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

April 26, 2009 Weekend Estimates Domestic Market Share Play Stalk Man Woman Audiences opted for the perverse office politics of Obsessed with the film bowing to an estimated $28.8 million. The frame's other national debuts included the hard kicking actioner Fighting with $11.3 million in third position and, close behind, the potent drama The Soloist with $9.7 million. Also new was the eco-documentary Earth that bowed on Wednesday and scored an opening weekend tally of $8.6 million. The Informers - the premier outing for Senator Films - fizzled with $292,000 at 482 venues. Among the better limited release freshmen were the pugilistic portrait Tyson with $75,300 at 11 arenas, the documentary Nursery University with $9,600 from a single screen and Italian political thriller Il Divo grossing $13,200 at two exposures. Overall business expanded slightly from a week earlier and saw another sizeable boost from last year's record. Obsessed, a latter day Fatal Attraction, was tracking ahead of the pack though estimates pegged its opening at between $23 million and $25 million. Exit polls pegged the audience at 58% female and split 50/50 at the over/under 25-year-old divide. The title was a real asset and the prospect of bad behavior and just desserts spurred along opening weekend business. Fighting drew in young males to its yarn of underground brawling and the plus 25s gravitated toward the real life saga of a homeless, emotionally troubled musician in The Soloist. Both films performed pretty much as expected though the generally positive response to the Robert Downey Jr.-Jamie Foxx drama bodes well for that picture's stamina. Earth also skewed older. It's been in release internationally since late 2007 with boffo returns in Germany, France and Japan and an overall foreign tally of more than $76 million. Weekend business generated slightly better than $115 million for a 4% hike from the prior frame's revenues. It was a potent 30% improved from 2008 when debuts of Baby Mama and Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay led with respective box offices of $17.4 million and $14.9 million. Domestic box office to date is running 15% ahead of 2008's pace. The announcement that Germany's Senator Films was entering the U.S. distribution market last year didn't provide many details about a slate or gestalt. The company had a history of co-financing American movies but that hardly guaranteed a flow of A-list product. Its initial offering, The Informers, mirrors a disconnect associated with past European initiatives such as Penta but that's hardly sufficient to write an obit. Far more telling for its future is how it will weather the current tight money market and create a slate in these recessionary times. - Leonard Klady Weekend Finals Title Distrib Weekend % Change* Theaters Cume Wks 1 New Obsessed Sony 28,612,730 - 2514 28,612,730 1 2 1 17 Again WB 11,518,495 -51% 3255 39,823,333 2 3 New Fighting Uni 11,024,370 - 2309 11,024,370 1 4 New The Soloist Par 9,716,458 - 2024 9,716,458 1 5 New Earth BV 8,825,760 - 1804 14,472,792 1 6 4 Monsters vs. Aliens Par 8,520,826 -36% 3358 174,813,830 5 7 2 State of Play Uni 6,848,885 -51% 2807 25,081,890 2 8 3 Hannah Montana: The Movie BV 6,437,141 -52% 3231 65,655,057 3 9 5 Fast & Furious Uni 6,204,940 -47% 3566 145,367,040 4 10 6 Crank: High Voltage Lions Gate 2,618,379 -62% 2223 11,735,952 2 11 9 I Love You, Man Par 1,952,921 -41% 1563 67,809,860 6 12 8 Knowing Summit 1,943,154 -46% 1860 76,780,504 6 13 7 Observe and Report WB 1,746,102 -58% 2010 22,171,543 3 14 10 The Haunting in Connecticut Lions Gate 1,497,120 -52% 1675 54,207,345 5 15 14 Sunshine Cleaning Overture 587,176 -40% 638 9,769,146 7 16 12 Adventureland Miramax 532,270 -60% 581 15,124,996 4 17 13 Duplicity Uni 442,255 -60% 610 39,870,305 6 18 15 Race to Witch Mountain BV 405,716 -45% 591 64,373,915 7 19 17 Paul Blart: Mall Cop Sony 357,883 -24% 342 145,151,723 15 20 16 Taken Fox 355,149 -39% 450 142,607,741 13 21 New The Informers Senator 306,600 - 482 306,600 1 22 11 Dragonball Evolution Fox 300,000 -83% 500 8,723,546 3 23 29 Gran Torino WB 288,315 118% 348 147,092,477 20 24 24 Under the Sea 3D WB 270,406 0% 43 6,330,109 11 25 21 Sin Nombre Focus 206,935 -20% 83 1,496,373 6 26 22 Hotel for Dogs Par 190,466 -24% 276 72,594,587 15 27 18 The Last House on the Left Uni 155,720 -46% 229 32,474,735 7 28 25 He's Just Not That Into You WB 133,347 -36% 232 93,625,873 12 29 26 Watchmen WB 125,198 -37% 145 107,061,353 8 30 45 Is Anybody There? Story Island 116,479 1525 54 178,676 2 31 RE La Sonnambula Fathom 107,197 - 66 1,265,196 5 32 43 Confessions of a Shopaholic BV 101,246 101% 176 43,997,966 11 33 56 Fired Up Sony 100,961 263% 61 17,419,445 10 34 20 12 Rounds Fox 100,484 -62% 223 11,492,383 5 35 30 Sugar Sony Classics 91,739 -11% 51 454,772 4 36 New Tyson Sony Classics 85,046 - 11 85,046 1 37 27 Coraline Focus 80,815 -48% 141 74,928,014 12 38 33 Valentino: The Last Emperor Truly Indie 72,741 -12% 27 571,977 6 39 28 Slumdog Millionaire Fox Searchlight 71,403 -50% 131 141,171,367 24 40 23 American Violet IDP 66,510 -73% 58 372,053 2 41 32 Push Summit 63,373 -28% 93 31,730,682 12 42 New Mini Punjab Movie Box 60,520 - 11 60,520 1 43 46 Paris 36 Sony Classics 58,735 28% 36 280,129 4 44 52 Anvil! The Story of Anvil Abramarama/FWL 48,160 36% 13 168,379 3 45 35 Every Little Step Sony Classics 47,407 -31% 8 151,200 2 46 34 Two Lovers Magnolia 44,864 -43% 56 2,937,226 11 47 37 Gomorrah IFC/E1 42,948 -35% 50 1,616,264 11 48 49 Lymelife Screen Media 41,505 -1% 25 139,731 3 49 81 Defiance Par Vantage 40,672 276% 102 28,622,873 17 50 39 The International Sony 37,962 -38% 66 25,823,425 11 51 60 Fly Me to the Moon Summit 37,074 54% 8 13,592,311 37 52 44 Shall We Kiss? Music Box 36,511 -26% 28 325,089 5 53 51 Magnificent Desolation Imax 36,011 -8% 6 28,472,272 188 54 31 Medea Goes to Jail Lions Gate 35,228 -64% 99 90,543,564 10 55 36 Entre les murs (The Class) Sony Classics 33,650 -49% 64 3,642,327 15 56 41 Tera Mera Ki Rishta Eros 31,067 -47% 17 262,245 3 57 47 Goodbye Solo Roadside Attract. 27,304 -36% 15 268,583 5 58 38 Bedtime Stories BV 27,052 -58% 75 12,028,694 17 59 48 The Great Buck Howard Magnolia 23,668 -44% 44 647,374 6 60 66 Dolphins and Whales 3D 3D Entertainment 22,394 8% 8 5,939,990 63 61 50 Space Station 3D Imax 21,832 -13% 5 78,522,271 367 62 42 The Reader Weinstein Co. 20,822 -62% 55 34,157,651 20 63 New Le Crime est notre affaire Metropole 20,121 - 8 20,121 1 64 54 Everlasting Moments IFC 20,096 -35% 24 453,943 8 65 40 Curious Case of Benjamin Button Par 19,530 -67% 39 127,528,856 18 66 58 Sea Monsters: A Prehistoric Adventure NatGeo 18,977 -28% 11 21,360,502 82 67 62 The Cross Gener8Xion 17,900 -24% 35 675,000 5 Source: EDI/MCN   Estimates - April 24-26, 2009 Title Distributor Gross (average) % change * Theaters Cume Obsessed Sony 28.8 (11,470) - 2514 28.8 17 Again WB 11.6 (3,560) -51% 3255 39.9 Fighting Uni 11.3 (4,908) - 2309 - The Soloist Par 9.7 (4,780) - 2024 9.7 Earth BV 8.6 (4,770) - 1804 14.3 Monsters vs. Aliens Par 8.6 (2,430) -35% 3538 174.9 State of Play Uni 6.8 (2,440) -51% 2807 25.1 Hannah Montana: The Movie BV 6.4 (1,970) -52% 3231 65.6 Fast & Furious Uni 5.9 (1,660) -50% 3566 145.1 Crank: High Voltage Lions Gate 2.5 (1,130) -64% 2223 11.6 I Love You Man Par 1.9 (1,240) -42% 1563 67.8 Knowing Summit 1.9 (1,010) -47% 1860 76.7 Observe and Report WB 1.7 (840) -60% 2010 22.1 The Haunting in Connecticut Lions Gate 1.5 (880) -53% 1675 54.2 Sunshine Cleaning Overture .58 (910) -41% 638 9.8 Adventureland Miramax .52 (900) -61% 581 15.1 Duplicity Uni .45 (740) -69% 610 39.9 The Informers Senator .29 (610) - 482 0.3 Race to Witch Mountain BV .35 (590) -53% 591 64.3 Taken Fox .33 (730) -43% 450 142.6 Weekend Total ($500,000+ Films) $108.30 - - - % Change (Last Year) - 30% - - - % Change (Last Week) - 4% - - - Also debuting/expanding Sin Nombre Focus .20 (2,450) -21% 83 1.5 Is Anybody There? Story Island .11 (2,010) 134% 54 0.17 Tyson Sony Classics 75,300 (6,840) - 11 0.08 American Violet IDP 63,300 (1,110) -74% 57 0.37 April Showers Pure Motive 13,400 (790) - 15 0.01 Il Divo Music Box 13,200 (6,600) - 2 0.01 Nursery University Variance 9,600 (9,600) - 1 0.01 The Mutant Chronicles Magnet 4,800 (2,400) - 2 0.01 Treeless Mountain Oscilloscope 4,700 (2,350) - 2 0.01 Domestic Market Share - January 1 - April 23, 2009 Distributor (releases) Gross (millions) Mrkt Share Warner Bros. (17) 526.5 17.50% Paramount (7) 412.9 13.80% Fox (8) 316.7 10.50% Sony (9) 311.2 10.40% Universal (9) 305.1 10.20% Buena Vista (10) 259.7 8.60% Lions Gate (7) 228.3 7.60% Fox Searchlight (5) 185.6 6.20% Summit (4) 128.4 4.30% Focus (3) 93.4 3.10% Paramount Vantage (2) 51.2 1.70% MGM (3) 42.3 1.40% Miramax (4) 37.2 1.20% Weinstein Co. (6) 34.4 1.10% Overture (3) 24.2 0.80% Other * (98) 46.6 1.60% * none greater than 0.4% 3003.7 100.00%