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

November 30, 2008 Weekend Estimates Domestic Market Share Top Domestic Releases Jingle All the Way It was a gift exchange as Americans rose from Thanksgiving tables to make the turkey trot to Four Christmases, which topped holiday viewing with an estimated $46.6 million for the five-day span. Though shy of a record breaker, business was brisk; experiencing a slight boost from 2007 but falling short of earlier sessions in 2005 and 2000. The frame was otherwise dominated by holdover titles. The much ballyhooed bow of Australia squeaked into fifth position with $19.8 million since its Wednesday opening, and genre favorite Transporter 3 was not far behind with an $18.1 million gross. The other big noise was the limited start for the highly applauded biopic Milk, which had an enthusiastic $1.9 million box office from just 36 theaters. There was also a strong initial salvo of $380,000 for the family comedy Babine in Quebec, while the latest Bollywood entry Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye! was a commercial fizzle with a dull theater average of $1,000 from 45 locations. Leading up to the holiday break tracking indicated a close race between the low-brow comedy Four Christmases and the second weekend of Twilight. But the Friday results saw the seasonal shenanigans pulling ahead and the teen vampires duking it out with the animated family fare of Bolt for the consolation prize. Further down the list, Australia was in tight contest with the other animated bestseller Madagascar: Escape to Africa. The epic historic melodrama performed to expectations, but in light of its cost it has considerable ground to maintain. Australia also opened on its native turf where it was a clear winner with a $5 million debut that galloped to top slot. Business over the five-day period exceeded $232 million, though the three-day component was flat compared with last weekend when the debuts of Twilight and Bolt proved staggeringly expansive. It was also 2% improved from Thanksgiving 2007 when openings of Enchanted and This Christmas bowed to $49.1 million and $26.3 million respectively. Filmmakers have struggled for more than two decades to bring the inspirational and tragic life of slain San Francisco activist-politician Harvey Milk to the screen as a drama. Critical response has been largely upbeat and initial box office certainly indicates no reticence toward its gay subject matter. In another year with no clear Oscar favorites, Milk’s awards profile shoots way up with its $38,610 theater box office average. Another strong contender is Slumdog Millionaire, which added 17 theaters to bring its penetration to 49 locations. Its third weekend average remained sturdy at just shy of $28,000. More problematic will be the fate of Changeling, which may have peaked too soon and could face competition from Gran Torino, also directed by Clint Eastwood. - Leonard Klady Weekend Estimates - November 24- November 30, 2008 Title Distributor Gross (average) % change * Theaters Cume Four Christmases WB 31.5 (9,530) - 3310 46.6 Bolt BV 26.6 (7,280) -2% 3654 66.8 Twilight Summit 26.4 (7,730) --62% 3419 119.9 Quantum of Solace Sony 19.6 (5,590) --27% 3501 142.2 Australia Fox 14.6 (5,530) --- 2642 19.8 Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa Par 14.5 (3,900) ---8% 3709 159.5 Transporter 3 Lionsgate 11.8 (4,500) -- 2626 18.1 Role Models Uni 5.2 (2,370) --29% 2195 57.8 The Boy in the Striped Pajamas Miramax 1.6 (2,780) -2% 582 5.1 Milk Focus 1.4 (38,610) - 36 1.9 Slumdog Millionaire Fox Searchlight 1.4 (27,960) 44%-- 49 3.6 Changeling Uni 1.2 (1,180) -56% 1010 33.8 High School Musical 3 BV 1.1 (770) --48% 1385 88.8 The Secret Life of Bees Fox Searchlight .57 (1,160) --45% 490 36.7 Zack and Miri Make a Porno Weinstein Co. .55 (1,240) --66% 445 30.5 Rachel Getting Married Sony Classics .53 (2,350) -30% 225 8.8 Soul Men MGM .51 (1,520) --44% 335 11.7 Fireproof IDP .44 (910) -52% 486 32.3 Babine Alliance .38 (8,650) - 44 0.38 The Dark Knight WB .33 (1,080) -14% 305 530.2 Weekend Total ($500,000+ Films) $159.06 - - - % Change (Last Year) - 2% - - - % Change (Last Week) - 0% - - - Also debuting/expanding Synecdoche, NY Sony Classics .32 (2,670) 0%- 120 2 Happy-Go-Lucky Miramax .31 (1,550) -7% 202 2.7 Oyee Lucky! Lucky Oye! UTV 46,040 (1,020) - 45 0.08 The Secrets Monterey 12,800 (3,200) - 4 0.01 Domestic Market Share - To November 23, 2008 Distributor (releases) Gross Mrkt Share Warner Bros. (26) 1583.7 18.40% Paramount (16) 1485.9 17.30% Sony (24) 1164 13.50% Universal (20) 1054.8 12.20% Buena Vista (17) 871,2 10.10% Fox (21) 828.9 9.60% Lions Gate (18) 385.7 4.50% Fox Searchlight (8) 191.1 2.20% Summit (5) 125.1 1.50% Focus (6) 124.9 1.50% MGM (16) 117.9 1.40% Overture (6) 95.4 1.10% Paramount Vantage (11) 86.6 1.00% Picturehouse (7) 63.3 0.70% Miramax (9) 62.8 0.70% New Line (4) 61.8 0.70% Other * (303) 313.9 3.60% * none greater than 0.4% 8617 100.00% Top Global Grossers - To November 27, 2008 Title Distributor Gross The Dark Knight WB 991,478,574 Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull Par 786,001,411 Kung Fu Panda Par 631,948,533 Hancock Sony 625,872,147 Iron Man Par 581,055,399 Mamma Mia! Uni 568,636,619 WALL-E BV 488.198,517 Quantum of Solace Sony 430,414,293 The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian BV 420,055,729 Sex and the City WB 410,684,724 The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor Uni 393,277,768 Wanted Uni 343,011,467 Horton Hears a Who Fox 296,186,426 I Am Legend* WB 270,507,723 10,000 B.C. WB 269,309,372 National Treasures: Book of Secrets BV 263,704,304 The Incredible Hulk Uni 262,356,154 Get Smart WB 228,662,183 Bienvenue chez les Ch'tis Pathe 227,000,406 Jumper Fox 220,287,702 What Happens in Vegas Fox 218,207,559 High School Musical 3: Senior Year BV 217,606,165 Journey to the Center of the Earth WB 216,805,388 Juno Fox/Mandate 202,277,218 You Don't Mess With the Zohan Sony 201,859,863 *Does not include 2007 box office