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

Turkey, Gravy and the Trimmings There was certainly a fair amount to be grateful for as the Thanksgiving holiday provided a box office bounty that exceeded the 2003 feast by 8% for a marginal boost in Turkey time admissions. Led by outstanding holds for both National Treasure and The Incredibles, the frame also provided for an excellent debut of Christmas with the Kranks, solid expansions of Finding Neverland, Sideways and Kinsey and a potent exclusive launch of A Very Long Engagement. The only sour note was the lackluster premiere of Alexander with a not so great $13.5 million weekend. National Treasure led the field with an estimated $32.7 million and a marginal decline of 7% for a 10-day cume just shy of $88 million. The Incredibles was also comparably steadfast as its cume climbed to $215 million. The other family favorite that was holding its own was The Polar Express that ranked fourth with $19.3 million and surpassed its prior weekend box office by 23%. The film has been particular strong in 61 large screen 3-D outings that have generated more than $10 million three weeks ago. The holiday spirit was infused by the low brow comedy Christmas with the Kranks that launched with $22.4 million and $31.7 million since its Wednesday premiere. It was a strong showing in light of heavy competition and in the wake of the immediate, ironically titled Surviving Christmas. The box office gods were considerably less kind to the epic, lengthy Alexander that also bowed Wednesday and ranked sixth. The industry was abuzz Sunday with news that the normally generous CinemaScore gave it a D+ based on polling exiting movie goers. The critics also unleashed their slings and arrows and its on-going commercial prospects might best be described as a one-way ticket to Palookaville. Overall business should clock in with close to $175 million for a 14% boost from the immediate prior weekend. A year ago Cat in the Hat edged out the opening of Haunted Mansion by $200,000 with a $24.5 million tally. There was also an unexpectedly strong $12.3 million debut for Bad Santa. On the money train, both Disney and Warner Bros. passed $1 billion domestically during the Thanksgiving gorge. The two companies are expected to further narrow Sony's $200 million edge and compete for bragging rights come December 31. The major cautionary note is a current light compliment of national releases and that could result in a significant box office drop next weekend when the biggest opener will be the drama Closer with a 500 theater first wave. A week later the big guns will be Blade: Trinity and Ocean's Twelve. There was a fair amount of muttering early last week when Miramax abruptly scaled back its expansion of Finding Neverland from an anticipated 900 runs to 513. Considering the potent $9,200 average it generated, the sagacity of the move was being heavily debated. It's generally been felt that specialized titles have been expanded too quickly this year and flamed out and caution would appear to be the operative word for such current titles as Sideways, The Motorcycle Diaries and Kinsey. For those titles and a handful of others the announcements of winners by The National Board of Review, the Los Angeles and New York Film Critics and Golden Globe nominees cannot come too soon. Another contendor, French period drama A Very Long Engagement, had a strong start of slightly better than $100,000 from four screens. There was also a potent hold for Bad Education that grossed $120,000 from three locations. Other debuting fare included an OK $140,000, 20-screen launch of the oft-filmed Hulchul on the Bollywood circuit. The religiously themed The Work and the Glory proved potent with a $330,000 gross at 25 venues. A pair of documentaries generated good to fair response. Guerilla: The Taking of Patty Hearst scored with $25,000 from three screens while the Holocaust-themed Paper Clips did $18,600 at five locations. Exclusive engagements proved largely unremarkable with the potent social drama A Fond Kiss generating about $9,100 from two screens and Jean-Luc Godard's rumination Our Music scoring $7,100 from a single outlet. The thriller Straight-Jacket eked out roughly $5,500 at three locations.   - by Leonard Klady