..Gary
Dretzka
..Leonard
Klady
..Emanuel
Levy
..David
Poland
..Doug
Pratt
..Ray
Pride
That's Incredibles
Weekend Estimates
Animating what's likely to be Disney's biggest three-day opening, Pixar's The Incredibles crushed the competition with an estimated $72.2 million. The spoof of comic strip superheroes attracted roughly half of all weekend ticket sales and left the rest of the field struggling for poor seconds including the national bow of Alfie. Apart from a couple of good holds, the only other bright note came from the expansion of the critically lauded Sideways that retained a per screen average of close to $15,000.
Disney had hoped to surpass the $70.3 million benchmark established by the summer 2003 debut of Finding Nemo. The Incredibles' Friday box office of $20.8 million certainly put that goal within reach if the film could attract a significant adult audience. Company insiders said the film needed a roughly 40% boost on Saturday and sampling showed the box office rising by 44%. The Mouse House's official estimate is $70.7 million and when one is dealing on such stratospheric revenue levels a variance of a couple of percentage points can translates into as much as $3 million in the final tally.
The frame's only other major release was Alfie, based on the play by Bill Naughton and the 1966 film that made Michael Caine a star. It had a soft landing of $6.5 million that ranked it fifth overall and doesn't bode well in the coming weeks as competition stiffens from films going after major holiday coin.
Spurred by the record breaking animated debut business ballooned by about 49% from seven days earlier, recording roughly $150 million in sales. However, it was still 5% shy of the 2003 level when Matrix Revolutions and Elf openings led the period with respective grosses of $48.5 million and $31.1 million.
Holdover titles saw strong second week returns for both Ray and Saw with the former edging out The Grudge by about $500,000 for second spot with an estimated $13.8 million. Also holding steady was Shall We Dance with $5.7 million and a cume of $42.2 million. It had initially been set for a summer bow and its dominant appeal to adults suggests it might have posted revenues comparable to The Notebook had it maintained the earlier berth.
Adding 50 theaters to its run, the expansion of the quirky upscale comedy Sideways was maintaining its vintage with a $1 million weekend. Hoping for critic list kudos to sustain and boost its box office, Fox Searchlight is keeping a slow roll out strategy to avoid the quick burn it experienced with Huckabees. Other films on a similar track that appears to be working include Being Julia and Vera Drake.
Among incoming specialized fare, Fade to Black on rapper Jay Z grossed about $500,000 from 170 venues and should quickly transition from theatrical to home video for the holidays.
Franco Zeffirelli's biopic Callas Forever with Fanny Ardent as the legendary diva apparently debuted in 24 locations but data was only available from four sites. Based on those playdates, the film should generate a weekend tally of about $21,000. The French sci-fi opus Immortal (Ad Vitam) demonstrated slightly better momentum with a $38,000 box office from five screens in Quebec. Single screen outings for Brother to Brother and Bear Cub were inclusive with respective grosses of $9,800 and $7,800.
Weekend Estimates - November 5-7, 2004
Title The Incredibles - 3933 72.2 Ray -31% 2463 39.8 The Grudge -39% 3336 89.3 Saw -46% 2467 34.1 Alfie - 2215 6.5 Shall We Dance -9% 2542 42.2 Shark Tale -38% 2817 154.2 Friday Night Lights -29% 2110 57.2 Ladder 49 -21% 1670 69.9 Team America: World Police -40% 1702 30.5 Surviving Christmas -49% 1519 10.2 Taxi -42% 1099 34.6 Birth -37% 550 3.5 I Heart Huckabees -37% 585 10.2 Sideways 142% 66 1.9 The Forgotten -46% 882 66 The Motorcycle Diaries -12% 268 10.6 Fade to Black 170 Weekend Total ($500,000+ Films) - % Change (Last Year) - % Change (Last Week) - Also Debuting/Expanding Being Julia -13% 96 1.2 Vera Drake -32% 93 1.1 Les Choristes -7% 47 1.5 Enduring Love 51% 24 0.1 Immortal (Ad Vitem) - 5 0.04 Callas Forever - 4 0.02 Brother to Brother - 1 0.01 Bear Cub - 1 0.01 Some Things That Stay - 5 0.01 Top Limited Grosses: January 1 - November 4, 2004
Title Gross (millions) Nascar: The Imax Experience 19,167,830 De-Lovely 13,412,865 In America 11,858,410 Super Size Me 11,536,423 Girl with a Pearl Earring 11,159,001 21 Grams 10,843,407 House of Sand and Fog 10,094,363 The Motorcycle Diaries 9,697,572 Space Station 9,215,843 Bugs! 9,190,673 Saved! 8,936,039 What the #$*! Do We Know 7,371,866 The Cooler 6,900,809 Woman Thou Art Loosed 6,697,014 The Triplets of Belleville 6,536,791 Maria Full of Grace 6,486,431 Before Sunset 5,815,569 The Clearing 5,763,875 The Young Black Stallion 5,216,516 Touching the Void 4,593,598 * none greater than 600 playdates | does not include 2003 grosses Domestic Market Share: January 1 - November 4, 2004
Distributor (releases) Percentage Sony (21) 15.20% Warner Bros. (28) 11.90% DreamWorks (11) 11.90% Fox (16) 11.40% Buena Vista (23) 9.60% Universal (16) 8.60% Paramount (14) 5.70% Newmarket (6) 5.30% New Line (15) 4.60% Miramax (19) 4.00% Lions Gate (24) 3.20% MGM (14) 2.60% Fox Searchlight (10) 1.80% Focus (8) 1.30% Alliance (18) 0.70% Other * (209) 2.20% * none greater than .5% 100%
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