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

April 5, 2009 Weekend Final Domestic Market Share Pop Goes the Diesel Fast & Furious lived up to its moniker, speeding past the competition and re-writing the record books with an estimated $72.4 million debut. In another expansive frame the only other national debut -- the droll retro-comedy Adventureland -- didn’t provide much in counter-programming with a $5.7 million tally. The session was also rife with limited and niche bows including a pair of inspirational films -- The One Lamb and C Me Dance -- that failed to speak to the converted. The lauded inside baseball-set Sugar slid home with an okay $64,500 at 10 stadiums and French import Paris 36 showed comparable strength with $45,800 gross from seven venues, while Bollywood entry 8 x 10 Tasveer disappointed with $50,200 at 38 theaters. Exclusive openers were slightly more encouraging, including the documentary Enlighten Up!, the musical oddity Anvil! The Story of Anvil and the Oscar short-listed Tulpan from Kazakhstan. Overall box office experienced a slight 8% bump from last weekend and a massive expansion compared with 2008. Tracking had been torrid for Fast & Furious, which reassembled the original cast of the souped-up franchise. Fandango had the film taking 53% of its advance ticket sales and industry estimates predicted it would bow somewhere between $50 million and $55 million, or slightly less than last weekend’s launch of Monsters vs. Aliens. However, following a $1.8 million gross from Thursday previews and full-day box office of $30.4 million expectations revved up. If estimates hold, F & F will be Universal’s biggest opening weekend ever, usurping The Lost World’s $72.1 million tally from its Memorial holiday debut. It certainly mowed down the prior April record of $42 million, held by Anger Management. While reviews were upbeat for Adventureland, response was tepid for the mix of nostalgia, comedy and cheap thrills. Ticket sales approached $157 million for the frame with Fast & Furious and runner up Monsters vs. Aliens accounting for about two-thirds of admissions. The tally exceeded 2008 business by 70% when debuts of Nim’s Island ($13.1 million) and Leatherheads ($12.7 million) failed to unseat the second weekend score of $15.3 million posted by 21. Marketplace volume continued to contract with just 14 films, including the slowly expanding Sunshine Cleaning, posting a gross in excess of $500,000. The acclaimed American indie Sin Nombre is also taking the cautious route with few titles in the wings directed to alternative audiences in the coming months. Last year’s success of Fireproof had to have been a prod for a pair of inspirational tales that bowed over the weekend in primarily Heartland locations. But neither C Me Dance nor The One Lamb connected with that audience which is primed for commercial pruning … if you have the right picture that hits the target and can crossover. - Leonard Klady Weekend Finals - April 3-5, 2009 Title Distrib Weekend % Change* Theaters Cume Wks 1 New Fast & Furious Uni 70,950,500 3461 70,950,500 1 2 1 Monsters vs. Aliens Par 32,609,165 -45% 4109 104,799,387 2 3 2 The Haunting in Connecticut Lions Gate 9,481,647 -59% 2732 37,171,280 2 4 3 Knowing Summit 8,146,156 -45% 3323 58,219,770 3 5 4 I Love You, Man Par 7,722,469 -39% 2829 49,159,559 3 6 New Adventureland Miramax 5,722,039 1862 5,722,039 1 7 5 Duplicity Uni 4,174,240 -46% 2522 32,250,215 3 8 6 Race to Witch Mountain BV 3,212,602 -45% 2825 58,249,111 4 9 7 12 Rounds Fox 2,260,906 -58% 2331 8,982,767 2 10 11 Sunshine Cleaning Overture 1,807,164 42% 479 4,702,721 4 11 9 Taken Fox 1,544,471 -43% 1355 139,416,323 10 12 10 The Last House on the Left Uni 1,259,325 -52% 1305 30,674,195 4 13 8 Watchmen WB 1,074,320 -61% 1103 105,346,566 5 14 12 Slumdog Millionaire Fox Searchlight 499,257 -57% 498 140,244,722 21 15 13 Medea Goes to Jail Lions Gate 479,975 -58% 619 89,869,224 7 16 14 Paul Blart: Mall Cop Sony 373,718 -55% 545 143,162,362 12 17 16 Gran Torino WB 268,026 -39% 363 146,236,899 17 18 24 Under the Sea 3D WB 255,980 27% 43 4,733,885 8 19 15 He's Just Not That Into You WB 207,532 -56% 261 92,901,114 9 20 21 Bedtime Stories BV 205,224 -20% 244 11,641,389 15 21 17 Hotel for Dogs Par 194,542 -38% 240 71,651,821 12 22 19 The Reader Weinstein Co. 192,085 -38% 232 33,807,465 17 23 41 Sin Nombre Focus 184,380 163% 24 398,982 3 24 20 Coraline Focus 178,148 -42% 211 74,255,387 9 25 25 Two Lovers Magnolia 171,555 -6% 121 2,479,261 8 26 35 Push Summit 142,179 54% 214 31,331,232 9 27 40 The Pink Panther 2 Sony 137,174 93% 227 36,078,721 9 28 23 Curious Case of Benjamin Button Par 131,342 -37% 213 127,247,417 15 29 26 Entre les murs (The Class) Sony Classics 129,928 -28% 114 3,269,585 12 30 28 Dede a travers les brumes TVA 122,238 -28% 66 1,231,871 4 31 22 Confessions of a Shopaholic BV 103,044 -59% 164 43,662,614 8 32 18 The Cross Gener8Xion 93,980 -70% 127 496,009 2 33 29 Gomorrah IFC/E1 93,757 -16% 49 1,287,229 8 34 34 The Great Buck Howard Magnolia 91,988 -2% 64 390,092 3 35 New Ayan Sun 87,223 10 87,223 1 36 56 Friday the 13th WB 81,465 104% 202 64,877,692 8 37 50 Street Fighter: Legend of Chun-Li Fox 70,350 36% 69 8,646,753 6 38 27 Fired Up Sony 69,064 -61% 151 17,231,291 7 39 New 8 x 10 Tasveer Navar 65,716 48 65,716 1 40 36 Grande ourse: La Cle des possibles Alliance 62,799 -28% 44 189,042 2 41 31 Bride Wars Fox 60,339 -41% 143 58,570,609 13 42 New Sugar Sony Classics 60,140 11 60,140 1 43 30 Bolt BV 58,442 -47% 144 115,481,079 20 44 32 Marley and Me Fox 57,249 -42% 89 143,084,510 15 45 33 The Wrestler Fox Searchlight 57,143 -39% 107 26,063,654 16 46 66 Valentino: The Last Emperor Truly Indie 56,783 82% 4 177,180 3 47 81 Play the Game Slow Hand 52,542 254% 55 276,773 6 48 55 Everlasting Moments IFC 47,703 13% 25 295,104 5 49 38 Doubt Miramax 45,577 -45% 77 33,422,556 17 50 71 Shall We Kiss? Music Box 44,786 56% 19 83,715 2 51 New Paris 36 Sony Classics 44,690 7 44,690 1 52 New Alien Trespass Roadside Attract. 43,437 40 43,437 1 53 37 Inkheart WB 42,287 -49% 101 17,281,832 11 54 43 One Week Mongrel 40,410 -37% 28 985,342 5 55 42 Last Chance Harvey Overture 38,473 -40% 73 14,785,709 15 56 64 Magnificent Desolation Imax 38,111 14% 7 28,066,172 185 57 52 Dolphins and Whales 3D 3D Entertainment 37,506 -14% 7 5,842,602 60 58 68 Space Station 3D Imax 37,343 20% 7 78,301,156 364 59 39 The Uninvited Par 34,823 -53% 91 28,631,641 10 60 49 The International Sony 33,558 -36% 42 25,641,379 8 61 New Bart Got a Room Anchor Bay 32,764 11 32,764 1 62 48 Che IFC/E1 32,372 -38% 30 2,001,717 17 63 58 Goodbye Solo Roadside Attract. 30,395 -20% 5 80,868 2 64 61 Sea Monsters: A Prehistoric Adventure NatGeo 29,279 -17% 15 21,233,671 79 65 44 Revolutionary Road Par Vantage 27,401 -57% 56 22,938,881 15 66 67 Wendy and Lucy Oscilloscope 26,212 -14% 32 783,789 17 67 63 New in Town Lions Gate 24,867 -26% 51 16,811,835 10 68 RE The Neccesities of Life E1 24,556 273% 9 361,801 7 69 New C Me Dance FreeStyle 24,066 151 24,066 1 70 51 Defiance Par Vantage 23,635 -52% 52 28,514,684 14 71 46 Underworld: Rise of the Lycans Sony 23,012 -61% 62 46,758,824 11 72 75 Tokyo! Liberation 20,652 12% 12 172,789 5 73 60 Fly Me to the Moon Summit 20,272 -44% 8 13,408,004 34 74 57 Tokyo Sonata Regent 19,202 -50% 9 138,805 4 75 53 Frost/Nixon Uni 17,883 -59% 40 18,704,594 18 Source: EDI/MCN   Estimates - April 3-5, 2009 Title Distributor Gross (average) % change * Theaters Cume Fast & Furious Uni 72.4 (20,920) - 3461 72.4 Monsters vs. Aliens Par 33.6 (8,170) -43% 4109 105.8 The Haunting in Connecticut Lions Gate 9.7 (3,540) -58% 2732 37.4 I Love You Man Par 7.9 (2,780) -38% 2829 49.3 Knowing Summit 8.1 (2,440) -45% 3323 58.2 Adventureland Miramax 5.7 (3,080) - 1862 5.7 Duplicity Uni 4.2 (1,670) -45% 2522 32.3 Race to Witch Mountain BV 3.2 (1,140) -44% 2825 58.3 12 Rounds Fox 2.3 (980) -57% 2331 9 Sunshine Cleaning Overture 1.9 (3,890) 46% 479 4.8 Taken Fox 1.5 (1,140) -44% 1335 139.4 Last House on the Left Uni 1.3 (980) -52% 1305 30.7 Watchmen WB 1.1 (970) -61% 1103 105.3 Slumdog Millionaire Fox Searchlight .50 (1,010) -57% 498 140.3 Madea Goes to Jail Lions Gate .45 (730) -60% 619 89.8 Paul Blart: Mall Cop Sony .37 (770) -56% 479 143.2 Gran Torino WB .27 (750) -38% 363 146.2 Under the Sea 3D WB .26 (6,070) 27% 43 4.7 He's Just Not That Into You WB .22 (840) -54% 261 92.9 Sin Nombre Focus .19 (8,220) 170% 23 0.4 Weekend Total ($500,000+ Films) - $153.40 - - - % Change (Last Year) - 70% - - - % Change (Last Week) - 8% - - - Also debuting/expanding Sugar Sony Classics 64,500 (6,450) - 10 0.06 The One Lamb United Methodist 58,300 (580) - 100 0.06 8 x 10 Tasveer Precept 50,200 (1,320) - 38 0.05 Paris 36 Sony Classics 45,800 (6,520) - 7 0.05 Alien Trespass Roadside Attract. 41,200 (1,030) - 40 0.04 Bart Got a Room Anchor Bay 31,300 (2,850) - 11 0.03 C Me Dance FreeStyle 28,700 (190) - 151 0.03 Enlighten Up! Balcony 14,100 (14,100) - 1 0.01 Gigantic First Independent 11,200 (11,200) - 1 0.01 Anvil! The Story of Anvil Abramorama 10,300 (10,300) - 1 0.01 Tulpan Zeitgeist 8,900 (8,900) - 1 0.01 The Song of Sparrows Regent 8,100 (8,100) - 1 0.01 Forbidden Lie$ Roxie 1,750 (1,750) - 1 0.01   Domestic Market Share - January 1 - April 2, 2009 Distributor (releases) Gross (millions) Mrkt Share Warner Bros. (15) 471.5 19.10% Sony (9) 308.3 12.50% Fox (7) 298.7 12.10% Paramount (7) 293.1 11.90% Lions Gate (6) 193.1 7.80% Fox Searchlight (5) 184.8 7.50% Buena Vista (8) 183.9 7.50% Universal (7) 133.3 5.40% Summit (4) 103.1 4.20% Focus (2) 91.5 3.70% Paramount Vantage (2) 51.1 2.10% MGM (3) 42.3 1.70% Weinstein Co. (6) 33.8 1.40% Miramax (3) 22.4 0.90% Overture (3) 37.7 0.70% Other * (80) 37.7 1.50% * none greater than 0.4% 2466.4 100.00%