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

March 15, 2009 Weekend Finals Domestic Market Share Witch Way to the Front Race to Witch Mountain ambled to the top of weekend ticket sales with an estimated $24.8 million. The frame’s other national debuts also showed predictable potency. The horror remake Last House on the Left ranked third with a $14.6 million gross and the twenty-something comedy Miss March mustered $2.3 million. Additionally there were a slew of limited releases entering the fray; most noticeably a sturdy $211,000 bow for the Sundance-preemed Sunshine Cleaning at four venues. Also upbeat was the two-screen, $25,200 box office for Tokyo Sonata and a $36,300 tally for the doc Brothers at War from seven screens. Coupled with the sizeable sophomore drop of Watchmen it added up to overall average returns and that, unfortunately, translated into the first comparable box office drop in three months. The industry has been justly touting the vigor of movie going while quietly fretting over perceived commercial weakness of the second quarter release schedule. Barring the unexpected, mavens are hunkering down for trying times through May. The sequel to Disney’s 1975 programmer, Race to Witch Mountain, turned out surprisingly better artistically than anyone could have predicted. While that didn’t appreciably alter its opening weekend strength, it could pay off in handsome dividends in subsequent weeks even with the release of Monsters vs. Aliens in the offing. Witch Mountain now has the potential to cross over from family viewing to appeal to the young adult crowd. Exit polling indicated 45% of its initial audience was younger than 17 years of age. Last House on the Left -- also a remake of a bygone cult horror favorite -- hit its audience target but doesn’t appear to have enduring stamina. Miss March also looks like a short-timer and the lineup for the next four weeks seems to populated with largely fungible fare. Weekend business clocked in just shy of $100 million in sales that translated into a 15% decline from seven days earlier. It was a slightly steeper 18% erosion from 2008 when the opening of Horton Hears a Who grossed $45 million. The 68% decline of Watchmen domestically wasn’t quite as dire as some pundits predicted but it’s hardly a cause for rejoicing. Considering the opportunity potential, a break-even scenario and few future exploitable components, this is money ill spent that sucks up the unanticipated rewards of Gran Torino and He’s Just Not That Into You. Sunshine Cleaning’s opening salvo bodes well for the wry tale of young women in transition and has taken on unexpected resonance since its festival bow 13 months back. Plans for a ramped up expansion are already being considered but the fragility of the yarn may require considerable nurturing. - Leonard Klady Weekend Finals: March 13-15, 2009 Title Distrib Weekend % Change* Theaters Cume Wks 1 New Race to Witch Mountain BV 24,402,214 - 3187 24,402,214 1 2 1 Watchmen WB 17,817,301 -68% 3611 55,214,334 2 3 New The Last House on the Left Uni 14,118,685 - 2401 14,118,685 1 4 3 Taken Fox 6,568,651 -10% 2858 126,752,054 7 5 2 Medea Goes to Jail Lions Gate 5,108,532 -40% 2203 83,187,594 4 6 4 Slumdog Millionaire Fox Searchlight 5,002,777 -26% 2578 132,602,820 18 7 5 Paul Blart: Mall Cop Sony 3,119,151 -25% 2281 137,785,983 9 8 6 He's Just Not That Into You WB 2,939,484 -27% 1890 89,038,259 6 9 7 Coraline Focus 2,718,231 -16% 1768 69,240,852 6 10 New Miss March Fox Searchlight 2,409,156 - 1742 2,409,156 1 11 8 Confessions of a Shopaholic BV 1,941,638 -37% 1591 41,295,158 5 12 10 Fired Up Sony 1,645,380 -34% 1518 15,430,103 4 13 11 Gran Torino WB 1,505,408 -26% 1102 143,829,449 14 14 12 The Reader Weinstein Co. 1,309,669 -32% 1002 31,887,248 14 15 9 Jonas Brothers: 3D Concert Experience BV 940,270 -67% 968 18,241,586 3 16 15 The International Sony 716,479 -46% 549 24,975,097 5 17 14 Friday the 13th WB 595,165 -59% 780 64,361,909 5 18 18 Hotel for Dogs Par 577,927 -46% 804 70,040,394 9 19 17 Push Summit 539,468 -53% 615 30,564,529 6 20 16 The Pink Panther 2 Sony 536,634 -58% 627 35,421,960 6 21 19 The Wrestler Fox Searchlight 449,060 -40% 456 25,450,588 13 22 13 Street Fighter: Legend of Chun-Li Fox 430,323 -71% 453 8,158,438 3 23 23 Two Lovers Magnolia 403,154 5% 134 1,632,251 5 24 24 Bedtime Stories BV 384,016 4% 295 110,485,991 12 25 21 The Uninvited Par 352,095 -22% 411 28,133,091 7 26 27 Entre les murs (The Class) Sony Classics 333,337 14% 120 2,456,132 9 27 New Dede a travers les brumes TVA 313,188 - 72 313,188 1 28 31 Under the Sea 3D WB 301,140 24% 50 3,219,072 5 29 26 Doubt Miramax 289,388 -15% 275 32,888,223 14 30 22 Curious Case of Benjamin Button Par 270,835 -38% 281 126,532,358 12 31 25 Twilight Summit 259,817 -26% 338 191,098,026 17 32 20 Milk Focus 233,060 -60% 228 31,549,014 16 33 New Sunshine Cleaning Overture 219,190 - 4 219,190 1 34 32 One Week Mongrel 205,414 -9% 64 596,847 2 35 29 Marley and Me Fox 192,222 -25% 222 142,611,757 12 36 30 Inkheart WB 187,856 -25% 289 16,840,355 8 37 28 New in Town Lions Gate 187,336 -31% 239 16,554,406 7 38 36 Underworld: Rise of the Lycans Sony 181,866 -8% 240 46,414,310 8 39 37 Bolt BV 176,552 -8% 204 114,922,555 17 40 34 Revolutionary Road Par Vantage 157,766 -28% 181 22,575,245 12 41 38 Last Chance Harvey Overture 157,426 -7% 203 14,413,492 12 42 35 Defiance Par Vantage 155,864 -26% 202 28,260,750 11 43 39 Bride Wars Fox 149,771 -2% 186 58,134,881 10 44 33 Frost/Nixon Uni 148,245 -34% 182 18,475,446 15 45 41 Gomorrah IFC 141,383 6% 39 776,006 5 46 44 Che IFC/E1 102,664 18% 38 1,500,943 13 47 56 Crossing Over Weinstein Co. 102,331 115% 38 272,175 3 48 40 Yes Man WB 82,141 -43% 102 97,554,197 13 49 42 Valkyrie MGM 74,865 -39% 167 82,989,109 12 50 49 The Unborn Uni 72,118 -3% 93 42,839,594 10 51 54 Wendy and Lucy Oscilloscope 65,628 19% 40 642,267 14 52 58 Everlasting Moments IFC 56,947 41% 13 113,767 2 53 46 Jag Jeondayan de Mele H & H 56,259 -31% 15 504,264 4 54 43 Waltz with Bashir Sony Class/E1 52,317 -40% 82 2,126,007 12 55 55 Fly Me to the Moon Summit 52,068 -2% 8 13,219,226 31 56 45 The Tale of Despereaux Uni 50,924 -39% 118 51,031,214 13 57 53 Je me souviens Atopia 40,343 -35% 18 137,203 2 58 48 Polytechnique Alliance 38,899 -49% 36 1,334,594 6 59 52 Rachel Getting Married Sony Classics 36,329 -43% 55 12,748,504 24 60 New Brothers at War IDP 33,142 - 7 33,142 1 61 70 Deep Sea 3D WB 32,431 31% 4 37,588,119 159 62 66 Sea Monsters: A Prehistoric Adventure NatGeo 30,390 10% 15 21,004,979 76 63 59 Play the Game Slow Hand 30,052 -35% 16 163,372 3 64 New Tokyo Sonata Regent 28,345 - 2 28,345 1 65 New L'Empreinte de l'ange Seville 26,184 - 9 26,184 1 66 74 Tokyo! Liberation 25,701 12% 6 58,011 2 67 64 Stone of Destiny Alliance 25,657 -17% 14 253,904 4 68 50 Le Bonheur de Pierre Alliance 23,727 -66% 37 299,320 3 69 61 Fanboys Weinstein Co. 23,727 -29% 27 585,604 6 70 63 My Bloody Valentine 3D Lions Gate 23,235 -28% 55 51,569,187 8 71 69 Magnificent Desolation Imax 21,019 -20% 5 27,807,536 182 72 68 Madagascar: Escape to Africa Par 20,806 -21% 40 180,142,079 19 73 81 Harvard Beats Yale 29-29 Kino 20,225 59% 9 139,087 17 74 67 Space Station 3D Imax 19,842 -32% 5 77,970,503 361 75 64 Phoebe in Wonderland Thinkfilm 18,535 -45% 10 58,279 2 76 60 Seven Pounds Sony 19,717 -46% 37 70,851,665 13 Source: EDI/MCN   Estimates: March 13 - 15, 2009 Title Distributor Gross (average) % change * Theaters Cume Race to Witch Mountain BV 24.8 (7,790) - 3187 24.8 Watchmen WB 17.6 (4,880) -68% 3611 85.6 Last House on the Left Uni 14.6 (6,080) - 2401 14.6 Taken Fox 6.6 (2,300) -10% 2858 126.8 Madea Goes to Jail Lions Gate 5.1 (2,320) -40% 2203 83.2 Slumdog Millionaire Fox Searchlight 5.0 (1,920) -27% 2578 132.6 Paul Blart: Mall Cop Sony 3.1 (1,350) -26% 2281 137.8 He's Just Not That Into You WB 2.8 (1,490) -30% 1890 88.9 Coraline Focus 2.6 (1,460) -20% 1768 69.1 Miss March Fox Searchlight 2.3 (1,340) - 1742 2.3 Confessions of a Shopaholic BV 1.9 (1,210) -38% 1591 41.3 Fired Up Sony 1.7 (1,090) -33% 1518 15.4 Gran Torino WB 1.4 (1,310) -29% 1102 143.8 The Reader Weinstein Co. 1.3 (1,270) -34% 1002 31.9 Jonas Brothers: 3D Concert Experience BV .88 (910) -69% 968 18.2 The International Sony .72 (1,310) -46% 549 25 Friday the 13th WB .61 (780) -58% 780 64.4 Hotel for Dogs Par .56 (700) -48% 804 70 The Pink Panther 2 Sony .53 (840) -59% 627 35.4 Push Summit .50 (810) -56% 615 30.5 Weekend Total ($500,000+ Films) $94.4 - - - % Change (Last Year) - -18% - - - % Change (Last Week) - -15% - - - Also debuting/expanding The Wrestler Fox Searchlight .44 (960) -41% 456 25.4 Sunshine Cleaning Overture .21 (52,750) - 4 0.21 One Week Mongrel .20 (3,140) -18% 64 0.55 Brothers at War IDP 36,300 (5,180) - 7 0.04 Tokyo Sonata Regent 25,200 (12,600) 2 1 0.03 Pontypool Equinoxe 11,400 (1,900) - 6 0.01 Z (reissue) Rialto 9,400 (9,400) - 1 0.01 Severed Ways Magnolia 6,700 (6,700) - 1 0.01 The Perfect Sleep Cinema Epoch 4,500 (4,500) - 1 0.01 Edge of Love Capitol 3,500 (3,500) - 1 0.01 Domestic Market Share - January 1 - March 12, 2009 Distributor (releases) Gross Market Share Warner Bros. (15) 421.4 21.10% Sony (9) 293.7 14.70% Fox (6) 272.3 13.60% Paramount (5) 175.7 8.80% Fox Searchlight (4) 166.3 8.30% Lionsgate (6) 153.4 7.70% Buena Vista (7) 121.6 6.10% Focus (2) 83.2 4.10% Universal (5) 75.1 3.80% Summit (3) 50.9 2.50% Paramount Vantage (2) 50.2 2.50% MGM (3) 42.2 2.10% Weinstein (6) 30.5 1.50% Miramax (3) 21.7 1.10% Overture (2) 14.4 0.70% Other * (56) 27 1.40% * none greater than 0.35% 1999.6 100.00%