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

Scary Movies 3: Mansion, Cat, Santa It was definitely good to be a family film as Haunted Mansion, The Cat in the Hat and Elf dominated weekend movie going over the Thanksgiving holiday frame. Together the trio accounted for more than $100 million over the five-day period to corral roughly 46% of total ticket sales for the span. Though shy of the record 2000 tally, the five days should generate roughly $230 million with close to $170 million coming from the Friday through Saturday portion. Overall that would represent an approximate 10% boost from 2002 when the top three were repped by sequels to Harry Potter, James Bond and The Santa Clause and the top freshman titles, Treasure Planet and 8 Crazy Nights bowed with $12.1 million and $9.4 million respectively. The holiday was generally less kind to more adult fare, though the curmudgeonly Bad Santa definitely hit a commercial nerve. There were also strong first platform showings for a number of titles including In America, a sturdy regional debut of Nez Rouge in Quebec and the best Hindi bow of 2003 with Kal Ho Naa Ho. The bow of Disney's theme park derived film Haunted Mansion definitely appeared to have a slight box office edge over Dr. Seuss's Cat and the season's surprise blockbuster Elf. All three films grossed between $22 million and $26 million during the conventional weekend with Elf's cume rising to $130 million following its weekend 16% sales increase. Traditionally family films tend to top the holiday period but in the past there's also always been room for older appeal genre movies and that simply wasn't in evidence this year. Neither the critically ravaged sci-fi antics of Timeline nor positive reviews for the throwback oater The Missing - both debuting Wednesday - managed to gain an audience toe hold. The western corralled $11.6 million and the time travel yarn trailed with $8.4 million. Both movies were bettered by the profane, mean spirited Bad Santa with a $12.4 million gross from more than 700 fewer theaters. The film is definitely shaping up as the alternative seasonal entry, generating the type of diffuse response that could be a real commercial asset. Other adult oriented fare that was weathering the wave of new entries well included Master and Command that slipped a modest 18% and Love Actually with a slight 2% upturn in business. The weekend also saw excellent response to sneak previews for both The Last Samurai and Cheaper by the Dozen. Samurai, opening next weekend, had a record capacity attendance of 95% for a Warner Bros. title and strong recommends in exit polls. Dozen also scored high in both areas. Second weekend results for award contender 21 Grams were also positive with the addition of 65 venues and a $1 million box office and $13,660 engagement average. Emerging from a generally fallow year, the Hindi circuit appeared to have a major winner in Kal Ho Naa Ho, a Manhattan-set musical drama centered on a family of mixed religious beliefs. It was eying close to $600,000 from 52 theaters. Nez Rouge's (Red Nose) $350,000 opener in Quebec is a strong candidate to be the fifth $1 million local grosser in the province - an unprecedented feat. The romantic comedy also has a Christmas theme. Following a year long run on the festival circuit, Jim Sheridan's critically lauded In America bowed on 11 screens and had an impressive $190,000 weekend gross. Also dynamic was the adult animated Triplets of Belleville that was a surprise success at Cannes. It grossed $110,000 from six venues. Bowing to thumbs up reviews, The Cooler was a torrid contender with $130,000 from 11 screens and the Oscar short listed documentary My Flesh and Blood had fair response of $16,440 from five engagements.   - by Leonard Klady