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

December 4, 2005 Weekend Estimates Domestic Market Share Ebb and Flux .. Tradition be damned and in the domestic arena the week following Thanksgiving experiences one of the worst attendance drops of the year. The past weekend Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire was once again the box office leader with an estimated $18.9 million. Its grossing power fell by 66% and the overall decline in the marketplace was 48%. The frame had a single national bow in comic book assassin Aeon Flux and she ranked second overall at $13.2 million. Distributors are loath to release new titles during the lull that prefigures a Christmas viewing boom and the Charlize Theron actioner was an apt rapid burn title unlikely to withstand the holiday onslaught. Very few titles had less than a 40% decline and most saw their grossing power cut by more than 50%. Pundits maintain that the audience - particularly those older than 25 - have other holiday priorities in early December that cannot be altered by the presence of a "hot" title. However, it remains a self-fulfilling prophecy as the instances where a significant popular film has been slotted this time of year occur about once a decade. Weekend viewing should translate into about $86 million and that's about 4% behind the similarly grim period of 2004. Domestic revenues exceeded $8 billion on Saturday and for the year that has it lagging behind by more than 7%. The industry can abandon all hope that the remaining four weeks of 2005 will completely close the gap and on the current arc the year will finish at about $8.7 billion. The frame's more resilient holdover titles included Pride and Prejudice and, surprisingly, Just Friends. Syriana expanded from five to nine playdates in the three markets where the film is currently in release and received a healthy 36% boost while maintaining healthy capacities. The political thriller debuts nationally next weekend. The session also included the limited bow of the documentary First Descent that brought in a modest $440,000 from 243 engagements. Once again it was a period light on platform debuts and niche offerings. The family aimed The Kid and I was barely on its target with slightly more than $20,000 in 50 venues while the American indie Be Here to Love Me posted OK returns of roughly $16,000 off of two screens. Thinkfilm replicated its Born into Brothels strategy with its current non-fiction The Boys of Baraka and generated virtual carbon copy commercial response at Manhattan's Film Forum of $14,000. The earlier film went on to win in Oscar's documentary category. And the fledgling Weinstein Company bowed Transamerica to thumbs up reviews and box office in two locations that generated about $49,000. - by Leonard Klady Weekend Estimates - December 2-4, 2005 - Title Distributor Gross (average) % change Theaters Cume Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire WB 18.9 (4,890) -66% 3858 228.2 Aeon Flux Par 13.2 (5,050) - 2608 13.2 Walk the Line Fox 10.1 (3,190) -48% 3160 68.8 Yours, Mine and Ours Par 8.2 (2,570) -53% 3206 34.4 Just Friends New Line 5.8 (2,300) -37% 2505 21.3 Rent Sony 4.7 (1,920) -53% 2437 24 Chicken Little BV 4.5 (1,500) -64% 3021 124.2 Pride and Prejudice Focus 4.4 (3,340) -38% 1327 22.4 Derailed Weinstein Co 2.3 (1,370) -49% 1702 32.7 In the Mix Lions Gate 1.9 (1,210) -56% 1608 6.76 The Ice Harvest Focus 1.6 (1,040) -57% 1555 7.6 Zathura Sony 1.2 (680) -65% 1791 27.5 Jarhead Uni 1.1 (910) -59% 1246 61.1 Good Night, and Good Luck WIP 1.0 (1,570) -47% 631 21 Saw II Lions Gate .94 (1,020) -62% 926 85.7 Get Rich or Die Tryin' Par .86 (950) -60% 906 29.8 The Polar Express Imax (reissue) WB .76 (11.520) -38% 66 164.45 Capote Sony Classics .53 (2,180) -42% 243 9.8 Syriana WB .51 (56,490) 36% 9 1.3 Weekend Total ($500,000+ Films) $82.50 - - % Change (Last Year) - -4% - % Change (Last Week) - -48% - Also Debuting/Expanding First Descent Uni .44 (1,810) - 243 0.44 Kiss Kiss Bang Bang WB .23 (1,510) -33% 154 3.8 Transamerica Weinstein Co 49,300 (24,650) - 2 0.05 The Kid & I Slow Hand 20,400 (408) - 50 0.02 Be Here to Love Me  Palm 16,300 (8,150) - 2 0.02 The Boys of Baraka