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

March 9, 2008 Weekend Finals Top Limited Grosses Domestic Market Share 35.1 Million B.C. (Big Cume)... History be damned, 10,000 B.C. went to the head of the class with an opening weekend estimated at $35.1 million. In an otherwise depressed frame, there was also positive spin for College Road Trip that debuted in second spot with $13.8 million and a rather respectable $5.4 million launch for the ripped from the headlines The Bank Job. The session also featured fair returns for the period dramedy Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day of $2.4 million in a high end limited bow. Additionally, local boxing drama La Ligne Brisee wasn't quite a knockout with a $230,000 opening jab in Quebec and Gus Van Sant's Cannes-prized Paranoid Park raised anxiety levels to $55,000; again primarily from 11 Quebec playdates. There were also encouraging initial results for independents Married Life, Last Stop for Paul and Snow Angels in exclusive starts but there was nothing distinctive about the Bollywood entry Black & White. Weekend revenues experienced an OK 9% bounce from the prior frame but got comparatively clobbered when placed beside the anomalous 2007 session that was led by the unexpectedly huge $70.9 million debut of 300. Combined with Wild Hogs strong hold, the current session is down 32% and the current 13% improved box office pace is expected to continue to shrink at least into early April. Critics delighted in making sport of the scientific inanities of 10,000 B.C. but clearly the intent was not to replicate the success d'estime of bygone caveman epic Quest for Fire. The inside studio (and theater owner) projection was optimistically nudging $40 million but came up shy as its audience proved to be tilted toward ogling males (61% according to exit polls) rather than evolving as a date movie. Its $25 million gross in 20 overseas markets including Spain, Mexico, Germany and Australia also reflects a slightly softer than expected start but the situation is hardly on the catastrophic scale of, shall we say, Poseidon. Also slightly below expectations was College Road Trip and one can speculate that audiences may not have been quite ready for another ride with Martin Lawrence with Roscoe Carmichael still on screen. It's also likely that Raven-Symone required a stronger vehicle to make the transition from television. The weekend critical darling was unquestionably The Bank Job that was marketed to an action crowd likely mystified by the low-tech antics of the period heist film. The prospect of the film becoming a crossover success remains a long shot theatrically though it does appear to have met minimum commercial benchmarks for the U.S. Holdover titles largely experienced 50% declines with a not unexpectedly steeper drop for last week's leader Semi-Pro. It was also clear - apart from foreign-language winner The Counterfeiters - that Oscar got out of town faster than usual. It may be no more than coincidence that the exit of award season fare saw an unusually brisk number of niche entries entering the marketplace. None of the dozen or so titles evinced signs of breakout potential but at least a few appeared to have sufficient appeal to hang around for a weeks on the circuit. CJ7, Stephen Chow's E.T.-inspired follow up to Kung Fu Hustle was deemed too specialized to push his appeal outside his formidable Asian fan base. And the cable saturation marketing for mockumentary Last Stop for Paul has yet to prove its effectiveness … though it remains early in the film's theatrical penetration. - Leonard Klady Weekend Estimates - March 7-9, 2008 Title Distributor Gross (average) % change * Theaters Cume 10,000 B.C. WB 35.1 (10,290) - 3410 35.1 College Road Trip BV 13.8 (5,090) - 2706 13.8 Vantage Point Sony 7.6 (2,390) -41% 3163 61.8 Semi-Pro New Line 5.8 (1,870) -61% 3121 24.7 The Bank Job  Lions Gate 5.4 (3,350) - 1603 5.4 The Spiderwick Chronicles Par 4.7 (1,440) -46% 3246 61.6 The Other Boleyn Girl Sony 3.9 (3,360) -52% 1167 14.5 Jumper Fox 3.7 (1,440) -51% 2563 72.5 Step Up 2: The Streets BV 3.1 (1,380) -46% 2251 53.1 Fool's Gold WB 2.8 (1,210) -36% 2322 62.8 Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day Focus 2.4 (4,430) - 535 2.4 Penelope Summit 2.1 (1,710) -46% 1207 6.7 Juno Fox Searchlight 2.0 (1,460) -40% 1350 137.9 Definitely, Maybe Uni 1.7 (1,080) -50% 1556 29.4 No Country for Old Men Miramax 1.6 (1,320) -62% 1201 72.6 Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins Uni 1.1 (1,180) -57% 954 40.8 Be Kind Rewind New Line 1.1 (1,500) -46% 746 8.9 The Bucket List WB 1.0 (980) -40% 1040 89.2 There Will Be Blood Par Vantage .68 (1,060) -56% 643 38.8 In Bruges Focus .52 (2,310) -33% 225 4.5 Weekend Total ($500,000+ Films) - $100.10 - % Change (Last Year) - -32% - % Change (Last Week) - 9% -- Also debuting/expanding The Counterfeiters Sony Classics .31 (6,160) 66% 50 0.7 La Ligne brisee Alliance .23 (3,380) - 67 0.23 Paranoid Park Filmop/IFC 55,000 (4,230) - 13 0.06 Married Life Sony Classics 53,100 (5,900) - 9 0.05 CJ7 Sony Classics 46,800 (2,600) - 18 0.05 Black & White Eros 28,800 (960) - 30 0.03 Girls Rock Shadow 15,800 (3,950) - 4 0.02 La Rondine Bigger Picture 13,900 (220) - 62 0.01 Snow Angels WIP 11,200 (5,600) - 2 0.01 Last Stop for Paul Mandt 8,500 (4,250) - 2 0.01   Domestic Market Share - To March 5, 2008 Distributor (releases) Gross Mkt Share Warner Bros. (11) 272.1 16.60% Fox (7) 263.2 16.10% Buena Vista (7) 214.7 13.10% Paramount (5) 164.5 10.00% Sony (10) 150.7 9.20% Fox Searchlight (3) 112.7 6.90% Universal (5) 109.3 6.70% Lions Gate (4) 76.6 4.70% Par Vantage (6) 62.1 3.80% New Line (4) 43.6 2.70% Focus (3) 43.3 2.70% Miramax (3) 34.3 2.10% Overture (1) 20.3 1.20% MGM (6) 19.9 1.20% Other * (63) 49.3 3.00% - 1636.6 100.00% Top Limited Grossers - To March 6, 2008 Title Distributor Gross The Orphanage Picture/Christal 6,785,399 U2 3D nWave 5,928,939 The Diving Bell and the Butterfly Mrmx 4,658,936 The Savages Fox Searchlight 4,439,120 In Bruges Focus 4,029,929 Persepolis Sony Classics 3,668,394 Jodhaa Akbar UTV 3,114,658 Sea Monsters: A Prehistoric Adventure nWave 2,908,041 Cassandra's Dream Weinstein Co. 978,515 The Band's Visit Sony Classics 970,389