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

Keep on Fockin' There was good news and bad at the box office as Christmas cheer descended on the nation. Meet the Fockers handily led the frame with an estimated $47.7 million weekend but overall business for the span was down by 24% from 2003. Exhibitors had good reason to be nervous about Christmas falling on a Saturday. It's per force that holiday eve attendance is going to be soft and the Christmas day openers this year had an abbreviated run. Still, Fat Albert got off to a fast start and several other titles proved difficult to call over the long haul. Meet the Fockers was clearly the spirit of the movie going season and had already pocketed close to $24 million from Wednesday and Thursday business. Tracking had indicated a bow between $45 million and $50 million and it delivered on that promise. Its closest rival - Lemony Snicket - trailed by $34.5 million and had a sharp 56% drop from its opening salvo. Fat Albert bowed Christmas Day and ranked third overall with $12.2 million. It was a better than anticipated launch that attracted a strong turnout from teens. The other Yule day debut, the horror programmer Darkness, generated a fair $6 million in two days. Several other titles expanded nationally Christmas Day including The Aviator that climbed into fourth position with an estimated $8.8 million. The Life Aquatic went the same route effectively and grossed $4.9 million but exit polling on the picture was disappointing and could be an ill omen for its future. Overall business from the frame should chime in with a $145 million tally for a 34% boost from seven days earlier. However, while Fockers gross was on par with the second weekend of The Return of the King, last year's debuts were considerably stronger. The final 2004 total now appears to be less than 1% better than the prior year. Bowing Wednesday on a limited national basis, Phantom of the Opera grossed $4.1 million on the weekend and $6.4 million to date. There's been considerable nervousness about the picture's appeal and tepid reviews and soft international openings haven't allayed fears. Nonetheless it was a strong, but shy of overwhelming, opener with a future that could well hinge on word-of-mouth and Oscar nominations. In addition to Lemony Snicket, other holdover titles that experienced sharp downturns included Ocean's Twelve and Spanglish. The Polar Express continued to beat the odds with a slim 10% drop but has a more daunting challenge next weekend as holiday themed pictures have a long history of evaporating quickly once the Christmas lights are taken down. Several awards contenders opened on a limited basis to good results. The hard-hitting Hotel Rwanda had an impressive $110,000 gross from seven venues and the social drama The Woodsman cut through the pack with $58,000 from six locations. In Quebec, the lighthearted romp C'est pas moi, c'est l'autre proved disappointing with a $57,000 box office at 37 screens. Million Dollar Baby added a screen in San Francisco and continued to attract near capacity crowds for its nine engagements. Its $210,000 weekend boosted its gross to $550,000. It expands on January 7. - by Leonard Klady