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Weekend Finals
Ring-a-ding, ding!The new line is just like the old line. Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers remained the top picture in the marketplace with an estimated $26.1 million for the weekend. It’s about 15% better than the first weekend of 2002 on the first installment and, with a cume in excess of $262 million, just passed the latest Harry Potter from sister company Warner Bros.
With the absence of debuting national releases, the line-up of popular titles remained pretty much intact with the exception of About Schmidt and Chicago, which were able to grab playdates from faltering product. Schmidt - initially planned to expand next weekend - corralled about 780 new engagements and muscled into fifth spot with $8.8 million. Though heaped with critical hosannas, it was vital to the off-beat drama’s vitality to register a theater average of at least $10,000 … which it did.
Chicago is also ahead of its January 24 national bow with the addition of 227 theaters and a weekend gross of $5.1 million. It’s expanding very nicely but has yet to reach that critical point where one can say with conviction that it’s crossed over into the mainstream.
Overall business should exceed $130 million for a not too shabby 26% slip from last week’s holiday surge and a modest 7% bump from last year. Such popular fare as Catch Me If You Can, Two Week Notice and Maid in Manhattan are holding well with Catch Me primed to pass $100 million after 18 days in release on Tuesday. And, short of a natural or man made catastrophe, My Big Fat Greek Wedding appears to be guaranteed a continuing run through March with the latest round scoring $2.7 million, 200 additional screens and insignificant 2% erosion.
First weekend business on limited releases were good and bad. It was thumbs up on Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, the eccentric biopic of gamesman/assassin Chuck Barris that grossed a little less than $100,000 from four venues. However, Love Liza, starring Philip Seymour Hoffman as a man recovering from his wife’s suicide, got an audience pass with just $17,000 from its four screens.
There’s still quite a number of critically acclaimed movies that are retaining screens with consistent business that include Antwone Fisher, The Hours and Bowling for Columbine. The Pianist - named best film by the National Society of Film Critics Saturday - expanded to 90 venues and grossed an impressive $700,000 while Nicholas Nickleby was struggling with a $137,000 weekend as it rose from five to 32 theaters.
Mann, oh Mann: A Subject of Paramount Importance
If you’re a Southern Californian and were hoping to catch Star Trek: Nemesis or The Wild Thornberrys at your local Mann Theater, in the word of a Soprano, forgetaboutit.
Paramount, the distributor of those two films, is at war with the chain and neither side is anxious to wash its dirty linen in public. It’s a particularly touchy situation politically because Paramount happens to be a 50% owner of Mann with Warner Bros.
So, what’s the beef?
Well, a couple of weeks ago, Mann decided to take Nemesis off its Westwood venue, the National, and move in The Gangs of New York. While there was no dispute about the Trekkers faltering performance, the distributor felt it merited special consideration. The two sides couldn’t come to any sort of meeting of the minds and Paramount, in a minute and a huff, decided to yank all its playdates from Mann screens. I believe there’s some sort of analogy about cutting off a proboscis that applies here.
While hardly a novel tactic, such a drastic move more often occurs from the opposite direction when an exhibitor balks at terms and guarantees being set out by the majors. With a current glut of product, Paramount can’t wield the prospect of withholding some current or forthcoming movie as an “incentive” to settle the dispute.
The situation, at the very least, has created edginess in exhibitor-distributor relations. It’s been more than a half-century since the Paramount Consent Decree was passed that forced the studios to sell off their theater real estate because the government felt it created a climate of unfair competition. And it’s only within the past 20 years that the majors have been let back in on the basis of minority investment or where they cannot operate in a monopoly environment. At the very least the Mann-Paramount fracas underlines that there are fissures in what’s supposed to be an arm’s length (or longer) relationship.
The industry is hoping that it will be just a matter of time before the wound heals and that it will pass largely unnoticed. The people at Mann - a chain already struggling to hold its own against the behemoth circuits - really ought to be lauded by their owners for keeping a bottom line attitude that favors putting butts in seats. Thus far, cooler heads are not prevailing.
Two or Three Things I Know About Market Share
There are a couple of notes that should prove helpful about the 2002 market share.
While the numbers are comprehensive, the final tally of the year could rise by as much as $50 million representing less than 1% of annual business. The majority of the missing factor derives from grosses of large format films whose distributors have been tardy providing year end figures and a small sludge factor that includes ethnic films, repertory fare and other extremely slim slices of commercial movie going. The additional revenue will affect market share of any major by no one than .1%.
The period of the chart corresponds with the calendar year, unlike most media coverage that includes figures through January 5, 2003. My long-standing preference for a calendar year is underlined by the somewhat unique current situation. Employing a calendar year means that every four years one must contend with an additional day, albeit one in February when, apart from weekends, it will not seriously effect the annual outcome.
Conversely, by examining annual box office on a 52-week cycle one normally has a consistent 364-day period. However, that also means, as with 2002, that every five to six years, one has an additional week and those 371 days will include more than $100 million, or double my sludge factor.
A straw poll of distributors favors the calendar approach, particularly as - unlike 20 years ago - the majors collect grosses on a daily basis.
Title Weekend Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers 25,017,279 -49% 3622 261,031,601 3 Catch Me If You Can 21,142,434 -30% 3170 97,437,621 2 Two Weeks Notice 11,126,397 -28% 2755 68,810,079 3 Maid in Manhattan 8,621,757 -31% 3050 76,328,613 4 About Schmidt 8,533,162 910% 816 12,028,464 4 The Gangs of New York 7,327,177 -33% 2305 47,082,059 3 The Wild Thornberrys 5,510,465 -25% 2881 31,526,879 3 Drumline 5,303,002 -35% 1653 47,539,218 4 Chicago 4,964,938 139% 304 9,241,533 2 Harry Potter: Chamber of Secrets 4,653,389 -28% 2015 252,097,945 8 The Hot Chick 3,632,237 -25% 2160 29,852,872 4 Die Another Day 2,938,007 -33% 1808 153,760,933 7 My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2,661,106 -4% 1194 227,898,505 38 Star Trek: Nemesis 2,506,191 -38% 2423 39,691,177 4 Antwone Fisher 1,455,805 -19% 192 6,118,566 3 The Lion King (Large Format) 1,363,882 -25% 66 5,986,626 2 Treasure Planet 1,155,978 -25% 1253 35,820,872 6 Analyze That 1,112,353 -46% 1235 30,777,692 5 Adaptation 903,927 -13% 109 6,100,371 5 The Santa Clause 2 816,138 -61% 1202 138,277,797 10 The Pianist 731,172 592% 90 956,476 2 Empire 729,300 -32% 469 16,611,085 5 Far from Heaven 565,088 -13% 253 11,230,060 10 Talk to Her 557,888 21% 63 2,237,733 7 Pinocchio 545,844 -53% 1195 3,364,522 2 Frida 473,348 -14% 254 21,289,079 10 Bowling for Columbine 402,400 -1% 198 15,368,482 13 Seraphin, un homme et son peche 395,384 -20% 88 4,924,311 6 Rabbit-Proof Fence 365,298 -16% 86 1,682,956 6 The Hours 355,116 5% 11 1,070,856 2 Sweet Home Alabama 333,326 -17% 294 126,086,880 15 8 Mile 304,765 -12% 365 115,270,265 9 The Ring 235,282 -21% 206 127,230,430 12 Friday After Next 205,905 -23% 203 32,588,292 7 The Crime of Padre Amaro 167,951 -20% 89 4,558,301 8 Space Station 160,440 26% 35 30,460,417 38 Evelyn 151,268 -40% 125 1,043,479 4 Ghost Ship 149,197 -22% 151 29,879,445 11 Nicholas Nickelby 136,185 218% 32 228,518 2 25th Hour 134,720 15% 5 624,933 3 Real Women Have Curves 117,025 -19% 73 5,361,548 11 Tuck Everlasting 109,397 1840% 175 18,914,978 13 The Emperor's Club 105,465 -4% 299 13,829,640 7 Signs 98,716 5% 102 227,746,423 23 Jonah: A Veggies Tale Movie 90,033 -32% 232 25,408,198 15 Star Wars, Episode 1 87,359 -35% 13 310,301,696 34 Confessions of a Dangerous Mind 87,199 4 169,714 1 I Spy 76,826 -20% 108 33,428,810 8 Narc 66,593 5% 6 315,168 3 Kaante 66,086 -69% 29 944,272 3 Santa vs. the Snowman 61,440 -49% 19 1,902,622 7 Barbershop 58,429 -20% 75 75,716,727 17 Jackass the Movie 49,038 -53% 149 64,209,101 11 Cirque du Soleil - Journey of Man 45,450 270% 5 14,705,708 130 Spy Kids 2 44,689 -2% 67 85,821,260 22 Standing in Shadow of Motown 44,133 -19% 50 1,331,012 8 Stuart Little 2 43,328 -9% 73 64,956,806 19 Eight Crazy Nights 38,744 -52% 98 23,443,124 6 Intacto 38,353 247% 20 82,592 3 Personal Velocity 36,673 -32% 25 703,951 7 The Tuxedo 36,642 -22% 52 50,512,500 15 Russian Ark 34,244 16% 4 189,588 4 xXx 32,366 -27% 54 142,109,382 22 Saathiya 29,318 -50% 23 271,748 3 Extreme Ops 27,143 103% 76 4,808,772 6 T-Rex: Back to the Craetacious 26,906 25% 2 42,017,277 220 They 25,513 -19% 28 12,693,621 6 Spirited Away 24,305 -19% 32 5,462,320 16 Brown Sugar 23,586 -16% 34 27,307,799 13 Max 22,994 -24% 6 77,379 2 WEEKEND: January 3-5 Estimates
Title Lord of the Rings: Two Towers -47% 3622 262.1 Catch Me If You Can -28% 3170 98 Two Weeks Notice -26% 2755 69.2 Maid in Manhattan -28% 3050 76.7 About Schmidt 944% 816 12.3 The Gangs of New York -32% 2305 47.3 The Wild Thornberrys -24% 2881 31.6 Drumline -32% 1653 47.7 Chicago 145% 304 9.4 Harry Potter: Chamber of Secrets -31% 2015 251.9 The Hot Chick -24% 2160 29.9 Die Another Day -28% 1808 153.9 My Big Fat Greek Wedding -2% 1194 227.9 Star Trek: Nemesis -35% 2423 39.8 The Lion King (Large Format) -17% 66 6.1 Antwone Fisher -20% 192 6.1 Treasure Planet -15% 1253 35.9 Analyze That -41% 1235 30.9 Adaptation -15% 109 6.1 The Santa Clause 2 -58% 1202 138.3 Empire -28% 470 16.6 The Pianist 540% 90 1 Far from Heaven -4% 249 11.3 Pinocchio -51% 1195 3.4 Weekend Total ($500,000+ Films) $126.20 - % Change (Last Year) 7% - % Change (Last Week) - Also Debuting/Expanding Bowling for Columbine 3% 198 15.2 Talk to Her 3% 65 2.1 The Hours 2% 11 1.1 Nicholas Nickleby