..Gary
Dretzka
..Leonard
Klady
..Emanuel
Levy
..David
Poland
..Doug
Pratt
..Ray
Pride
Weekend Estimates
Divide & Conqueror
It was a little too close for comfort, but barring blizzards and other natural catastrophes Man on Fire burned just a little bit brighter than 13 Going on 30 in their respective weekend debuts. The films opened to estimates of $22.7 million and $22.1 million and most pundits had the two films within $1 million of each other, though pulling from different viewing pools.
It's rare to find a situation in which multiple national openers don't egregiously step on one another's metaphoric toes. Just last week Kill Bill Vol. 2 and The Punisher were blood spattered as they targeted essentially the same core crowd. Man on Fire, a violent saga of vengeance starring Denzel Washington caught the attention of males, African Americans and Hispanics while 13 Going on 30 - a distaff spin on Big headlining Jennifer Garner - skewed female, younger and older and more white bread.
Both films bowed to slightly better than anticipated grosses and were the essential difference in a 6% increase from business in 2003. Last year, first place went to the twisty thriller Identity with $16.2 million followed in fifth spot by Confidence with $4.6 million. Two additional films - It Runs in the Family and The Real Cancun - bowed to $2.8 million and $2.1 million. The weekend should generate about $98 million overall (the second sub-$100 million weekend in 2004) for a 7% decline from seven days earlier.
The frame also featured a multi-city break for the animated feature Clifford that generated roughly $660,000. The adventures of the cartoon hound have been playing off in test releases in such cities as Seattle and Minneapolis over the past two months that have added about $1.1 million to the coffers. It's primed to bark again shortly on home video.
The second weekends of aforementioned Bill 2 and Punisher weren't exactly anemic though both saw their initial furry diminished by more than 50%, supporting the old adage about the bigger they are … However, there are plenty of pictures in the marketplace with comparably steep declines such as The Alamo and The Whole Ten Yards that started out on a significantly lower rung on the box office chart that challenge the observation.
In regional launches L'Incomparable Mademoiselle C failed to live up to its title in Quebec. The comedy grossed a disappointing $120,000 from 84 screens. The frame also saw the first venture from Slamdance as a distributor with the quirky Faster going quite well with a $16,000 tally from a single screen. Empire's solo Manhattan engagement on Japanese Oscar short-listed The Twilight Samurai was also OK with a $7,500 box office.
Less sturdy were Thinkfilm's documentary The Agronomist with about $28,000 from eight engagements while the indie thriller Close Your Eyes barely blinked with a $21,400 gross from 17 venues.
The curiosity of the frame was Korean distributor Cinema Service's decision to four-wall that country's box-office smash Silmido on four Southern California screens. Drawing heavily on the Asian community the Dirty Dozen-like yarn of political assassination averaged an excellent $13,000 theater average. However, it remains unclear whether the company plans to create an on-going program targeted to that niche in much the same way that Hindi-language films have established and once fueled circuits for Mexican and Chinese movies.
Weekend Estimates - April 23-25, 2004
Title Man on Fire 2979 22.7 13 Going on 30 3438 22.1 Kill Bill Vol. 2 -61% 3073 42.5 The Punisher -59% 2649 23.5 Home on the Range -40% 2481 42.3 Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed -39% 2420 76.6 Johnson Family Vacation -48% 1259 25.1 Hellboy -45% 2218 54.8 Ella Enchanted -37% 2149 17.1 Walking Tall -45% 2201 40.4 The Passion of the Christ -41% 2269 364.6 The Alamo -54% 2039 19.6 Connie and Carla -52% 1016 5.9 The Whole Ten Yards -59% 2010 15 The Ladykillers -41% 1204 36.7 The Prince & Me -61% 1863 26.4 The Girl Next Door -58% 1176 13.2 Eternal Sunshine of Spotless Mind -21% 501 29.7 Clifford 471 1.8 Jersey Girl -64% 924 24.5 Nascar: Imax Experience -7% 72 9.1 Weekend Total ($500,000+ Films) % Change (Last Year) % Change (Last Week) Also Debuting/Expanding L'Incomparable Mademoiselle C -31% 84 0.12 Silmido 4 0.05 The Agronomist 8 0.03 Close Your Eyes 17 0.02 Faster 1 0.02 Twilight Samurai 1 0.01 Top Global Releases - January 1 - April 22, 2004
Title The Passion of the Christ 568,842,719 Lord of the Rings: Return of the King * 537,973,857 The Last Samurai * 321,655,676 Something's Gotta Give * 194,324,685 Along Came Polly 166,818,875 50 First Dates 145,581,074 Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed 142,750,542 Brother Bear * 141,898,136 Cold Mountain * 134,291,224 Starsky & Hutch 130,601,832 Cheaper by the Dozen * 130,389,432 Finding Nemo * 106,861,320 Big Fish * 106,407,348 Scary Movie 3 * 99,712,144 Mona Lisa Smile * 99,621,703 Hidalgo 91,975,176 Peter Pan * 82,393,467 The Haunted Mansion * 80,489,390 Lost in Translation * 78,326,023 Paycheck * 72,302,909 * does not include 2003 grosses Domestic Market Share - January 1 - April 22, 2004
Studio Market Share Sony (11) 15.60% Newmarket (2) 15.30% Warner Bros. (16) 12.90% Buena Vista (14) 11.70% New Line (6) 7.20% Universal (8) 7.10% Miramax (15) 6.50% Fox (7) 5.60% MGM (5) 4.80% Paramount (7) 3.70% Focus (4) 2.00% Lions Gate (10) 1.90% Fox Searchlight (5) 1.80% DreamWorks (3) 1.70% Sony Classics (9) 0.60% Other * (77) 1.60% * none greater than 0.5% 100.00%
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