 |  |
..Gary
Dretzka
..Leonard
Klady
..David
Poland
..Doug
Pratt
..Ray
Pride
October 9 , 2005
Weekend Estimates
Bunny Hop
Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit led the weekend box office charge with an estimated $15.9 million. In a frame dominated by volume rather than potency four other films bowed nationally to fair results while a couple of limited releases including Good Night, and Good Luck registered near capacity business in the niches.
In the absence of a dynamic debut weekend revenues inched to a $100 tally that fell short of the 2004 tally by roughly 8%.
The anticipation for the Wallace & Gromit feature debut was palpable in light of past Oscar glory for the stop motion duo's film shorts, sterling reviews and last year's dynamic $47.6 million bow of Shark Tale. The feature entered the weekend with a $20,000 gross from two Wednesday openers and posted an opening day gross of slightly better than $4 million. It's evident the movie is playing to family crowds … just not as many as expected and fingers are crossed it can bear up well during the upcoming Thanksgiving recess.
New entries took five of the top seven slots but only The Gospel displayed any sign of connecting to a targeted audience. Ranked fifth overall, its combination of music and a religious theme grossed about $7.9 million but rang up a theater box office average roughly double to any wide release in the marketplace.
In Her Shoes, a tale of sisterly rivalry, finished third with roughly $9.7 million and the high stakes gambling opus Two for the Money followed with $8.5 million. Neither film benefited significantly from marquee names Cameron Diaz, Al Pacino nor Matthew McConaughey nor did they garner the sort of award buzz that might mitigate steep drops during their second frames.
The final entry, Waiting, a comedy set in a restaurant, generated a lukewarm $5.5 million result that's likely to bus out of multiplexes in short order.
Business bumped up 16% from the prior weekend but, as noted, was once again on the decline. Officially studios maintain that the downturn is an aberration based upon movies with limited appeal. However, internally there's considerably soul searching going on and many believe there's scant prospects for a turnaround as more and more Americans opt to see movies in the comfort of a home entertainment environment. Nonetheless, one can easily predict that sequels and shamelessly imitative movies of recent popular titles will dominate upcoming release schedules.
Holdover pictures were largely crowded by new entries though Flightplan continued to soar above the pack and A History of Violence appears to be carving out a solid niche with a mix of upscale and action seekers.
Conversely the art house audience seems enlivened by current fare with the bow of the historic battle between Edward R. Murrow of CBS News and Senator Joseph McCarthy of HUAC in Good Night, and Good Luck packing in 11 theaters and generating about $400,000. Another '50s saga - the writing of In Cold Blood - Capote doubled its screen count to 24 and added $380,000 to its larder.
Also excellent was the four-screen debut of the coming-of-age yarn The Squid and the Whale that rang up a very impressive $120,000. In Canada (which is celebrating its Thanksgiving this weekend) there was very good response in Quebec for Le Voleur d'enfance of $470,000 from 69 venues but a degree of reticence toward the controversial Where the Truth Lies that generated $210,000 from 82 engagements.
Weekend Estimates - October 2 - 9, 2005
Title Wallace & Gromit: Curse of Were-Rab Flightplan In Her Shoes Two for the Money The Gospel The Corpse Bride Waiting A History of Violence Serenity Into the Blue The Greatest Game Ever Played Just Like Heaven The Exorcism of Emily Rose The 40 Year Old Virgin Roll Bounce Proof The Constant Gardener Lord of War Weekend Total ($500,000+ Films) 
% Change (Last Year)