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

August 10, 2008 Weekend Estimates Domestic Market Share Top Domestic Releases On the Dole The Dark Knight remained top dog in the marketplace with an estimated $25.8 million weekend gross. However, the competition was torrid as the bow of stoner comedy Pineapple Express nipped at its cape with an opening weekend salvo of $22.2 million. Also bowing nationally was the female bonding sequel Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 with $10.6 million to rank fourth overall. Additionally there was fierce competition in debuts in the niches and limited bows. On the Bollywood circuit Singh is Kinng had the strongest opening in that sector this year with a $1.07 gross at 112 theaters. Bottle Shock, the droll saga of California wines back in the 1970s posted an impressive $230,000 and Elegy, adapted from Philip Roth's The Dying Animal, generated a potent $16,200 average at six locations. Conversely the regional bow of Beer for My Horses was just fair with a $208,000 tally at 91 corrals and biker opus Hell Ride ran out of gas with an $86,200 gross at 82 truck stops. Overall box office trailed off by double digits in contrast to 2007's August surge. This year's summer revenues are currently 4.5% better than last year but admissions are flat and if the final weeks leading up to Labor Day continue the trend there will be no cheering in Mudville come September. Tracking for the offbeat action-comedy Pineapple Express was sufficiently strong to suggest it might knock Batman off his perch. But bragging rights aside, the decision was made to open the film on Wednesday for a couple more days of summer revenue. Its jaw dropping $12 million plus opening day certainly justified the move but nonetheless bowdlerized its full weekend potential. The Sisterhood sequel also bowed Wednesday (and Tropic Thunder will take that head start this week); entering the weekend with $8.9 million. Its weekend performance was pretty much on track with pundit prognostications. Weekend box office pushed to roughly $116 million to ebb back 24% from both the prior weekend as well as the comparable 2007 session. Last year the debut of Rush Hour 3 was head of the class with $49.1 million while counter-programmed Stardust opened in position four with $9.2 million. The lead up to Singh is Kinng was as closely watched in the Bollywood arena as any U.S. summer blockbuster. The maiden producing effort of box office superstar Akshay Kumar was eyed with some skepticism as it appeared to be tipped toward a minority Punjabi crowd. But initial sales everywhere indicate it could be the year's top grosser in its circuit. Aside from the new entries, alternative fare continued to play strong with Tell No One and Brideshead Revisited slotting in the top 20 with small ripples in their box office potency. Non-fiction entry Man on Wire expanded forcefully but one could see the strain of new playdates on American Teen. One could also see Quebec family drama Un Ete sans point ni coup sur showing solid staying power in its second weekend. - Leonard Klady Weekend Estimates - August 810, 2008 Title Distributor Gross (average) % change * Theaters Cume The Dark Knight WB 25.8 (6,420) -39% 4025 441.3 Pinapple Express Sony 22.2 (7,240) - 3072 40.3 The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Empire Uni 16.2 (4,290) -60% 3778 70.8 Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 WB 10.6 (3,930) - 2707 19.6 Step Brothers Sony 8.8 (2,760) -47% 3182 80.8 Mamma Mia! Uni 8.0 (2,490) -37% 3194 103.9 Journey to the Center of the Earth WB 4.7 (2,380) -30% 1970 81.6 Hancock Sony 3.2 (1,420) -37% 2258 221.6 Swing Vote BV 3.1 (1,400) -50% 2213 12 Wall-E BV 3.0 (1,390) -35% 2144 210 Space Chimps Fox 1.6 (990) -40% 1631 25.4 Hellboy II: The Golden Army Uni 1.2 (1,210) -51% 1015 73.5 X-Files: I Want to Believe Fox 1.1 (650) -67% 1695 19.6 Singh is Kinng Studio 18 1.1 (9,550) - 112 1.1 Brideshead Reisited Miramax 1.0 (2,920) -12% 349 3.3 Wanted Uni .69 (1,070) -44% 642 132.6 Get Smart WB .51 (1,180) -49% 432 127.5 Kung Fu Panda Par .44 (1,080) -30% 408 211.3 Iron Man Par .39 (1,130) -33% 345 316.1 Tell No One Music Box .33 (3,270) -28% 101 2.8 Weekend Total ($500,000+ Films) - $112.80 - - - % Change (Last Year) - -24% - - - % Change (Last Week) - -24% - - - Also debuting/expanding Man on Wire Magnolia .26 (4,460) 448% 59 0.42 Bottle Shock FreeStyle .23 (4,640) - 50 0.3 Beer for My Horses Roadside At. .21 (2,290) - 91 0.21 Un Ete sans point ni coup sur Alliance .17 (2,850) -34% 61 0.6 American Teen Par Ventage .13 (1,740) -21% 76 0.46 Elegy IDP .10 (16,200) - 6 0.1 Hell Ride Weinstein Co. 86,200 (1,050) - 82 0.09 Amal Seville 26,700 (8,900) - 3 0.03 What We Do in Secret Peace Arch 6,600 (6,600) - 1 0.01 Red Magnolia 2,900 (1,450) - 2 0.01 Domestic Market Share - To August 7, 2008 Distributor (releases) Gross Market Share Warner Bros. (19) 1247.5 20.00% Paramount (12) 1114.9 18.40% Universal (15) 820.1 13.20% Sony (18) 793.2 12.70% Fox (16) 711.3 11.40% Buena Vista (11) 632.3 10.10% Lions Gate (9) 204.3 3.20% Fox Searchlight (5) 150.9 2.40% Paramount Vantage (10) 72.3 1.10% New Line (4) 61.8 1.00% Focus (5) 60.1 1.00% Miramax (6) 50.4 0.80% MGM (9) 46.5 0.70% Picturehouse (6) 35.1 0.50% Summit (2) 34.9 0.50% Other * (205) 190.7 3.00% * none greater than 0.45% 6226.3 100.00% Top Domestic Releases - To July 31, 2008 Title * Distributor Gross The Dark Knight WB 351,086,846 Iron Man Par 315,107,589 Indiana Jones & Kingdom of the Crystal Skull Par 313,972,312 Hancock Sony 210,795,466 Kung Fu Panda Par 209,854,538 Wall-E BV 199,474,897 Horton Hears a Who Fox 154,423,552 Sex and the City WB 151,169,251 The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian BV 140,415,913 The Incredible Hulk Uni 132,805,330 Wanted Uni 130,080,115 Get Smart WB 125,506,819 Juno * Fox Searchlight 115,568,583 You Don't Mess with the Zohan Sony 98,440,404 10,000 B.C.  WB 94,819,450 The Bucket List * WB 92,781,554 National Treasure: Book of Secrets * BV 86,700,433 21 Sony 82,823,812 Jumper Fox 80,172,128 Cloverfield Par 80,048,433