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..Gary
Dretzka
..Noah
Forrest
..Leonard
Klady
..David
Poland
..Douglas
Pratt
..Ray
Pride
..Kim
Voynar
..Michael
Wilmington
| October
17, 2004 |
| October
10, 2004 |
| October
3, 2004 |
| Sept
26, 2004 |
| Sept
19, 2004 |
| Sept
12, 2004 |
| Sept
6, 2004 |
| August
29, 2004 |
| August
22, 2004 |
| August
15, 2004 |
| August
8, 2004 |
| August
1, 2004 |
| July
25, 2004 |
| July
18, 2004 |
| July
11, 2004 |
| July
5, 2004 |
| June
27, 2004 |
| June
20, 2004 |
| June
13, 2004 |
| June
6, 2004 |
| May
30, 2004 |
| May
23, 2004 |
| May
16, 2004 |
| May
9, 2004 |
| May
2, 2004 |
| April
25, 2004 |
| April
18, 2004 |
| April
11, 2004 |
| April
4, 2004 |
| March
28, 2004 |
| March
21, 2004 |
| March
14, 2004 |
| March
7, 2004 |
| February
29, 2004 |
| February
22, 2004 |
| February
16, 2004 |
| February
8, 2004 |
| February
1, 2004 |
| January
25, 2004 |
| January
19, 2004 |
| January
11, 2004 |
| January
4, 2004 |
| Dec
28, 2003 |
| Dec
21, 2003 |
| Dec
14, 2003 |
| Dec
7, 2003 |

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Very
Hard Feelings
It wasn't
much of a grudge match as the Americanization of Japan's popular
horror series The Grudge easily commanded weekend movie
going with an estimated $40.3 million. The frame's other national
opener Surviving Christmas won't wither Thanksgiving with
a poor $4.3 million debut. It was also a hectic span in the specialized
arena with the quirky comedy Sideways generating a near
$52,000 theater average and Venice fest winner Vera Drake
posting an excellent gross of close to $300,000.
The Grudge
could well prove to be 2004's acquisition highlight with weekend
box office covering Sony's acquisition and marketing costs. Expectations
for the film were upbeat but more in line with a gross in the
low to mid-$20 million range. The studio has been experiencing
a Halloween season with the current film riding the coat tails
of The Forgotten and Resident Evil: Apocalypse.
It was definitely
a weekend of extremes with the entry of the early seasonal comedy
Surviving Christmas unwrapping a stocking full of coal.
Its $4.3 million performance was shy of a $1,160 theater average
and has many in the industry questioning Ben Affleck's
career choices and bankability.
Despite the
strong showing at the top the weekend's roughly $108 million overall
gross repped an 18% decline from 2003 when Scary Movie 3 bowed
to $48 million and Radio tuned into third spot with its
$13.3 million opening performance. Business did get a nice 11%
bump from last weekend.
Last weekend's
freshmen saw Team America taking a sharp downturn while
Shall We Dance? added close to 700 theaters and held its
place in the marketplace. I Huckabees expanded to a national profile
and appears to have peaked commercially. Nonetheless, Fox Searchlight
isn't deterred in its expectations for Sideways that debuted
with a strength comparable to Huckabees of $207,000 from four
screens. The offbeat upscale road comedy has generated some of
the best reviews of the year.
Another critical
favorite, the Brit period social drama Vera Drake, expanded
from two to 46 engagements and posted an impressive $290,000 box
office. It's banking on critic's top 10 lists and early award
recognition to fuel its expansion. Also going that route is Being
Julia which added 22 theaters in Canada and combined with
American playdates doubled its debut weekend.
Once again
the traffic in specialized and niche was crushing with about a
dozen new pictures engaged in a brutal Darwinian struggle. Halloween
magic brushed off on the nightmarish The Machinist that
grossed out about $63,000 from three sweatshops.
The rest of the pack had performances ranging from OK to DOA.
The politically themed Celsius 41.11 (get it?) managed
to sign up 117 theaters but had a decidedly different scale response
of about $92,000. The Southern Gothic Undertow dragged
up a lethargic $22,300 from six bayous while the musical doc Lightning
in a Bottle struck once with $5,500 from two screens and Stella
Street was going one way with $2,800 from 10 disengagements.
- by Leonard
Klady
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