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

March 22, 2009 Weekend Finals Domestic Market Share Knowing ... and Not Knowing The science-fiction anxiety raiser Knowing led the weekend box office chart with an estimated $24.1 million. In a session where a trio of national releases was expected to be closely bunched, the separations were noticeable. The romantic comedy I Love You, Man debuted in second spot with $17.6 million and the tongue-in-cheek thriller Duplicity took the third slot with $14.4 million. The new blood was viewed optimistically as the films were targeted to distinct and separate audiences. And while collectively they boosted ticket sales modestly from the prior weekend, they did not boost last year’s business. The weekend also saw buoyant biz for the latest live from the Met outing, Bellini’s Sonnambula, and a hearty expansion for the indie saga Sunshine Cleaning. However, most freshmen in limited and exclusive bows were undistinguished. The wry The Great Buck Howard generated less than a $2,000 engagement average from 55 theaters and the ironically titled Super Capers eked out $20,400 from 80 exposures. Conversely, fest favorite Sin Nombre generated a potent $78,200 at six screens and the portrait film Valentino: The Last Emperor tantalized $19,600 from a single Manhattan exposure. Overall business generated roughly $107 million for a 7% improvement from seven days earlier. However, box office took a 5% hit from 2008 when the second weekend of Horton Hears a Who led with $24.6 million and the debut of Meet the Browns grossed $20.1 million. The trinity of new movies lined up as anticipated though only Knowing, starring Nicolas Cage, performed close to tracking estimates. The pre-cognitive nail biter as expected drew in young males while I Love You, Man emerged as the weekend date movie and Duplicity tilted toward older women. On paper that sounded better than it played out and while the latter duo both earned good to rhapsodic reviews, each fell short of respective b.o. projections of $20 million and $18 million. Added to the woes was a sharper than expected 47% drop for last weekend’s chart topper Race to Witch Mountain and the dissolution of first quarter warhorses including Paul Blart, Slumdog Millionaire and He’s Just Not That Into You. There’s at least a glimmer of sunshine for niche product with the fan out of Sunshine Cleaning maintaining sturdy per screens and the bow of Sin Nombre drawing in upscale (though not ethnic) audiences. Still neither film has yet to demonstrate the on-going vigor of Little Miss Sunshine or Y tu Mama Tambien. The immediate release horizon doesn’t appear to have comparably upbeat surprises to fill the imminent void but then again they wouldn’t be surprises if they performed to preconceived power. Still with ShoWest a week off, it will be interesting to see how the beleaguered Motion Picture Association and National Association of Theater Owners spin a positive future in recessionary times that have slowed building and expansion plans that were supposed to invigorate movie going. - Leonard Klady Weekend Finals - March 20-22, 2009 Title Distrib Weekend % Change* Theaters Cume Wks 1 New Knowing Summit 24,604,751 - 3332 24,604,751 1 2 New I Love You, Man Par 17,810,270 - 2711 17,810,270 1 3 New Duplicity Uni 13,965,110 - 2574 13,965,110 1 4 1 Race to Witch Mountain BV 12,786,041 -48% 2187 44,496,593 2 5 2 Watchmen WB 6,801,114 -62% 3510 98,140,886 3 6 3 The Last House on the Left Uni 5,776,160 -59% 2402 23,902,420 2 7 4 Taken Fox 4,057,695 -38% 2661 133,096,403 8 8 6 Slumdog Millionaire Fox Searchlight 2,676,369 -46% 2067 137,178,177 19 9 5 Medea Goes to Jail Lions Gate 2,566,535 -50% 1835 87,264,219 5 10 9 Coraline Focus 2,130,746 -22% 1431 72,841,173 7 11 7 Paul Blart: Mall Cop Sony 1,842,984 -41% 1762 141,052,214 10 12 8 He's Just Not That Into You WB 1,250,201 -57% 1302 91,544,583 7 13 New La Sonnambula Fathom 1,157,999 - 522 1,157,999 1 14 11 Confessions of a Shopaholic BV 741,893 -62% 917 42,928,251 6 15 13 Gran Torino WB 740,137 -51% 825 145,095,330 15 16 12 Fired Up Sony 701,639 -57% 1209 16,755,117 5 17 33 Sunshine Cleaning Overture 671,618 206% 64 960,041 2 18 10 Miss March Fox Searchlight 664,351 -72% 1742 4,121,295 2 19 14 The Reader Weinstein Co. 535,983 -59% 704 32,900,557 15 20 18 Hotel for Dogs Par 403,092 -30% 522 70,906,136 10 21 28 Under the Sea 3D WB 372,624 21% 54 3,886,959 6 22 15 Jonas Brothers: 3D Concert Experience BV 362,694 -61% 468 19,024,826 4 23 24 Bedtime Stories BV 318,635 -17% 286 110,980,386 13 24 27 Dede a travers les brumes TVA 242,440 -23% 70 751,956 2 25 26 Entre les murs (The Class) Sony Classics 206,232 -38% 126 2,792,008 10 26 23 Two Lovers Magnolia 206,127 -62% 148 1,971,628 6 27 19 Push Summit 196,398 -64% 290 30,991,061 7 28 20 The Pink Panther 2 Sony 192,853 -64% 261 35,922,978 7 29 16 The International Sony 187,891 -74% 281 25,450,527 6 30 25 The Uninvited Par 178,418 -49% 282 28,436,011 8 31 21 The Wrestler Fox Searchlight 166,972 -63% 291 25,792,774 14 32 39 Bolt BV 166,932 -5% 202 115,202,295 18 33 29 Doubt Miramax 149,360 -48% 218 33,172,718 15 34 17 Friday the 13th WB 145,786 -75% 305 64,701,486 6 35 35 Marley and Me Fox 139,211 -28% 190 142,829,513 13 36 22 Street Fighter: Legend of Chun-Li Fox 138,425 -68% 186 8,459,301 4 37 31 Twilight Summit 132,914 -49% 247 191,368,384 18 38 36 Inkheart WB 127,553 -32% 194 17,066,686 9 39 30 Curious Case of Benjamin Button Par 123,045 -55% 206 126,759,635 13 40 43 Bride Wars Fox 120,962 -19% 162 58,321,581 11 41 New The Great Buck Howard Magnolia 115,004 - 55 115,004 1 42 45 Gomorrah IFC/E1 113,151 -20% 49 958,827 6 43 41 Last Chance Harvey Overture 111,913 -29% 244 14,590,164 13 44 40 Revolutionary Road Par Vantage 111,319 -29% 202 22,754,434 13 45 34 One Week Mongrel 102,546 -50% 57 801,162 3 46 38 Underworld: Rise of the Lycans Sony 98,983 -46% 171 46,601,533 9 47 New Sin Nombre Focus 81,446 - 6 81,446 1 48 32 Milk Focus 79,518 -65% 111 31,716,847 17 49 37 New in Town Lions Gate 71,205 -62% 158 16,699,684 8 50 42 Defiance Par Vantage 67,367 -57% 118 28,390,983 12 51 46 Che IFC/E1 66,911 -35% 47 1,613,268 15 52 44 Frost/Nixon Uni 62,225 -58% 131 18,593,156 16 53 70 My Bloody Valentine 3D Lions Gate 56,815 144% 171 51,635,373 9 54 55 Fly Me to the Moon Summit 46,964 -10% 9 13,303,373 32 55 48 Yes Man WB 44,025 -46% 53 97,632,413 14 56 56 The Tale of Despereaux Uni 43,590 -14% 90 51,150,016 14 57 51 Wendy and Lucy Oscilloscope 38,425 -41% 40 700,720 15 58 74 Space Station 3D Imax 37,389 84% 5 78,120,981 362 59 52 Everlasting Moments IFC 35,865 -37% 18 171,339 3 60 71 Magnificent Desolation Imax 35,518 86% 5 27,891,163 183 61 66 Tokyo! Liberation 35,053 36% 10 105,694 3 62 47 Crossing Over Weinstein Co. 34,864 -66% 39 347,004 4 63 RE Dolphins and Whales 3D 3D Entertainment 32,533 -1% 7 5,721,223 58 64 53 Jag Jeondayan de Mele H & H 32,293 -43% 12 559,830 5 65 50 The Unborn Uni 31,501 -56% 51 42,899,590 11 66 62 Sea Monsters: A Prehistoric Adventure NatGeo 30,520 0% 15 21,055,453 77 67 58 Polytechnique Alliance 27,955 -28% 34 1,384,588 7 68 49 Valkyrie MGM 25,875 -65% 57 83,043,123 13 69 54 Waltz with Bashir Sony Class/E1 24,435 -53% 62 2,180,986 13 70 57 Je me souviens Atopia 22,655 -35% 17 180,536 3 71 91 U2 3D NatGeo 22,301 49% 8 9,772,237 61 72 New Valentino: The Last Emperor Truly Indie 21,762 - 1 21,762 1 73 New Super Capers Roadside Attract. 21,463 - 80 21,463 1 74 61 Deep Sea 3D WB 20,304 -37% 5 37,647,061 160 75 65 L'Empreinte de l'ange Seville 17,422 -33% 9 58,925 2 Source: EDI/MCN   Estimates: March 20 - 22, 2009 Title Distributor Gross (average) % change * Theaters Cume Knowing Summit 24.1 (7,260) - 3332 24.1 I Love You Man Par 17.6 (6,490) - 2711 17.6 Duplicity Uni 14.4 (5,580) - 2574 14.4 Race to Witch Mountain BV 12.9 (3,670) -47% 3187 44.6 Watchmen WB 6.8 (1,950) -62% 3510 98.2 Last House on the Left Uni 5.8 (2,410) -59% 2402 23.9 Taken Fox 4.1 (1,540) -37% 2661 133.1 Slumdog Millionaire Fox Searchlight 2.7 (1,320) -46% 2067 141.9 Madea Goes to Jail Lionsgate 2.5 (1,380) -51% 1835 87.2 Coraline Focus 2.1 (1,450) -23% 1431 72.8 Paul Blart: Mall Cop Sony 1.8 (1,010) -43% 1762 141 He's Just Not That Into You WB 1.3 (990) -56% 1302 91.6 La Sonnambula Fathom 1.2 (2,170) - 540 1.2 Confessions of a Shopaholic BV .77 (840) -60% 917 43 Gran Torino WB .74 (900) -51% 825 145.1 Fired Up Sony .73 (600) -56% 1209 16.8 Sunshine Cleaning Overture .69 (10,780) 215% 64 1 Miss March Fox Searchlight .65 (370) -73% 1742 4.1 The Reader Weinstein Co. .52 (740) -60% 704 32.9 Hotel for Dogs Par .44 (840) -24% 522 70.9 Weekend Total ($500,000+ Films) $101.40 - - - % Change (Last Year) - -5% - - - % Change (Last Week) - 7% - - - Also debuting/expanding Dede a travers les brumes TVA 24 (3,410) -23% 71 0.75 The Great Buck Howard Magnolia .11 (1,960) - 55 0.11 Sin Nombre Focus 78,200 (13,030) - 6 0.08 Super Capers Roadside At. 20,400 (255) - 80 0.02 Valentino: The Last Emperor Acolyte 19,600 (19,600) - 1 0.02 Skills Like This Shadow 8,300 (8,300) - 1 0.01 The New Twenty Wolfe 6,400 (6,400) - 1 0.01 Mancora Maya 5,700 (2,850) - 2 0.01 Perestroika REF 3,500 (3,500) - 1 0.01 Domestic Market Share - January 1 - March 19, 2009 Distributor (releases) Gross Market Share Warner Bros. (15) 452.9 21.20% Sony (9) 302.7 14.20% Fox (6) 282.3 13.20% Paramount (5) 177.6 8.30% Fox Searchlight (5) 177.3 8.30% Lionsgate (6) 160.4 7.50% Buena Vista (8) 158.4 7.40% Universal (6) 93.6 4.40% Focus (2) 87.7 4.10% Summit (3) 52.2 2.40% Paramount Vantage (2) 50.6 2.40% MGM (3) 42.3 2.00% Weinstein (6) 32.4 1.50% Miramax (3) 22.1 1.00% Overture (3) 14.9 0.70% Other * (64) 30.8 1.40% * none greater than 0.35% 2138.2 100.00%