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

Weekend Estimates 2004 International Boxoffice 2004 Domestic Boxoffice 2004 Market Share Passing Game It was relatively peppy talk as Coach Carter led the Martin Luther King holiday frame with an estimated $29.2 million debut in a crowd of new openers. Apart from Meet the Fockers, the top five viewing choices were either new titles or national launches including a potent expansion of In Good Company, an OK premiere of the family friendly Racing Stripes and a disappointing first down for female crime fighter Elektra. American audiences again proved receptive to high school football as Samuel Jackson joined the ranks of Denzel Washington and Billy Bob Thornton prodding his troops to play and study hard. Coach Carter - like the other recent entries - is based on a true story and lists toward the inspirational. The downside is that these yarns consistently fail to make much of an impression with overseas audiences. A yarn of a zebra that aspires to thoroughbred status, Racing Stripes bowed third in the rankings with $18.4 million. It's a talking animals tale that will be fueled by weekend matinees in the coming weeks. Following two weeks in exclusive engagements, In Good Company went wide and grossed about $16.6 million for a sturdy $10,600 theater average. The light comedy set against the corporate takeover of a magazine appears to be translating good reviews and word-of-mouth into box office muscle. However, that hasn't translated into a great deal of awards buzz. Elektra, spawned from 2003's Daredevil, is likely to be assigned the same out basket as Catwoman in the franchise department. Its $15.5 million opening might squeak by commercially but falls short of earning an encore status. The collective heat of openers and holdovers generated slightly more than $170 million in ticket sales to surpass last year's holiday span by 24%. Its three-day portion also provided an encouraging 15% upturn from the immediate prior weekend. Still in plenty of good humor, Meet the Fockers added $23.1 million to its treasure chest to bring its cume to $235 million. If it maintains comparable holdover stamina in the next month, it will easily surpass $300 million domestically. Meanwhile, The Incredibles climbed to $257 million and The Polar Express rose to $160.5 million as they approached their theatrical sunsets. Polar is increasingly being propped up by Imax 3-D engagements. The award season darlings continued to carve out a sizeable audience niche and such Golden Globe recipients as The Aviator, Sideways and Million Dollar Baby should benefit at Monday's box office. Just being a contender has been a great assist also for Hotel Rwanda and The Phantom of the Opera and a host of pictures are awaiting Oscar's verdict that's unveiled in eight days. Opting for an early start, China's House of the Flying Daggers took the plunge in close to 1,200 theaters and grossed a fair $2.2 million. Prospects for Crouching Tiger or Hero returns aren't likely with an Academy endorsement. Similarly such films as Beyond the Sea and The Woodsman are holding out for Oscar to provide its commercial second wind. In limited debuts, the latest Japanese anima entry Appleseed planted a passable $82,000 from 31 venues and Miramax bowed French Oscar submission The Chorus on two screens that grossed close to $35,000. The Chorus has been singing up a storm in Quebec where it's earned roughly $2 million after 15 weekends in release. - by Leonard Klady

Weekend Estimates - January 15-17, 2005

Title	Distributor	Gross (average)	% change	Theaters	Cume
Coach Carter	Par	29.2 (11,580)		2524	29.2
Meet the Fockers	Uni	23.1 (6,490)	-32%	3554	234.9
Racing Stripes	WB	18.4 (5,770)		3185	18.4
In Good Company	Uni	16.6 (10,620)		1566	17.1
Elektra	Fox	15.5 (4,850)		3204	15.5
White Noise	Uni	14.1 (6,200)	-41%	2279	43.2
The Aviator	Miramax/WB	6.3 (3,240)	-29%	1956	51.5
Lemony Snicket's Unfortunate Incidents	Par	5.5 (2,170)	-45%	2540	112.6
Phantom of the Opera	WB	4.3 (4,760)	9%	907	27.2
Ocean's Twelve	WB	3.8 (1,830)	-37%	2105	120.8
Fat Albert	Fox	3.8 (1,850)	-52%	2043	45.6
National Treasure	BV	3.1 (1,910)	-39%	1610	164.6
Sideways	Fox Searchlight	2.7 (7,350)	14%	370	28.6
Million Dollar Baby	WB	2.2 (18,190)	-6%	122	6.1
Finding Neverland	Miramax	2.2 (2,220)	-21%	1000	30.9
House of Flying Daggers	Sony Classics	2.2 (1,830)	259%	1189	7.4
Spanglish	Sony	2.1 (1,250)	-59%	1662	40.9
Hotel Rwanda	MGM	1.8 (9,530)	24%	192	4
The Life Aquatic	BV	1.6 (1,780)	-52%	907	22.1
The Incredibles	BV	1.6 (1,620)	-46%	1002	256.8
The Polar Express	WB	1.3 (2,880)	-56%	445	160.5
Closer	Sony	.94 (1,280)	-53%	737	31.9
Darkness	Miramax	.78 (820)	-68%	955	21.5
Beyond the Sea	Lions Gate	.71 (1,850)	-38%	383	4.5
A Very Lomg Engagement	WIP	.57 (2,600)	-18%	219	4.4
Weekend Total ($500,000+ Films)		$164.40
% Change (Last Year)		24%
% Change (Last Week)		15%
Also Debuting/Expanding
Kinsey	Fox Searchlight	.45 (1,340)	-56%	339	8.6
The Woodsman	Newmarket	.27 (4,320)	58%	62	0.71
The Merchant of Venice	Sony Classics	.13 (9,070)	122%	14	0.32
Appleseed	Geneon	82,400 (2,660)		31	0.08
Chorus	Miramax/Alliance	41,200 (6,870)	147%	6	2.1