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

October 5, 2008 Weekend Finals Domestic Market Share Top Domestic Releases Oy Chihuahua! Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist displayed some promise with an $11.9 million debut that ranked third overall and Bill Maher’s holy screed Religulous was resolute with $3.5 million in limited wide release. However, there weren’t sufficient laughs in the $3.6 million gross of the political satire An American Carol, which marked the first wide opener for Vivendi, and few will learn the secret of How to Lose Friends & Alienate People based on its $1.4 million start. Flash of Genius failed the IQ test with $2.3 million and Blindness proved short-sighted at $2.1 million. Niche and regional fare was generally flat with the distinct exception of Rachel Getting Married, which generated near capacity crowds of $242,000 at nine venues. However, a pair of starters on the Bollywood circuit, Kidnap and Drona, had softish, virtually identical bows of roughly $120,000 from respective exposures in 60 and 90 theaters. Giggles, not roars, greeted the doc Allah Made Me Funny with box office of $36,200 at 14 stands and American indie The Business of Being Robbed had a sturdy $8,750 bow in a single Manhattan venue. Still, the onslaught of fresh movies was sufficient to overcome individual strength, and box office rose 14% from last weekend. It experienced an even sharper upturn of 37% from 2007 when the second weekend of The Game Plan led from scrimmage with $16.6 million and the debut of The Heartbreak Kid grossed $14 million. The Disney pedigree and a paucity of family-targeted fare had industry pundits predicting Chihuahua opening around $30 million and it pretty much played to expectations. Even better was the fact that exit polls generated a potent satisfaction level that holds out promise for sustained and extended multiplex play that’s eluded most of the company’s non-traditional animated fare. Exit response was also strong for Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist, particularly among avid movie goers that demographically constitute its core appeal. Reviews were generally upbeat and the smart, romantic yarn shows signs of crossover appeal on the order (but not ultimate potency) of Superbad or Knocked Up. Advanced ticket sales per MovieTickets.com also showed Chihuahua and Nick and Norah as front runners with upcoming High School Musical 3 wedged in between. No other title in the pack scored higher than 6% and their grosses reflected the dilemma of being a second or third choice in a crowded marketplace. Most curious among the freshmen releases was the decision to open broadly on Blindness, which emerged from Toronto on a positive note. Its specialized nature suggested TLC handling and the against-the-grain option clearly didn’t work out. Less distinctly specialized fare Appaloosa and The Duchess have mined the platform strategy in recent weeks with both the western by Ed Harris and the period drama with Keira Knightly expanding effectively in their current third weekend in the marketplace. Going out fast also has ill-served the black comic Choke that’s experiencing a fast burn. In the current Darwinian realm of movie performance the less than 50% sophomore sessions for Eagle Eye, Nights in Rodanthe and Fireproof were all positive notes and significant contributors to the viewing upturn that should at least continue with next weekend’s launch of the DiCaprio/Crowe Body of Lies. - Leonard Klady Weekend Finals - October 3-5, 2008 - - Title Distrib Weekend % Change* Theaters Cume Wks 1 New Beverly Hills Chihuahua BV 29,300,465 - 3215 29,300,465 1 2 1 Eagle Eye Par 17,709,817 -39% 3516 54,614,521 2 3 New Nick and Nora's Infinite Playlist Sony 11,311,751 - 2421 11,311,751 1 4 2 Nights in Rodanthe WB 7,368,259 -45% 2702 25,088,183 2 5 39 Appaloosa WB 5,050,310 3346% 1045 5,605,167 3 6 3 Lakeview Terrace Sony 4,561,227 -34% 2574 32,201,255 3 7 5 Burn After Reading Focus 4,120,129 -33% 2397 51,678,103 4 8 4 Fireproof IDP 3,987,509 -42% 852 12,410,216 2 9 New An American Carol Vivendi 3,656,000 - 1639 3,656,000 1 10 New Religulous Lions Gate 3,409,643 - 502 3,428,633 1 11 New Flash of Genius Uni 2,251,075 - 1098 2,251,075 1 12 New Blindness Miramax 1,950,260 - 1690 1,950,260 1 13 6 Igor MGM 1,739,078 -68% 2332 17,073,170 3 14 9 Miracle at St. Anna BV 1,736,302 -50% 1185 6,329,692 2 15 8 Righteous Kill Overture 1,609,959 -57% 1789 37,696,040 4 16 10 The Family That Preys Lions Gate 1,589,086 -49% 933 35,190,864 4 17 7 My Best Friend's Girl Lions Gate 1,563,164 -60% 1702 17,610,847 3 18 11 Ghost Town Par 1,469,919 -50% 1456 11,526,769 3 19 New How to Lose Friends & Alienate People MGM 1,430,294 - 1750 1,430,294 1 20 19 The Duchess Par Vantage 893,990 59% 127 1,950,786 3 21 13 The Dark Knight WB 828,213 -52% 663 525,831,387 12 22 12 The Women Picturehouse 745,269 -72% 1139 25,936,550 4 23 14 Choke Fox Searchlight 514,223 -61% 432 2,322,557 2 24 17 Vicky Christina Barcelona MGM 406,256 -39% 221 21,060,253 8 25 15 The House Bunny Sony 353,149 -72% 695 48,027,409 7 26 16 Tropic Thunder Par 326,593 -72% 485 109,472,162 8 27 New Rachel Getting Married Sony Classics 293,369 -- 9 293,369 1 28 18 Mamma Mia! Uni 286,515 -50% 382 142,725,960 12 29 24 Wall-E BV 210,231 -14% 226 221,127,808 15 30 New Drona Eros 199,329 -- 90 237,647 1 31 20 Journey to the Center of the Earth WB 178,357 -66% 210 100,101,513 13 32 48 Step Brothers Sony 165,926 85% 243 100,815,781 11 33 22 Death Race Uni 160,945 -61% 266 35,939,585 7 34 27 Get Smart WB 154,822 -35% 265 130,047,888 16 35 28 The Mummy: Tomb of Dragon Emperor Uni 150,296 -35% 276 102,721,186 10 36 31 Kung Fu Panda Par 143,801 -30% 250 215,395,021 18 37 New Kidnap Studio 18 138,000 - 60 138,000 1 38 21 Fly Me to the Moon Summit 132,780 -74% 178 11,907,364 8 39 New Chintakayala Ravi Ficus 123,517 - 26 123,517 1 40 25 Mirrors Fox 121,664 -50% 203 30,415,298 8 41 35 Hancock Sony 115,368 -37% 198 229,148,347 14 42 29 Babylon A.D. Fox 102,555 -55% 155 22,333,252 6 43 37 Space Chimps Fox 101,571 -39% 232 29,942,542 12 44 23 Traitor Overture 100,218 -61% 188 23,147,191 6 45 38 Tell No One Music Box 97,624 -34% 75 5,639,027 14 46 76 Swing Vote BV 89,903 387% 176 16,229,781 10 47 41 Elegy IDP 74,252 -39% 70 3,383,637 9 48 40 Indiana Jones & Kingdom of Crystal Skull Par 72,250 -49% 128 316,957,122 20 49 36 Pineapple Express Sony 72,061 -59% 96 87,483,552 9 50 46 Man on Wire Magnolia 69,888 -29% 65 2,509,822 11 51 30 Forever Strong Crane 68,283 -69% 66 385,926 2 52 33 Star Wars: The Clone Wars WB 67,153 -64% 166 34,853,585 8 53 26 Disaster Movie Lions Gate 62,100 -74% 140 14,069,282 6 54 43 C'est pas moi, je le jure! Seville 61,264 -43% 36 213,875 2 55 47 Frozen River Sony Classics 59,336 -36% 57 1,996,900 10 56 49 Transsiberian First Look 56,098 -36% 58 2,026,565 12 57 32 Bangkok Dangerous Lions Gate 45,480 -77% 103 15,195,406 5 58 New Paris Equinoxe 45,458 - 11 45,458 1 59 56 Deep Sea 3-D WB 44,028 -17% 10 36,473,293 136 60 54 Hellboy II: The Golden Army Uni 38,969 -32% 70 76,013,667 13 61 New Allah Made Me Funny Truly Indie 38,867 - 14 38,867 1 62 50 Sea Monsters: A Prehistoric Adventure nWave 38,457 -49% 25 19,144,336 53 63 44 The Longshots MGM 37,598 -64% 102 11,299,040 7 64 53 Hashar Eros 37,105 -36% 8 115,392 2 65 75 The Children of Huang Shi Sony Classics 35,987 90% 40 1,013,776 20 66 65 A Secret Strand 33,433 2% 8 257,918 5 67 RE For the First Time ABS 31,061 - 2 232,388 6 68 57 Battle in Seattle Vitagraph 28,542 -47% 40 167,866 3 69 58 Bottle Shock FreeStyle 26,143 -47% 30 3,986,011 9 70 51 Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 WB 25,086 -58% 80 43,905,471 9 71 62 Dolphins and Whales 3-D 3D Entertainment 24,639 -27% 7 4,785,334 34 72 42 Towelhead WB 24,393 -79% 38 351,094 4 73 63 Trouble the Water Zeitgeist 23,917 -28% 13 323,457 7 74 77 A Girl Cut in Two IFC 22,131 29% 13 279,394 8 75 55 Wanted Uni 21,798 -60% 47 134,503,662 15 76 52 Iron Man Par 20,015 -66% 74 318,333,214 23 77 68 Il y a longtemps que je t'aime Metropole 19,518 -23% 11 167,107 4 78 45 Magnificent Desolation Imax 18,734 -82% 4 26,014,813 159 79 59 I Served the King of England Sony Classics 17,683 -56% 17 446,355 6 Source: MCN/EDI Estimates - October 3-5, 2008 Title Distributor Gross (average) % change * Theaters Cume Beverly Hills Chihuahua BV 28.9 (8,980) - 3215 28.9 Eagle Eye Par 17.8 (5,050) -39% 3516 54.7 Nick and Nora's Infinite Playlist Sony 11.9 (4,930) - 2421 11.9 Nights at Rodanthe WB 7.4 (2,740) -45% 2702 25.1 Appaloosa WB 5.0 (4,810) 3322% 1045 5.6 Lakeview Terrace Sony 4.5 (1,740) -36% 2574 32.1 Burn After Reading Focus 4.1 (1,720) -34% 2397 51.7 Fireproof IDP 3.9 (4,600) -42% 852 12.3 An American Carol Vivendi 3.6 (2,210) - 1639 3.6 Religulous Lions Gate 3.5 (6,990) - 502 3.5 Flash of Genius Uni 2.3 (2,090) - 1098 2.3 Blindness Miramax 2.1 (1,250) - 1690 2.1 The Miracle of St. Anna BV 1.7 (1,440) -50% 1185 6.3 Igor MGM 1.7 (710) -69% 2332 17 The Family That Preys Lions Gate 1.6 (1,720) -49% 933 35.2 Righteous Kill Overture 1.6 (900) -57% 1789 37.7 Ghost Town Par 1.5 (1,030) -48% 1456 11.6 My Best Friend's Girl Lions Gate 1.5 (900) -60% 1702 17.6 How to Lose Friends & Alienate People MGM 1.4 (780) - 1750 1.4 The Duchess Par Vantage .88 (6,930) 56% 127 1.9 The Women Picturehouse .81 (710) -69% 1139 26 The Dark Knight WB .79 (1,190) -53% 663 525.8 Choke Fox Searchlight .52 (1,200) -61% 432 2.3 Weekend Total ($500,000+ Films) $109 - - - % Change (Last Year) - 37% - - - % Change (Last Week) - 14% - - - Also debuting/expanding Vicky Christina Barcelona MGM .41 (1,860) -38% 221 21.1 Rachel Getting Married Sony Classics .24 (26,890) - 9 0.24 Drona Eros .12 (1,370) - 90 0.12 Kidnap Studio 18 .12 (1,940) - 60 0.12 Allah Made Me Funny Truly Indie 36,200 (2,590) - 14 0.04 Paris Equinoxe 34,600 (1,080) - 32 0.03 The Pleasure of Being Robbed IFC 8,750 (8,750) - 1 0.01 Domestic Market Share - To October 5, 2008 Distributor (releases) Gross Mrkt Share Warner Bros. (23) 1472.8 20.00% Paramount (15) 1280.4 17.40% Sony (20) 978.4 13.30% Universal (16) 957.8 13.00% Fox (19) 779.9 10.60% Buena Vista (12) 659.1 8.9% Lions Gate (14) 283.4 3.80% Fox Searchlight (6) 152.8 2.10% Focus (6) 112.4 1.50% MGM (13) 98.4 1.30% Overture (6) 91.2 1.20% Paramount Vantage (11) 73.9 1.00% New Line (4) 61.8 0.80% Picturehouse (7) 61.6 0.80% Miramax (6) 54.6 0.70% Summit (3) 46.6 0.60% Other * (249) 208.9 2.70% * none greater than 0.4% 7374 100.00% Top Limited Releases - To October 5, 2008 Title Distributor Gross The Dark Knight WB 525,003174 Iron Man Par 318,313,199 Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull Par 316,884,872 Hancock Sony 229,032,979 Wall-E BV 220,917,577 Kung Fu Panda Par 215,251,220 Horton Hears a Who Fox 154,529,439 Sex and the City WB 152,647,258 Mamma Mia! Uni 142,439,445 The Chronicles of Narnia BV 141,682,713 The Incredible Hulk Uni 134,617,678 Wanted Uni 134,481,864 Get Smart WB 129,893,066 Juno* Fox Searchlight 115,568,583 Tropic Thunder Par 109,145,569 The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor Uni 102,570.809 Stepbrothers Sony 100,649,855 You Don't Mess With the Zohan Sony 100,112,110 Journey to the Center of the Earth WB 99,923,156 10,000 B.C. WB 94,819,450 *Does not include 2007 box office