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

September 30, 2007 Weekend Estimates Domestic Market Share Tu Tu Much .... The ground war multiplex to multiplex encounter between the family friendly The Game Plan and the Rambo-unctious The Kingdom led to a one-two finish respectively estimated at $22.9 million and $17.8 million. The solid, relatively predictable box office failed to spike business as hold over titles generally experienced 50% declines. The frame also featured a flaccid national bow for the couple's drama Feast of Love of $1.7 million and was chock-a-block with expansions and regional and limited openings. Hot off New York Film Festival screenings Lust, Caution had a potent single screen bow of $62,800 while The Darjeeling Limited, that opened Saturday, scored $141,600 at two sites. The hard hitting Rwanda drama Shake Hands with the Devil bowed to an impressive $170,000 in Canada and French import Odette Toulemonde was OK with $78,800 in Quebec. However, there was little bite for the doc Sharkwater that waded into Florida waters with $49,200 and the international sex commerce of Trade barely stirred interest with $101,000 from 90 houses. Employing The Pacifier template, The Game Plan cast tough guy Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson as a gridiron giant forced to turn domestic with the arrival of a hitherto unknown pre-teen daughter. Whatever substantive issues might have been inherent in the material were passed off laterally for porridge that's pure mush. But the pure hokum should sustain well in the coming weeks. The Kingdom also looks to benefit in the lack of immediate competition. The visceral thriller about FBI investigators tracking down terrorists in Saudi Arabia has a faux political agenda and a discomfiting racist bent that will restrict its international passport. It should nonetheless get decent domestic mileage as a flag waver. The two films accounted for about 45% of weekend business that translated into a 6% drop for last weekend and a further 9% abatement from last year. In 2006, debuts of Open Season and The Guardian held the top positions with bows of $23.6 million and $18 million. Industry pundits anticipate soft business to continue through October but for the moment yearly box office is running about 6.5% better than a year earlier. Whatever potential the emotionally charged Feast of Love may have had with adult viewers was largely lost in an indifferent campaign and lukewarm reviews. Meanwhile, slow steady expansions for the Beatles homage Across the Universe and the survival saga Into the Wild displayed sustained interest while the Iraq aftermath of In the Valley of Elah continued to lose commercial traction. Toronto fest premiere Shake Hands with the Devil focusing on the Canadian general in charge of U.N. forces during the Rwanda genocide bowed north of the border to good returns that will still demand the TLC campaigns necessary to sustain non-warm bath movies in a sated marketplace - Leonard Klady Weekend Estimates - September 28-30, 2007 Title Distributor Gross (average) % change * Theaters Cume The Game Plan BV 22.9 (7,390) - 3103 22.9 The Kingdom Uni 17.8 (6,370) - 2793 17.8 Resident Evil: Extinction Sony 7.8 (2,750) -67% 2828 36.6 Good Luck Chuck Lions Gate 6.1 (2,350) -55% 2612 23.4 3:10 to Yuma Lions Gate 4.0 (1,340) -35% 3006 43.8 The Brave One WB 3.6 (1,290) -50% 2837 30.8 Mr. Woodcock New Line 2.9 (1,320) -41% 2195 19.5 Eastern Promises Focus/Alliance 2.8 (2,000) -50% 1408 11.2 Sydney White Uni 2.6 (1,240) -50% 2106 8.5 Across the Universe Sony 2.1 (6,110) 6% 339 5.5 The Bourne Ultimatum Uni 1.7 (1,170) -41% 1461 222.8 Feast of Love MGM 1.7 (1,400) 1200 1.7 Superbad Sony 1.6 (1,040) -49% 1517 118.8 In the Valley of Elah WIP 1.5 (1,960) 18% 762 3.3 Transformers Par 1.2 (2,340) -17% 509 315.2 Rush Hour 3 New Line 1.1 (970) -49% 1152 137.6 Halloween MGM .85 (680) -61% 1245 56.1 Dragon Wars FreeStyle .83 (600) -68% 1376 10.1 Mr. Bean's Holiday Uni .66 (520) -63% 1262 31.7 Into the Wild Par Vantage .64 (19,390) 202% 33 0.94 Balls of Fury Focus .52 (600) -69% 867 32.1 Weekend Total ($500,000+ Films) $84.90 - - - % Change (Last Year) - -9% - - - % Change (Last Week) - -6% - - - Also debuting/expanding - - - - - Death at a Funeral MGM .25 (920) -41% 273 7.6 The Jane Austen Book Club Sony Classics .19 (4,660) 28% 41 0.4 Shake Hands with the Devil Seville .17 (3,140) - 55 0.17 The Darjeeling Limited Fox Searchlight 141,600 (70,800) - 2 0.14 Trade Roadside 101,200 (1,120) - 90 0.1 Assassination of Jesse James … WB 94,100 (18,520) -36% 5 0.3 Odette Toulemonde Eqinoxe 78,800 (2,540) - 31 0.08 Lust, Caution Focus 62,800 (62,800) - 1 0.06 Sharkwater FreeStyle 49,200 (820) - 60 0.05 Outsourced Shadow 35,500 (4,440) - 8 0.04 The Price of Sugar Mitropoulos 3,370 (3,370) - 1 0.01 Top Domestic Grosses - To September 26, 2007 Title  Distributor Gross Spider-Man 3 Sony 336,635,065 Shrek the Third Par 322,782,958 Transformers Par 312,151,771 Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End BV 309,182,318 Harry Potter & the Order of the Phoenix WB 289,527,287 The Bourne Ultimatum Uni 217,367,170 300 WB 210,702,543 Ratatouille BV 202,680,025 The Simpsons Movie Fox 181,375,422 Wild Hogs BV 168,602,747 Knocked Up Uni 148,645,145 Live Free or Die Hard Fox 134,168,034 Rush Hour 3 NLC 133,889,025 Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer Fox 131,779,552 Night at the Museum * Fox 125,041,114 I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry Uni 118,652,235 Blades of Glory Par 118,628,332 Ghost Rider Sony 117,257,346 Ocean's Thirteen WB 117,154,724 Hairspray NLC 116,732,382   Domestic Market Share - To September 26, 2007 Distributor (releases) Gross Percentage Paramount (16) 1217.6 16.90% Warner Bros. (24) 1020.1 14.20% Sony (22) 1018.8 14.10% Buena Vista (15) 948.6 13.20% Universal (15) 838.4 11.60% Fox (17) 737.7 10.20% New Line (10) 381.7 5.30% MGM (19) 277.4 3.80% Lions Gate (16) 191.7 2.70% Fox Searchlight (11) 90.5 1.30% Focus (6) 87.3 1.20% Miramax (7) 62.6 0.90% Picturehouse (7) 56.6 0.80% Other (230) * 271.5 3.80% *none greater than 0.5% 7200.5 100.00%