on effective and vociferous word-of-mouth as the release schedule ramps up for higher profile entries in the coming weeks. Revenues for the current weekend should clock in at roughly $135 million for a 9% decline from seven days later. It also abated by 5% from 2006 when Click debuted to $40 million and Cars added $23.3 million in its third lap at the box office. The year to date continues to lose traction with box office now just 3% ahead of last year and admissions relatively consistent. Box office for the summer season that began with the release of Spider-Man 3, however, lags behind last year by 7% in what was promised to be a record period with an unbeatable slate. Despite a spate of hefty openings, tentpoles are experiencing larger than usual drops with last weekend freshman Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer taking it on the chin by 65% and Ocean’s Thirteen experiencing a 42% diminution. Among mainstream releases only Knocked Up is noticeably exceeding expectations with its cume crossing $100 million on Friday. The preponderance of popcorn titles has been good for a handful of alternative titles such as Once and La Vie en Rose. But the initial response for the sober-sided A Mighty Heart was decidedly less than potent with a per theater average of just a dot more than $2,900 that probably will require a marketing rethink and additional ad support. Judging from the single screen launch of Michael Moore’s already incendiary examination of U.S. health care in Sicko, the filmmaker may once again be confronting media grilling and box office nirvana of Fahrenheit 911 proportions. It would certainly put the lie to controversy being bad for the box office. This weekend’s limited debs displayed promise as well as the need for continued nurturing. You Kill Me, the askew tale of a hit man seeking a rebound from his alcohol addiction generated in excess of $220,000 from 37 sanctions while France’s recent Cesar winner Lady Chatterley’s Lover disrobed $34,400 from five exposures and American indie effort Broken English garnered $53,600 from seven venues. - Leonard Klady Weekend Estimates - June 22-24, 2007 Title Distributor Gross (average) % change * Theaters Cume Evan Almighty Uni 32.3 (8,980) - 3604 32.3 1408 MGM 20.4 (7,640) - 2678 20.4 Fantastic Four: Rise of Silver Surfer Fox 20.2 (5,100) -65% 3963 97.7 Ocean's Thirteen WB 11.4 (3,310) -42% 3450 91.1 Knocked Up Uni 10.7 (3,590) -24% 2975 109 Pirates of Caribbean: At World's End BV 7.3 (2,600) -41% 2802 287.1 Surf's Up Sony 6.6 (1,990) -29% 3309 47.2 Shrek the Third Par 5.7 (2,020) -37% 2822 307.8 Nancy Drew WB 4.5 (1,720) -34% 2612 16.2 A Mighty Heart Par Vantage 3.9 (2,910) - 1355 3.9 Mr. Brooks MGM 1.5 (1,180) -48% 1290 26.6 Spider-Man 2 Sony 1.2 (1,200) -50% 1031 332.5 Waitress Searchlight .92 (1,740) -27% 528 15.7 Hostel 2 Lions Gate .84 (800) -72% 1048 16.9 La Vie en Rose TVA/Picturehouse .73 (6,130) 10% 119 3.4 Once Fox Searchlight .51 (4,020) -6% 127 3.3 Wild Hogs BV .37 (1,100) -26% 339 166.5 Weekend Total ($500,000+ Films) $141.24 - - - % Change (Last Year) - -5% - - - % Change (Last Week) - -9% - - - Also debuting/expanding Paris je t'aime First Look .28 (1,710) -43% 164 3.3 You Kill Me IFC .22 (6,050) - 37 0.22 Sicko Lions Gate 72,300 (72,300) - 1 0.07 Broken English Magnolia 53,600 (7,660) - 7 0.05 Lady Chatterley Kino 34,400 (6,880) - 5 0.03 Black Sheep IFC 14,300 (3,580) - 4 0.01 Manufacturing Landscapes * Zeitgeist 9,900 (9,900) - 1 0.01 Colma: The Musical IDP 9,100 (9,100) - 1 0.01 Klimnt Outsider 2,100 (2,100) - 1 0.01 Global Releases: To June 21, 2007 Title Distrubutor Gross Spider-Man 3 Sony 876,105,810 Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End BV 844,260,707 300 WB 451,783,252 Shrek the Third Par 408,340,389 Night at the Museum * Fox 384,045,798 Wild Hogs BV 247,161,105 Ghost Rider Sony 229,211,006 The Pursuit of Happyness * Sony 209,403,354 Mr. Bean's Holiday Uni/UIP 183,340,613 Norbit Par 159,028,930 Ocean's Thirteen WB 155,118,135 Meet the Robinsons BV 149,960,028 Music and Lyrics WB 146,956,340 Blades of Glory Par 134,730,452 Blood Diamond * WB 134,413,770 Bridge to Terabithia BV/Summit 124,354,150 Dreamgirls * Par 117,562,903 Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer Fox 109,186,537 Rocky Balboa * MGM/Fox 106,858,915 Casino Royale * Sony 102,970,798 * does not include 2006 box office Domestic Market Share: To June 21, 2007 Distributor (Releases) Gross Market Share Sony (17) 859.9 20.00% Paramount (13) 830.7 19.30% Buena Vista (13) 669.7 15.60% Warner Bros. (19) 556.3 12.90% Fox (14) 357.7 8.30% Universal (10) 319.7 7.40% New Line (6) 108.7 2.50% MGM (12) 107.1 2.50% Lions Gate (11) 100.4 2.30% Fox Searchlight (9) 75.9 1.80% Miramax (5) 43.6 1.00% Picturehouse (3) 41.1 1.00% Focus (2) 39.6 0.90% Sony Classics (10) 31.5 0.70% Weinstein Co. (6) 26.9 0.60% Par Vantage (3) 25.4 0.60% Other * (127) 107.3 2.60% * none greater than 0.5% 4301.5 100.00%