|
  
   

| Nov
21, 2004 |
| Nov
14, 2004 |
| Nov
7, 2004 |
| October
31, 2004 |
| October
24, 2004 |
| 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 |

..Gary
Dretzka
..Leonard
Klady
..Emanuel
Levy
..David
Poland
..Doug
Pratt
..Ray
Pride

|
|

Weekend Estimates
Top Limited Grosses
Market Share
Closer
and No Cigar
In movie parlance,
December - but especially the first week of the month - is the
cruelest of the year. Thoughts of sugar plums dance in the mind
and the multiplex slips lower on one's holiday check list.
This was once
again aptly reflected as movie going plunged some 47% on the heels
of a bountiful Thanksgiving to record the lowest returns of the
past five years. While the span was absent of a single debuting
wide release, both the limited national bow of Closer and
the exclusive run of House of Flying Daggers had excellent
bows with respective theatre averages of $16,400 and $25,000.
The frame
was once again dominated by family fare with National Treasure
holding onto first place with an estimated $16.9 million and sailing
past a $100 million milestone on Saturday. It was followed by
Christmas with the Kranks, The Polar Express and The
Incredibles.
Closer,
the searing look at contemporary relationships, received mixed
but generally thoughtful reviews and its potent ensemble generated
a sterling $7.8 million. Sony had considered both opening the
picture wide or going out on a very exclusive basis. It finally
settled on 476 playdates, reckoning that the absence of new titles
and paucity of adult fare would work in the picture's favor. The
result certainly bore out that rationale even if exit response
by CinemaScore rendered an overly harsh D+ rating.
Overall business
limped toward the imminent Yule onslaught with about an $88 million
tally. It was a not unexpected steep drop from the prior holiday
period and additionally lagged behind 2003 by about 10%. Last
year, The Last Samurai entered the marketplace with $24.3
million and Honey's opening charted second with $12.9 million.
The majors
have been loath to force film goers to decide between a trip to
the cinema and working on Santa's gift basket and one can't argue
the point too strenuously. Invariably when high profile films
have bowed in early December, the result has been disappointing
and the instances of picture's rallying after soft starts is a
true rarity in the present marketplace. Still, the record for
movies targeted to a niche, younger crowd have proven to have
traction and might have welcomed the arrival of next week's Blade
Trinity at this juncture.
However, both
mainstream and niche fare hunkered down for the commercial body
blow. Films playing the award card including Finding Neverland,
Sideways and Kinsey decided to put their expansions
on hiatus and weather the attendance downturn. And while there
was obvious erosion for the very limited runs of Bad Education
and A Very Long Engagement, both movies continued to
maintain very strong response and continued media interest.
The frame
also included a 226 theater break for the drama I Am David
that faltered with a lackluster response of about $150,000. Equally
uninspired were a number of exclusive premieres including single
screen results of $3,800 on the chess documentary Game Over
and a scary $1,100 return for the Asian horror import A Tale
of Two Sisters.
There was
considerably better response for the critically acclaimed Chinese
historical actioner House of Flying Daggers that arrived
on 15 screens and grossed about $360,000. However, in light of
the spectacular numbers generated by Hero (also directed
by Dagger's director Zhang Yimou) that opened nationally
during another traditionally slow period, one wonders whether
the current film might have benefited from a more aggressive entry
into the marketplace.
- by Leonard
Klady
|
|
Weekend
Estimates
- December 3-5, 2004
| Title |
Distributor
|
Gross
(average)
|
%
change
|
Theaters
|
Cume
|
| National
Treasure |
BV
|
16.9
(5,210)
|
-48% |
3243 |
110 |
| Christmas
with the Kranks |
Sony
|
11.5
(3,360)
|
-47% |
3416 |
45.2 |
| The
Polar Express |
WB
|
10.7
(2,940)
|
-45% |
3650 |
96.1 |
| The
Incredibles |
BV
|
9.2
(2,900)
|
-61% |
3178 |
226.1 |
| Closer |
Sony
|
7.8
(16,360)
|
- |
476 |
7.8 |
| Spongebob
Squarepants |
Par
|
7.4
(2,230)
|
-59% |
3307 |
67.9 |
| Alexander |
WB
|
4.7
(1,910)
|
-66% |
2445 |
29.6 |
| Finding
Neverland |
Miramax
|
2.9
(5,440)
|
-39% |
526 |
12.7 |
| Bridget
Jones: The Edge of Reason |
Uni
|
2.8
(1,140)
|
-56% |
2433 |
36.3 |
| Ray |
Uni
|
1.9
(1,220)
|
-53% |
1547 |
67.8 |
| After
the Sunset |
New
Line
|
1.8
(980)
|
-41% |
1889 |
26.9 |
| Sideways |
Fox
Searchlight
|
1.7
(3,390)
|
-42% |
499 |
12.4 |
| The
Grudge |
Sony
|
1.1
(840)
|
-45% |
1286 |
109.2 |
| Saw |
Lions
Gate
|
.88
(840)
|
-42% |
1043 |
54.4 |
| Shall
We Dance |
Miramax
|
.79
(750)
|
-48% |
1054 |
55.4 |
| Kinsey |
Fox
Searchlight
|
.68
(3,620)
|
-47% |
188 |
3.6 |
| Seed
of Chucky |
Focus
|
.53
(620)
|
-59% |
856 |
16.5 |
| The
Motorcycle Diaries |
Focus
|
.52
(1,910)
|
-21% |
272 |
14.4 |
| Weekend
Total ($500,000+ Films) |
$83.90
|
- |
| %
Change (Last Year) |
-
|
8%
|
- |
| %
Change (Last Week) |
-
|
-47%
|
- |
| Also
Debuting/Expanding |
| House
of Flying Daggers |
Sony
Classics
|
.37
(24,800)
|
- |
15 |
0.37 |
| I
Am David |
Lions
Gate
|
.15
(650)
|
- |
226 |
0.15 |
| Bad
Education |
Sony
Classics
|
80,600
(26,880)
|
-42% |
3 |
0.52 |
| A
Very Long Engagement |
WIP
|
69,200
(17,300)
|
-32% |
4 |
0.21 |
| Game
Over |
Thinkfilm
|
2,800
(2,800)
|
- |
1 |
0.01 |
| A
Tale of Two Sisters |
Tartan
|
1,100
(1,100)
|
- |
1 |
0.01 |
Top
Limited Grossers: January 1 - December 2, 2004
| Title |
Distributor
|
Gross
(millions)
|
| Nascar:
The Imax Experience |
WB
|
19,401,917 |
| The
Motorcycle Diaries |
Focus
|
13,870,113 |
| De-Lovely |
MGM
|
13,455,445 |
| In
America |
Fox
Searchlight
|
11,858,410 |
| Super
Size Me |
IDP/Odeon
|
11,536,423 |
| Girl
with a Pearl Earring |
Lions
Gate
|
11,159,001 |
| 21
Grams |
Focus
|
10,843,407 |
| Sideways |
Fox
Searchlight
|
10,676,105 |
| House
of Sand and Fog |
DmWks
|
10,094,363 |
| Space
Station |
Imax
|
9,774,804 |
| Bugs! |
SK
Film
|
9,484,048 |
| What
the #$*! Do We Know |
IDP
|
9,162,313 |
| Saved! |
MGM
|
8,936,039 |
| Finding
Neverland |
Miramax
|
8,859,351 |
| The
Cooler |
Lions
Gate
|
6,900,809 |
| Woman
Thou Art Loosed |
Magnolia
|
6,879,730 |
| Maria
Full of Grace |
NLC
|
6,550,321 |
| The
Triplets of Belleville |
Sony
Class/Alliance
|
6,536,791 |
| Before
Sunset |
WB
|
5,820,649 |
| The
Clearing |
Fox
Searchlight
|
5,763,875 |
| *
none greater than 600 playdates - does not include 2003 grosses |
Domestic
Market Share: January
1 - December 2, 2004
| Distributor
(releases) |
Gross
(millions)
|
Percentage
|
| Sony
(21) |
1245.5
|
14.60% |
| Buena
Vista (25) |
1056.6
|
12.40% |
| Warner
Bros. (31) |
1034.7
|
12.10% |
| DreamWorks
(11) |
935.4
|
10.90% |
| Fox
(16) |
888.7
|
10.40% |
| Universal
(17) |
748.2
|
8.80% |
| Paramount
(16) |
522.1
|
6.10% |
| Newmarket
(6) |
406.6
|
4.80% |
| New
Line (16) |
386.2
|
4.50% |
| Miramax
(20) |
334.8
|
3.90% |
| Lions
Gate (25) |
277.5
|
3.20% |
| MGM
(14) |
198.4
|
2.30% |
| Fox
Searchlight (11) |
157.8
|
1.90% |
| Focus
(8) |
122.3
|
1.40% |
| Alliance
(20) |
54
|
0.60% |
| Other
* (225) |
180.2
|
2.10% |
| *
none greater than .5% |
8549
|
100% |
|