| January 4, 2004 |
| Dec 28, 2003 |
| Dec 21, 2003 |
| Dec 14, 2003 |
| Dec 7, 2003 |
..Gary
Dretzka
..Leonard
Klady
..Emanuel
Levy
..David
Poland
..Doug
Pratt
..Ray
Pride
Weekend Finals
The One That Got Away
The gap between The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King and the rest of the pack continued to shrink, but the closing installment of the epic trilogy of Middle Earth held a slim lead against Sony's national expansion of Big Fish. The two films have respective weekend estimates of $14.1 million and $13.9 million. … Or will it play out differently?
New Line, the Ringsmeister, is reporting a marginally higher weekend estimate and claiming top spot. But Sony, repping Fish, also says it's number one with an in-house estimate of $14.5 million. Most studio trackers are siding with New Line.
However, here are a few facts that aren't in dispute. Big Fish was first on Friday with a daily gross of approximately $4.7 million that put it ahead of Rings 3 by 25%. The order reversed on Saturday as Fish business expanded by about 25% and the Rings ballooned 75%. Allowing for margin of error, the two films were virtually tied for the two days. So, it all hinges on Sunday business and that's where the prognosticators have a wide latitude and the most generous can find that weather, football games and the like will require them to revise downward when real figures are crunched Monday morning.
About 20 years ago the trade papers established the practice of reporting weekend estimates and today virtually every major news outlet follows suit. Because they are first, the predictions tend to be treated as gospel and the actuals receive secondary notice. MCN crunches its own numbers and this report tends to differ from others but is no less likely to err. And that's why they are called estimates.
That said, Big Fish had an effective expansion with the studio generating considerably better than a $5,000 theater average it was felt necessary to keep its commercial hopes alive. Return of the King continues to play at a pace better than the prior two episodes with its current cume at $312 million.
The weekend also saw the debuts of a couple of national releases but neither film was a standout. Miramax's comedy My Baby's Daddy - being sold as an African American Three Men and a Baby - ranked fifth with an estimated $8 million and respectable $5,560 theater average while Warner Bros.' Mandy Moore romantic comedy limped into seventh place with $6.2 million.
Overall weekend business should deliver a tally around $106 million for a 26% slide from seven days earlier. It was also off roughly 4% from 2003 when the sole debuting national release Just Married topped the charts with a $17.5 million weekend.
Holdover titles typically experienced erosions of one-third to one-half from New Year's weekend. Fox's Cheaper by the Dozen crossed over into the $100 million club with The Cat in the Hat shy of that mark by about $200,000 and both Something's Gotta Give and The Last Samurai closing in on a seven figure domestic gross. Only Something's Gotta Give appears likely to benefit commercially from the traditional boost accorded Oscar nominees.
Newmarket continued to cautiously expand Monster and maintained close to a $10,000 theater average from its current 82 engagements. Nick Broomfield's new documentary on real-life Monster Aileen Worunos did almost $18,000 in its opening weekend at three theaters.
Awards attention also provided a modest boost for Lost in Translation but such films as 21 Grams, In America and House of Sand and Fog are all teetering on a future predicated on receiving Academy Awards attention in high profile categories.
The frame also saw a number of limited releases with the most conspicuous being the reissue of the classic The Battle of Algiers from 1966. The seminal docudrama has been in the news lately as a favorite of military strategists grappling with Iraqi occupation and looking at the way France lost its North African colony. The film grossed about $66,000 on seven screens.
Utah based HaleStorm released its latest family friendly picture The Home Teachers at 20 venues for fair business of $64,000.
Weekend Finals - January 9-11, 2004
Title Weekend % Change Theaters Cume Lord of the Rings: Return of the King 14,209,098 -50% 3532 312,320,936 Big Fish 13,811,191 443% 2406 23,386,775 Cheaper by the Dozen 11,751,349 -46% 3238 101,147,842 Cold Mountain 7,881,719 -32% 2302 55,340,445 Something's Gotta Give 7,727,359 -34% 2876 92,515,314 My Baby's Daddy 7,548,819 1447 7,548,819 Chasing Liberty 6,081,483 2400 6,081,483 Paycheck 5,146,378 -48% 2762 46,443,104 The Last Samurai 4,550,419 -38% 1901 97,181,327 Mona Lisa Smile 4,383,072 -47% 2500 56,883,304 Peter Pan 4,182,415 -53% 2614 40,008,560 Calendar Girls 3,738,160 -16% 957 12,427,655 House of Sand and Fog 1,420,267 -21% 596 7,643,544 21 Grams 1,254,050 -7% 371 9,124,030 Stuck on You 1,021,673 -64% 1350 32,524,827 Bad Santa 1,005,569 -66% 1098 58,630,223 The Haunted Mansion 933,671 -63% 931 71,750,420 In America 914,429 -26% 305 6,637,216 Monster 844,012 266% 82 1,406,255 Lost in Translation 747,470 56% 342 32,520,705 Master and Commander 624,874 -44% 423 84,016,741 Love Don't Cost a Thing 572,063 -70% 677 21,052,622 Elf 499,785 -78% 811 171,733,083 Love Actually 422,585 -42% 379 58,106,275 The Young Black Stallion 356,794 -53% 51 2,812,473 Honey 356,580 -67% 422 29,397,575 The Cat in the Hat 343,130 -65% 549 99,879,690 Mystic River 327,905 -20% 155 54,787,496 Girl with a Pearl Earring 316,628 50% 41 1,275,933 The Cooler 304,638 -10% 77 2,281,044 Brother Bear 288,846 -45% 426 83,689,855 The Legend of Johnny Lingo 259,474 30 1,234,167 Gothika 210,845 -44% 208 58,567,691 The School of Rock 205,088 -23% 216 80,529,864 The Triplets of Belleville 162,899 -46% 36 1,505,769 Radio 131,987 -30% 171 51,986,954 Scary Movie 3 107,737 -32% 184 109,715,729 Alexander's Project 103,903 83% 26 353,159 Matrix Revolutions 103,877 -44% 78 138,462,698 Looney Toons: Back in Action 91,327 -59% 235 20,808,470 Nez rouge 88,266 -47% 49 1,928,959 The Station Agent 85,197 -41% 77 4,988,508 Runaway Jury 80,936 17% 130 49,131,717 Under the Tuscan Sun 80,524 -28% 142 43,452,354 The Statement 72,700 27% 41 375,696 The Missing 71,847 -38% 128 26,222,266 Space Station 65,959 -8% 16 46,512,745 The Battle of Algiers (reissue) 64,870 6 64,870 The Company 62,988 -32% 11 415,715 The Fog of War 59,973 -26% 7 373,342 Bugs! 55,682 113% 14 4,432,318 My Architect 54,431 88% 7 439,221 The Home Teachers 47,494 20 47,494 The Barbarian Invasions 45,268 -56% 19 5,983,542 Underworld 42,434 -47% 80 51,970,690 The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 32,979 -27% 61 80,338,167 Kill Bill Vol. 1 32,083 -20% 37 69,709,901 Annie Brocoli dans les fonds marin 32,036 -35% 33 351,733 Bubba Ho-tep 29,865 171% 13 1,229,059 Freaky Friday 26,953 -53% 76 110,222,438 L.O.C. (Kargil) 24,550 -71% 22 621,103 Intolerable Cruelty 24,181 7% 40 35,327,628 Shattered Glass 22,827 -13% 30 2,151,312 Yves St.Laurent: His Life 21,595 2 21,595 Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over 18,415 -43% 32 111,703,415
Estimates - January 9-11, 2004
Title Lord of the Rings: Return of King -50% 3532 312.2 Big Fish 447% 2406 23.5 Cheaper By the Dozen -44% 3238 101.5 Something's Gotta Give -30% 2876 93 My Baby's Daddy - 1447 8 Cold Mountain -33% 2302 55.2 Chasing Liberty - 2400 6.2 Paycheck -46% 2762 46.5 The Last Samurai -37% 1901 97.2 Mona Lisa Smile -49% 2500 57 Peter Pan -54% 2614 39.8 Calendar Girls -19% 957 12.3 House of Sand and Fog -26% 596 7.4 21 Grams -9% 371 9.1 Stuck on You -61% 1350 32.6 Bad Santa -64% 1098 58.7 In America -26% 305 6.6 Haunted Mansion -66% 931 71.6 Monster 252% 82 1.4 Lost in Translation 36% 342 32.4 Master and Commander -43% 424 83.4 Young Black Stallion -22% 51 3.1 Love Don't Cost a Thing -72% 677 21 Weekend Total ($500,000+ Films) - % Change (Last Year) - % Change (Last Week) - Also Debuting/Expanding Girl with a Pearl Earring 10% 41 1.2 The Battle of Algiers (reissue) - 7 0.07 The Home Teachers - 20 0.06 The Company -31% 11 0.42 Aileen - 3 0.02