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

November 11, 2007 Weekend Estimates Domestic Market Share Sting Like a Lion, Float Like a Santa Last weekend's leaders switched positions with the animated yellow jacket Bee Movie edging out the crime saga American Gangster with respective estimates of $25.7 million and $24.5 million. That left weekend freshmen scrambling for patrons with holiday family entry Fred Claus corralling a solid $18.5 million while political thriller Lions for Lambs couldn't sell its agenda on a $6.4 million gross and the nail biter P2 barely raised neck hairs with a $1.8 million tally. New niche and specialized entries flooded the marketplace including unprecedented exposure for Bollywood fare. Two high profile Indian musicals cracked the top 25 with Saawariya posting an impressive $540,000 and Om Shanti Om grossing a record breaking $1.7 million debut reflecting warm global response in India and Diaspora outposts in the U.K., Australia and South Africa. Fueled by strong critical response No Country for Old Men rang up an eye-popping $42,390 average from 28 engagements while the chills were tame for the second Horrorfest anthology that grossed $417,000 and limited bows of non-fiction entries War/Dance and Steal a Pencil for Me were no better than fair. However the deluge did not expand the marketplace. The weekend total of slightly more than $110 million was 18% behind from seven days earlier. It also trailed 2006 by 13% when second weeker Borat reigned with a $28.3 million box office. Last weekend's freshmen leaders both weathered incoming fire well with Bee performing at 68% and Gangster at a 56% level. The latter film propelled Universal to a yearly tally of more than $1 billion on Saturday at a record pace. The bigger questions (and prospects) hung over the costly family newcomer Fred Claus. The rush to judgment perspective wasn't rosy but the film opened comparably to the likes of The Santa Clause and Charlotte's Web and with Thanksgiving coming up fast could find itself one of the better long distance runners even with fierce competition for general audiences. Neither critics nor crowds were kind to the revived UA label Lions for Lambs. The high profile cast and hot button theme couldn't overcome marketplace reticence. With Valkyrie - about the historic plot to assassinate Hitler by Nazi officers - in the wings, there's pronounced industry nervousness about the banner's ability to sustain under current management. The frame also saw the debut of Summit as a domestic distributor with an inauspicious toe tester in P2. The psychological thriller pancaked along with dull response to the eight-title Horrorfest package and both appear to be on the fast track to Blockbuster. Bollywood appeared to be making Hollywood-like misjudgments with two high profile films butting heads for Diwali holiday business. Om Shanti Om had been tipped as out-performing Saawariya and the Mumbai crowd largely saw no benefit in squandering its global audience with a head-to-head showdown. Om appears headed for record breaking grosses but if it falls short pundits will have someplace facile for their finger pointing. The violent, quirky adaptation of No Country of Old Men got off to a fast start following considerable festival exposure. Still there's a degree of caution hanging over its expansion in light of fierce niche competition in the wings in a season that's already seen not quite traditional on-going vitality for the likes of The Darjeeling Limited, The Assassination of Jesse James and Lust, Caution. - Leonard Klady Weekend Estimates - November 9-11, 2007 Title Distributor Gross (average) % change * Theaters Cume Bee Movie Par 25.7 (6,550) -32% 3928 71.9 American Gangster Uni 24.5 (8,020) -44% 3054 80.8 Fred Claus WB 18.5 (5,130) - 3603 18.5 Lions for Lambs MGM 6.4 (2,870) - 2215 6.4 Dan in Real Life BV 5.7 (2,940) -27% 1941 30.5 Saw IV Lions Gate 4.7 (1,600) -55% 2904 57.7 The Game Plan BV 2.3 (1,080) -40% 2161 85.3 30 Days of Nights Sony 2.0 (1,200) -46% 1696 37.3 P2 Summit 1.8 (860) 2131 1.8 Martian Child New Line 1.7 (870) -48% 2020 6 Michael Clayton WB 1.5 (1,340) -45% 1150 35.5 Om Shanti Om Eros 1.7 (14,6550) 114 1.7 Why Did I Get Married? Lions Gate 1.4 (1,570) -45% 908 53.1 Gone Baby Gone Miramax 1.4 (1,490) -36% 957 17 No Country for Old Men Miramax 1.2 (42,390) 28 1.2 Into the Wild Par Vantage .95 (1,610) -26% 590 12.4 Bella Roadside Attract. .87 (3,150) -19% 276 3.7 Nightmare Before Christmas 3D (reissue) BV .84 (1,780) -45% 473 14.1 Across the Universe Sony .82 (1,410) -32% 582 22.3 The Darjeeling Limited Fox Searchlight .68 (1,760) -44% 386 9.2 Lars and the Real Girl MGM .64 (2,240) -17% 286 3 The Comebacks Fox .56 (790) -61% 706 12.7 Saawariya Sony .54 (6,350) - 85 0.55 Weekend Total ($500,000+ Films) $106.20 - - - % Change (Last Year) -13% - - - % Change (Last Week) -18% - - - Also debuting/expanding Horrorfest FreeStyle .42 (1,290) - 323 0.42 Before the Devil Knows You're Dead Thinkfilm .36 (3,520) -2% 103 0.98 War/Dance Thinkfilm 15,900 (5,300) - 3 0.02 I'll Believe You Stand Up 11,700 (400) - 29 0.01 Christmas in Wonderland FreeStyle 10,100 (670) - 15 0.01 Steal a Pencil for Me 7th Art 9,660 (3,220) - 3 0.01 Top Limited Releases - To November 8, 2007 Title Distributor Gross Waitress Fox Searchlight 19,074,800 Notes on a Scandal Fox Searchlight 16,889,774 The Last King of Scotland Fox Searchlight 13,987,084 The Namesake Fox Searchlight 13,569,248 The Nightmare Before Christmas 3D (reissue) BV 13,238,062 Into the Wild Par Vantage 11,443,048 The Lives of Others Sony Classics 11,286,112 Deep Sea 3-D WB 11,178,161 La Vie en Rose TVA/Picturehouse 10,007,790 Once Fox Searchlight 9,384,266 Volver Sony Class/Seville 8,667,708 The Darjeeling Limited Fox Searchlight 8,482,953 Death at a Funeral MGM 8,411,022 El Cantante Picturehouse 7,556,712 The Painted Veil WIP 7,552,537 Away from Her Mongrel/Lions Gate 5,747,729 Rescue Dawn MGM 5,484,401 Paris je t'aime First Look/Maple Pic 5,291,651 Dinosaurs: Giants of Patagonia Sky High 4,733,404 Magnificent Desolation Imax 4,707,172   Domestic Market Share - November 8, 2007 Distributor (releases) Gross (millions) Mrkt Share Paramount (18) 1312.5 16.20% Sony (26) 1169.5 14.40% Warner Bros. (27) 1080.9 13.30% Buena Vista (18) 1074.5 13.20% Universal (19) 984.4 12.10% Fox (19) 760.8 9.40% New Line (12) 420.4 5.20% Lions Gate (20) 354.6 4.40% MGM (22) 293.3 3.60% Focus (8) 107.9 1.30% Fox Searchlight (12) 99.7 1.20% Miramax (8) 78.9 1.00% Picturehouse (7) 56.9 0.70% Paramount Vantage (6) 46.9 0.60% Other * (157) 280 3.40% - 8121.2 100.00%