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

That's Incredibles 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. - by Leonard Klady