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

October 19 , 2008 Weekend Finals Domestic Market Share Top Domestic Releases Feel the Payne ... George While the press beat the Bushes, audiences marched to the multiplex to see the neo-noir Max Payne and the Mark Wahlberg vehicle led the frame with an estimated $18.1 million. W. -- Oliver Stone’s rumination on the sitting U.S. president -- ranked third overall with $10.5 million; just a heartbeat away from another new release, the warm, family drama The Secret Life of Bees, which grossed $10.8 million. A fourth freshman national release, the teen comedy Sex Drive, lacked momentum with $3.6 million. Meanwhile limited and regional bows saw some impressive response. In Canada, the epic First World War saga Passchendaele aggressively pushed forward with a $930,000 box office from 202 theaters. The Hollywood insider comedy What Just Happened? green lit $193,000 in 36 exposures, and there were fair returns of $131,000 for the sailing doc Morning Light. Bollywood entry Karzzzz had transmission problems with a $45,000 gross at 53 venues, and Madonna’s directing debut Filth and Wisdom divorced a spare $3,700 in a Manhattan solo. Overall business was essentially flat from last weekend but received a welcome 8% upturn from 2007. Max Payne entered the session with solid tracking among avids familiar with its video game roots. It had a solid lead in market research studies, performing pretty much as expected. Slightly better than anticipated was The Secret Life of Bees, based on a warm, fuzzy novel about interracial tolerance back in the 1960s. Decidedly a family film skewing older, it was just a step behind the more kid-friendly Beverly Hills Chihuahua. The polls also indicated a limited appeal for W. The real life prez’s low approval rating coupled with the filmmaker’s perceived bias kept a significant slice of the audience away. Detractors also appeared lukewarm to a skewering that was all too familiar, and the overall results were middling. Weekend revenues clocked in with roughly $103 million for a slim 0.7% bump from last weekend. It was, however, 8% improved from 2007, when the bow of 30 Days of Night topped the charts with $16 million and Why Did I Get Married? placed second with $12.2 million. Toronto Film Festival curtain-raiser Passenchandaele was admired rather than embraced at the event, but the resonances of the bygone time obviously tapped into a sizeable crowd. It’s now finger-crossing time as word-of-mouth will shape on-going commercial endurance. There’s also considerable nervousness about Sundance-preemed What Just Happened?. The cognoscenti appear to have got the joke but will it play Peoria? The marketplace is starting to see more and more platforms enter the fray and so far the slow roll out of Rachel Getting Married is getting considerable traction. There are also signs of niche potency for Brit import Happy-Go-Lucky, and even RockNRolla seems to be tapping into alternative viewers searching something a bit more viscerally inclined. - Leonard Klady Weekend Finals - October 17-19, 2008 - - Title Distrib Weekend % Change* Theaters Cume Wks 1 New Max Payne Fox 17,639,849 - 3376 17,639,849 1 2 1 Beverly Hills Chihuahua BV 11,422,425 -35% 3239 69,282,569 3 3 New The Secret Life of Bees Fox Searchlight 10,527,799 - 1591 10,527,799 1 4 New W. Lions Gate 10,505,668 - 2030 10,505,668 1 5 4 Eagle Eye Par 7,029,718 -36% 3326 81,021,825 4 6 3 Body of Lies WB 6,824,259 -47% 2714 24,424,928 2 7 2 Quarantine Sony 6,084,580 -57% 2463 24,471,512 2 8 5 Nick and Nora's Infinite Playlist Sony 3,693,384 -42% 2241 26,500,875 3 9 New Sex Drive Summit 3,607,164 - 2421 3,607,164 1 10 7 Nights in Rodanthe WB 2,657,440 -41% 2115 36,869,470 4 11 10 Fireproof IDP 2,578,271 -18% 905 20,628,110 4 12 6 The Express Uni 2,191,810 -52% 2810 8,214,570 2 13 9 The Duchess Par Vantage 2,121,588 -36% 1207 9,128,899 5 14 8 Appaloosa WB 2,029,200 -38% 1265 14,326,286 5 15 11 City of Ember Fox 1,730,755 -45% 2023 5,926,753 2 16 13 Religulous Lions Gate 1,446,221 -35% 540 9,068,325 3 17 12 Lakeview Terrace Sony 1,153,588 -56% 1157 38,228,466 5 18 14 Burn After Reading Focus 1,097,546 -48% 708 57,118,919 6 19 New Passchandaele Alliance 835,678 - 202 835,678 1 20 25 Rachel Getting Married Sony Classics 657,646 48% 69 1,693,047 3 21 20 The Dark Knight WB 412,148 -22% 290 527,356,352 14 22 17 The Family That Preys Lions Gate 362,063 -57% 325 37,019,849 6 23 15 An American Carol Vivendi 350,000 -75% 599 6,776,000 3 24 27 Wall-E BV 342,730 -16% 321 222,104,566 17 25 28 Journey to the Center of the Earth WB 259,963 -11% 276 100,830,143 15 26 19 Igor MGM 242,231 -57% 543 18,547,870 5 27 21 Ghost Town Par 207,491 -59% 252 12,888,414 5 28 22 Righteous Kill Overture 193,591 -60% 381 39,228,389 6 29 New What Just Happened Magnolia 192,508 - 36 192,508 1 30 29 Vicky Christina Barcelona MGM 182,297 -28% 109 21,754,183 10 31 32 Mamma Mia! Uni 168,730 -12% 219 143,328,710 14 32 23 My Best Friend's Girl Lions Gate 152,163 -68% 206 19,151,864 5 33 16 Flash of Genius Uni 138,375 -84% 225 4,234,040 3 34 36 RockNRolla WB 133,679 -8% 22 403,892 2 35 New Morning Light BV 129,295 - 55 129,295 1 36 45 Happy-Go-Lucky Mrmx 107,947 46% 9 217,388 2 37 37 Pineapple Express Sony 107,883 -22% 183 87,857,460 11 38 73 Star Wars: The Clone Wars WB 100,933 288% 234 35,011,371 10 39 24 Miracle at St. Anna BV 97,329 -80% 147 7,756,328 4 40 30 The Women Picturehouse 90,028 -60% 155 26,670,874 6 41 33 Tropic Thunder Par 89,265 -41% 179 109,876,133 10 42 38 Step Brothers Sony 73,434 -39% 141 101,150,357 13 43 40 The Mummy: Tomb of Dragon Emperor Uni 69,133 -36% 170 102,991,942 12 44 New Kotha Bangaru Lokam Great India 69,043 - 13 69,043 1 45 41 Kung Fu Panda Par 65,175 -33% 140 215,638,287 20 46 New Karzzz Adlabs 60,939 - 65 60,939 1 47 72 Disaster Movie Lions Gate 57,188 120% 111 14,174,654 8 48 35 Choke Fox Searchlight 55,490 -62% 64 2,831,900 4 49 44 Tell No One Music Box 55,459 -25% 59 5,844,827 16 50 18 Blindness Mrmx/Alliance 55,165 -91% 73 3,996,561 3 51 54 Sea Monsters: A Prehistoric Adventure nWave 54,202 7% 25 19,324,624 55 52 31 Billy: The Early Years Rocky Mountain 50,740 -74% 118 320,896 2 53 39 The House Bunny Sony 50,358 -55% 96 48,318,747 9 54 60 Dolphins and Whales 3-D 3D Entertainment 48,136 22% 11 4,888,909 36 55 47 Babylon A.D. Fox 46,998 -22% 86 22,489,779 8 56 42 Get Smart WB 46,840 -39% 71 130,246,343 18 57 51 Deep Sea 3-D WB 45,752 -15% 10 36,637,554 138 58 50 Mirrors Fox 45,302 -19% 68 30,575,158 10 59 43 Hancock Sony 44,165 -41% 80 229,333,038 16 60 46 Death Race Uni 44,041 -37% 93 36,141,571 9 61 53 Forever Strong Crane 43,264 -14% 22 549,352 4 62 48 Fly Me to the Moon Summit 42,949 -26% 53 12,085,870 10 63 59 Call + Response Fair Trade 40,610 2% 7 122,132 2 64 81 Bangkok Dangerous Lions Gate 37,255 117% 104 15,279,680 7 65 52 Man on Wire Magnolia 36,456 -32% 38 2,667,120 13 66 49 Faubourg 36 Alliance 36,091 -37% 22 117,814 2 67 26 How to Lose Friends & Alienate People MGM 35,948 -92% 122 2,725,950 3 68 58 Frozen River Sony Classics 34,514 -14% 50 2,112,984 12 69 56 Elegy IDP 33,239 -26% 37 3,510,091 11 70 55 Traitor Overture 32,178 -31% 82 23,279,981 8 71 69 Magnificent Desolation Imax 31,058 9% 6 26,138,932 161 72 61 Space Chimps Fox 26,805 -30% 72 30,054,058 14 73 77 Space Station  Imax 24,761 23% 3 76,639,519 340 74 68 Chintakayala Ravi Ficus 21,232 -30% 16 190,323 3 75 62 Transsiberian First Look 20,730 -43% 22 2,121,376 14 76 57 C'est pas moi, je le jure! Seville 19,657 -54% 18 325,520 4 77 65 Paris Equinoxe 19,645 -38% 9 129,171 3 78 63 Talento de Barrio Maya 18,770 -48% 23 64,180 2 79 74 A Secret Strand 18,503 -23% 6 324,091 7 80 75 Ashes of Time: Redux Sony Classics 18,175 -15% 9 50,619 2 Source: MCN/EDI   Estimates - October 17-19, 2008 Title Distributor Gross (average) % chh Theas Cume Max Payne Fox   18.1 (5,350) - 3376 18.1 Beverly Hills Chihuahua BV 11.3 (3,490) -35% 3239 69.2 The Secret Life of Bees Fox Searchlight 10.8 (6,780) - 1591 10.8 W. Lions Gate 10.5 (5,160) - 2030 10.5 Eagle Eye Par 7.3 (2,260) -33% 3236 81.3 Body of Lies WB 6.9 (2,550) -46% 2714 24.5 Quarantine Sony 6.0 (2,430) -58% 2463 24.4 Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist Sony 3.8 (1,690) -41% 2241 26.6 Sex Drive Summit 3.6 (1,470) - 2421 3.6 Nights in Rodanthe WB 2.6 (1,240) -42% 2115 36.8 Fireproof IDP 2.6 (2,910) -16% 905 20.7 The Express Uni 2.2 (800) -51% 2810 8.3 The Duchess Par Vantage 2.2 (1,800) -34% 1207 9.2 Appaloosa WB 2.0 (1,570) -40% 1265 14.3 City of Ember Fox 1.6 (810) -48% 2023 5.8 Religulous Lions Gate 1.5 (2,750) -34% 540 9.1 Lakeview Terrace Sony 1.2 (1,010) -56% 1157 38.2 Burn After Reading Focus 1.1 (1,540) -48% 708 57.1 Passchendaele Alliance .93 (4,600) - 202 0.93 Rachel Getting Married Sony Classics .67 (10,150) 50% 66 1.7 Weekend Total ($500,000+ Films $96.90 - - - % Change (Last Year) - 8% - - - % Change (Last Week) - 1% - - - Also debuting/expanding What Just Happened? Magnolia .19 (5,360) - 36 0.19 Morning Light BV .13 (2,380) - 55 0.13 RockNRolla WB .13 (5,820) -12% 22 0.4 Happy-Go-Lucky Miramax .11 (12,110) 47% 9 0.22 Karzzzz Adlabs 45,100 (850) - 53 0.05 Sagan Equinoxe 8,400 (2,100) - 4 0.01 Frotrunners Oscilloscope 5,900 (5,900) - 1 0.01 Filth and Wisdom IFC 3,700 (3,700) - 1 0.01 Domestic Market Share - To October 16, 2008 Distributor (releases) Gross Mrkt Share Warner Bros. (25) 1522.2 19.90% Paramount (15) 1321.3 17.30% Sony (22) 1030.6 13.50% Universal (18) 969.4 12.60% Fox (20) 784.8 10.20% Buena Vista (13) 721.1 9.40% Lions Gate (15) 297.2 3.90% Fox Searchlight (6) 153.7 2.00% Focus (6) 120.9 1.60% MGM (14) 104.9 1.40% Overture (6) 94.4 1.20% Paramount Vantage (11) 79.9 1.00% Picturehouse (7) 62.9 0.80% New Line (4) 61.8 0.80% Miramax (8) 58.1 0.80% Summit (3) 46.9 0.60% Other * (270) 231.6 3.00% * none greater than 0.4% 7661.7 100.00% Top Domestic Grossers - To October 16, 2008 Title Distributor Gross The Dark Knight WB 526,944,204 Iron Man Par 318,338,993 Indiana Jones & Kingdom of the Crystal Skull Par 317,023,851 Hancock Sony 229,288,873 Wall-E BV 221,761,836 Kung Fu Panda Par 215,573,112 Horton Hears a Who Fox 154,529,439 Sex and the City WB 152,647,258 Mamma Mia! Uni 143,159,980 The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian BV 141,682,713 The Incredible Hulk Uni 134,617,678 Wanted Uni 134,512,024 Get Smart WB 130,199,503 Juno * Fox Searchlight 115,568,583 Tropic Thunder Par 109,786,868 The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor Uni 102,922,809 Step Brothers Sony 101,076,923 Journey to the Center of the Earth WB 100,570,180 You Don't Mess with the Zohan Sony 100,112,110 10,000 B.C.  WB 94,819,450