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

April 3, 2005 Weekend Estimates Top Domestic Grosses Weekend Estimates SINtillating Sin City came out with both barrels blazing and led weekend movie going with an estimated $27.9 million. However, it wasn't quite enough to reverse the recent downturn in domestic film attendance. The frame also recorded good results for the debut of Beauty Shop and excellent initial biz for the French import Look at Me in exclusive play. The ultra violent and stylistically flashy Sin City got off to a fast start with opening day figures of about $11.5 million. Drawing largely on an avid young male crowd, it appeared to have a clear shot at a $30 million weekend. But Saturday business fell 12% and word-of-mouth outside its core audience was tepid which likely means next weekend will experience a 50% plus box office tumble. Second spot was secured by Beauty Shop with a weekend of about $13.3 million. The distaff barbershop bowed Wednesday and swept up $3.8 million in its first two days. At one point it appeared to be the final MGM release prior to the company's transition to Sony but that's not expected to occur now until the summer and the once glorious leonine studio has The Amityville Horror in the wings. Sneaks on Friday and Saturday of the Drew Barrymore-Jimmy Fallon comedy Fever Pitch bolstered Robots' box office that finished the span with a $104.7 million cume. Exit polling indicated Pitch was attracting a 25 and older audience, though that the younger demo experienced a noticeable boost for the second preview. Overall business should tally to around $106 million for the frame and once again that pegs it at a double-digit drop of 16% from 2004. Exhibition sources expect that trend to continue for at least several weeks. However, there's high expectation for the Nicole Kidman-Sean Penn pairing in The Interpreter that opens April 21. On the holdover front, The Pacifier inched closer to a $100 million box office as did Oscar winner Million Dollar Baby. Expect the first picture to hit that mark next weekend but Baby may have to wait until its discount run to achieve those bragging rights. The national expansion of The Upside of Anger netted roughly $4 million, and the critically embraced human comedy will need a strong hold next weekend to survive the rigors of the highly competitive marketplace. On a scaled down basis, Woody Allen's Melinda and Melinda - another critic's darling - doubled its exposure to 195 screens and registered a wan $2,700 theater average that dashes hopes for a commercial comeback for the vet filmmaker. Specialized debuts were on the ebb but the Cannes favorite Look at Me from France was off to a heady start propelled by nearly unanimous rave reviews. It generated a $12,000 plus average from six exposures. Other notable limited bows included the sports doc Dust to Glory with a $16,400 gross on two and the Hungarian Oscar submission Kontroll with $9,900 from a different pair of venues. Continuing titles maintaining slow but sturdy expansions included Millions, Germany's Downfall and the American indie The Ballad of Jack and Rose. - by Leonard Klady

Weekend Estimates - April 1-3, 2005

Title	Distributor	Gross (average)	% change	Theaters	Cume
Sin City	Miramax	27.9 (8,640)		3230	27.9
Beauty Shop	MGM	13.3 (5,000)		2659	17.1
Guess Who	Sony	12.9 (4,100)	-38%	3147	41.2
Robots	Fox	10.1 (3,330)	-22%	3026	104.7
Miss Congeniality 2: Armed & Fabulous	WB	8.6 (2,660)	-39%	3233	31.6
The Ring Two	DreamWorks	6.2 (1,960)	-54%	3179	68.6
The Pacifer	BV	6.1 (2,140)	-25%	2851	96.4
The Upside of Anger	New Line	4.0 (3,570)	218%	1111	8.6
Hitch	Sony	3.1 (1,680)	-27%	1859	171.5
Ice Princess	BV	2.5 (1,370)	-34%	1802	18.5
Hostage	Miramax	2.3 (1,340)	-44%	1728	30.3
Million Dollar Baby	WB	1.6 (1,100)	-40%	1405	96.7
Be Cool	MGM	1.1 (920)	-61%	1202	54.6
Melinda and Melinda	Fox Searchlight	.53 (2,690)	-28%	197	1.7
Constantine	WB	.51 (830)	-59%	610	73.7
Weekend Total ($500,000+ Films)		$100.74	-	-	-
% Change (Last Year)		-16%	-	-	-
% Change (Last Week)		-9%	-	-	-
Also Debuting/Expanding
Millions	Fox Searchlight	.48 (3,730)	-2%	128	1.6
Downfall	Newmarket	.45 (2,680)	-19%	168	3
The Ballad of Jack and Rose	IFC	.16 (3,330)	171%	48	0.24
Look at Me	Sony Classics	72,300 (12,050)		6	0.07
Dust to Glory	iFC	16,400 (8,200)		2	0.02
Kontroll	Thinkfilm	9,800 (4,900)		2	0.01

Top Limited Releases - Jan 1 - Mar 31, 2005

Title	Gross	Percentage
Bride and Prejudice	Mrmx	5,767,756
Beyond the Sea	Lions Gate	5,307,776
The Upside of Anger	NLC	4,578,771
Ong Bak: The Thai Warrior	Magnolia/Alliance	4,457,136
A Very Long Engagement	WIP	4,318,390
Being Julia	Sony Class/Think	4,212,096
Aliens of the Deep	BV	3,996,885
Kinsey	Fox Searchlight	3,929,716
Bad Education	Sony Class/Seville	3,661,478
The Merchant of Venice	Sony Classics	3,279,268
Born into Brothels	Thinkfilm	2,543,138
Downfall	Newmarket	2,519,920
The Work and the Glory	Excel	2,154,612
Space Station	Imax	1,768,443
The Sea Inside	NLC	1,697,312
Vera Drake	NLC	1,669,563
Ma Vie en Cinemascope	Alliance	1,579,858
The Woodsman	Newmarket	1,445,149
Les Choristes	Alliance/Mrmx	1,378,912
Maman Last Call	Christal	1,360,563
* no more than 588 playdates

Domestic Market Share: To March 31, 2005

Distributor (releases)	Gross	Percentage
Sony (11)	371.4	18.30%
Warner Bros. (11)	333.1	16.30%
Universal (8)	277.9	13.70%
Fox (7)	229.7	11.30%
Buena Vista (10)	175.6	8.60%
Miramax (9)	161.1	7.90%
Paramount (5)	105.1	5.20%
MGM (5)	80.1	3.90%
DreamWorks (2)	64.1	3.20%
Lions Gate (5)	60.4	3.00%
Fox Searchlight (6)	56.4	2.80%
New Line (7)	32.1	1.60%
Focus (3)	21.6	1.10%
Sony Classics (8)	18.4	0.90%
Other * (78)	44.6	2.20%
* none greater than .06%	2031.6	100.00%