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

May 29, 2005 Weekend Finals Domestic Grossers Market Share Feast or Famine: The Longest Inch Star Wars: Episode III: Revenge of the Sith experienced an not unexpected 50% box office decline but maintained top position in weekend movie going with an estimated four-day Memorial holiday gross of $69.9 million. However, close on its tail were a pair of newcomers. The animated Madagascar animated $61.1 million while the antic remake of The Longest Yard went into overtime with $60.1 million. The frame also generated lively returns for the Quebec comedy C.R.A.Z.Y., the latest Bollywood effort Bunty aur Babil and the limited debut of the Asian-American human comedy Saving Face. The weekend tally should weigh in with slightly more than $130 million for a sprightly 13% boost from last weekend's 3-day to 3-day comparison. Nonetheless, the current holiday period once again trailed the prior year by roughly 5%. In 2004, Shrek 2 topped the charts with $93.6 million while the debut of The Day After Tomorrow scored with $85.8 million. The Sithology continued as the final chapter of the Star Wars saga added more than $100 million to its larder from global engagements and saw its gross climb to more than a half billion dollars. Hopes for an atypical domestic decline were largely thwarted by stiff competition but overseas potency proved superior including a $4 million opening round in South Korea. The battle for second produced a seesaw contest between Dreamworks' animated menagerie in Madagascar and the gridiron comedy The Longest Yard. The latter film ranked first overall on Friday but lost ground as families and kids propped up matinees for the cartoon capers and slipped slowly into the show position. It was still a dynamic showing and could lay claim to comedian Adam Sandler's biggest opening salvo and a record debut for sports-themed movies. The holiday also featured a series of Sunday evening sneak previews for the highly anticipated Cinderella Man. The true life Depression-era boxing opus demonstrated a knockout punch with 60% of its previews selling out and exit polls off the chart with crowds scoring it at 98% in the top two boxes. Though skewing to a 25 and older audience, the appeal was almost evenly divided on a gender basis and the film is anticipated to be next weekend's box office champ and a continuing summer contender. While overall attendance still huffs and puffs behind 2004, there were encouraging signs of vitality in the niches. In Quebec, the local production C.R.A.Z.Y. was off to a fast start with 75 engagements generating about $660,000 and a theater average of close to $9,000. Bollywood's Bunty aur Babil posted the best opening averages of the year from a gross of $570,000 from 51 circuit locations. There was a beehive of activity as closer to a dozen films bowed in exclusive or limited situations. And while results were encouraging for such titles as the Holocaust drama The Ninth Day, the bowling doc The League of Ordinary Gentlemen and the American indie Bomb the System, none was able to produce eye-popping results. The best of the bunch was the upbeat Saving Face with a $93,000 gross from six locations. Far more potent in the specialized sector were the orchestrated expansions of a handful of titles with Mad Hot Ballroom's dancing kids, Layer Cake's Brit mafia and the two grand dames of Ladies in Lavender each adding screens and experiencing box office boosts ranging from 50% to 132%. The acclaimed non-fiction Penguin odyssey The Emperor's March looked smart as it added 28 screens to its single outing last weekend in Quebec and grossed slightly better than $90,000. Warner Independent opens the film in the U.S. next month. - by Leonard Klady

Weekend Estimates - May 26-29, 2005

Title	Distributor	Gross (average)	% change	Theaters	Cume
Star Wars: Epi. III - Revenge of the Sith	Fox	69.9 (19,220)	-49%	3634	270.3
Madagascar	DmWks	61.1 (14,790)	-	4131	61.1
The Longest Yard	Par	60.1 (16,420)	-	3663	60.1
Monster-in-Law	New Line	11.5 (3,570)	-35%	3230	61.2
Kicking and Screaming	Uni	6.7 (2,250)	-55%	2966	44.3
Crash	Lions Gate	6.1 (3,640)	-14%	1680	36.2
The Interpreter	Uni	2.6 (2,240)	-21%	1171	69.2
Unleashed	Focus	2.5 (1,750)	-49%	1419	22.1
Kingdom of Heaven	Fox	2.1 (1,600)	-51%	1328	44.9
House of Wax	WB	1.6 (980)	-61%	1635	29.8
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy	BV	.86 (1,070)	-68%	801	48.7
C.R.A.Z.Y.	TVA	.66 (8,800)	-	74	0.66
Bunty aur Babil	Yash Raj	.57 (11,180)		51	0.57
Sahara	Par	.51 (1,320)	-47%	387	66.4
Weekend Total ($500,000+ Films)		$226.80	-	-	-
% Change (Last Year)		-5%			-
% Change (Last Week)		13%	-	-	-
Also Debuting/Expanding
Ladies in Lavender	IDP	.39 (4,440)	50%	88	1.4
Mad Hot Ballroom	Par Classics	.37 (6,540)	113%	57	0.64
Layer Cake	Sony Classics	.36 (4,580)	132%	79	0.67
Saving Face	Sony Classics	93,000 (15,500)	-	6	0.09
The Emperor's Journey	Christal	91,500 (3,150)	237%	29	0.13
Sabah	Mongrel	14,300 (7,150)	-	2	0.01
The Ninth Day	Kino	11,400 (5,700)	-	2	0.01
Bomb the System	Palm	9,360 (4,680)	-	2	0.01
League of Ordinary Gentlemen	Magnolia	4,300 (4,300)	-	1	0.01

Domestic Market Share: To May 26, 2005

Company (releases)	Box Office	Percentage
Fox (10)	547.5	17.40%
Sony (12)	450.3	14.30%
Warner Bros. (140	395.2	12.60%
Universal (10)	383.6	12.20%
Buena Vista (12)	276.5	8.80%
Miramax (11)	248.4	7.90%
MGM (8)	181.1	5.80%
Paramount (6)	171.5	5.50%
New Line (10)	100.5	3.20%
Lions Gate (8)	93.5	3.00%
DreamWorks (2)	77.9	2.50%
Fox Searchlight (6)	64.7	2.00%
Sony Classics (12)	41.2	1.30%
Focus (4)	37.1	1.20%
Other * (115)	71.3	2.30%
* none greater than 0.5%	3140.3	100.00%