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

October 26 , 2008 Weekend Estimates Domestic Market Share Top Domestic Releases Slice and Nice Weekend box office ballooned as two iconic vehicles found avid fan bases lining up in force. High School Musical 3 led the frame with an estimated $42.3 million and the runner-up slot fell to Saw V with a not too shabby $30.6 million. The third national launch was the cop meller Pride and Glory, which opened to no-more-than-okay results of $6.3 million. Debuts in specialty and regional configurations were once again boisterous. The first wave for the period drama Changeling generated an impressive $33,400 theater average from 15 venues. There was unexpected potency for the gay-themed drama Noah’s Arc: Jumping the Broom, which generated $144,000 from five exposures, and the hard-to-define Synecdoche, New York leaped its first hurdle effectively with a $162,000 gross from nine playdates. Additionally, there were solid returns of $164,000 for Heroes on the Bollywood circuit and the Quebec bow of Le Deserteur with a $64,600 initial foray. The horror import Let the Right One In was also encouraging with a $36,300 tally on five, but a couple of animated entries came up short. The seasonal perennial The Nightmare Before Christmas -- now in digital 3D -- had a listless $1,310 average in 284 locations and Roadside Romeo -- the first joint venture of Disney and Bollywood-- was comparably soft with an $1,120 average at 29 sites. Overall business spiked by 35% from both last weekend and the comparable frame in 2007. For those scratching their heads about the prior editions of High School Musical … suffice it to say this movie’s not likely for you. The HSM brand has been nurtured by Disney on the small screen and has already generated successful theatrical versions in Argentina and Mexico. For its core youth audience this was the season’s hot ticket and advance sales on MovieTickets.com catapulted the tuner into its top 20 all-time list. In the days leading up to release, the film accounted for 70% to 80% of daily sales on the various ticketing outlets. Whether it was confidence or bluff, Saw V continued to be a potent horror franchise much in the way that Halloween, Friday the 13th and Nightmare on Elm Street provided October surprises in the past. One can be assured that eventually a new scare franchise will emerge and this one will fade away or be reinvented. Early fall niche fare, including The Duchess and Appaloosa, have peaked but continue to retain a toe-hold as award season draws closer. Meanwhile, Rachel Getting Married continues its slow and steady expansion effectively and better than pundits' predictions. - Leonard Klady Weekend Estimates - October 24-26, 2008 Title Distributor Gross (average) % chh Theas Cume High School Musical BV 42.3 (11,680) - 3623 42.3 Saw V Lionsgate 30.6 (10,010) - 3060 30.6 Max Payne Fox 7.7 (2,290) --56% 3381 29.8 Beverly Hills Chihuahua BV 6.8 (2,140) -40% 3190 78.1 Pride and Glory WB 6.3 (2,430) - 2585 6.3 The Secret Life of Bees Fox Searchlight 6.0 (3,660) -43% 1630 19.1 W. Lionsgate 5.3 (2,560) -50% 2050 18.7 Eagle Eye Par 5.2 (2,020) -27% 2558 88 Body of Lies WB 3.9 (1,820) --43% 2150 30.7 Quarantine Sony 2.5 (1,130) -59% 2228 28.7 Fireproof IDP 2.0 (2,270) -21% 898 23.5 Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist Sony 2.0 (1,250) -47% 1571 29.5 Sex Drive Summit 1.8 (780) -49% 2358 6.9 Nights in Rodanthe WB 1.3 (1,040) -51% 1240 39.2 The Duchess Par Vantage 1.2 (1,340) -45% 873 11.1 Appaloosa WB 1.1 (1,240) -44% 920 16.3 Religulous Lionsgate .96 (2,120) -34% 452 10.6 Rachel Getting Married Sony Classics ,83 (7,090) 26% 117 2.7 Burn After Reading Focus .77 (1,820) -30% 422 58.3 Passchendaele Alliance .64 (3,170) -25% 202 1.9 Changeling Uni .50 (33,400) - 15 0.5 Weekend Total ($500,000+ Films $129.70 - - - % Change (Last Year) - 35% - - - % Change (Last Week) - 35% - - - Also debuting/expanding Nightmare Before Christmas 3-D (reissue) BV .37 (1,310) - 284 0.37 Passengers Sony .18 (1,450) - 125 0.18 Heroes Eros .16 (2,740) - 60 0.16 Synecdoche, NY Sony Classics .16 (18,060) - 9 0.16 Noah's Arc: Jumping the Broom Open Door .14 (28,840) - 5 0.14 What Just Happened? Magnolia 1.2 (3,370) -39% 35 0.38 Le Deserteur TVA 65,650 (2,430) - 27 0.07 Let the Right One In Magnolia 36,300 (7,260) - 5 0.04 Roadside Rodeo Yash Raj 32,500 (1,120) -- 29 0.03 Heaven on Earth Mongol 30,400 (4,340) -- 7 0.03 Fears of the Dark IFC 6,800 (6,800) -- 1 0.01 Stranded Zeitgeist 3,500 (3,500) - 1 0.01 Domestic Market Share - To October 23, 2008 Distributor (releases) Gross Mrkt Share Warner Bros. (25) 1539.4 19.70% Paramount (15) 1330.6 17.10% Sony (22) 1044.9 13.40% Universal (18) 972.8 12.50% Fox (21) 809.7 10.40% Buena Vista (14) 735.1 9.40% Lionsgate (16) 313.4 4.00% Fox Searchlight (7) 167.1 2.10% Focus (6) 122.4 1.60% MGM (14) 105.7 1.40% Overture (6) 94.7 1.20% Paramount Vantage (11) 82.9 1.10% Picturehouse (7) 63.1 0.80% New Line (4) 61.8 0.80% Miramax (8) 58.3 0.80% Summit (4) 51.9 0.70% Other * (270) 239.6 3.00% * none greater than 0.4% 7793.4 100.00% 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 Caspianspian 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