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

December 26, 2005 Weekend Estimates Domestic Market Share Ho, Ho, Ho!!! The Christmas crunch saw a close race for the box office crown between King Kong and The Chronicles of Narnia with the ape a nose ahead on 4-day estimates with a gross of $30.8 million to the fantasy’s $30.4 million. Sifting through weekend figures was akin to navigating a maze with some new entries opening on Wednesday, others on Friday and still others waiting until Christmas day Sunday. The glut of new releases nonetheless provided good initial results for Munich, Fun with Dick and Jane and Rumor Has It and for the moment, no immediate catastrophe. The seasonal battle between Kong and Narnia is much tighter than had been anticipated with the gorilla at this point scaring off younger viewers and the kid lit classic emerging as a movie favorite with Harry Potter potential. That’s translated into stronger mid-weeks for Narnia that have out grossed King Kong with regularity and have given it a $45 million edge with its 5 additional days in the marketplace. The Jim Carrey comedy update of Fun with Dick and Jane was expected to be the strongest of the Christmas bows and it did not disappoint. The film bowed last Wednesday and entered the weekend with a $7 million advance. It ranked third over the four days span with an estimated $23.2 million box office but with the intense concentration of new movies in the marketplace will need considerable legs to replicate the potent performance of Meet the Fockers. The other jump start title was Cheaper by the Dozen 2 that emerged from the fray with a fair to disappointing $14.6 million. It has all the ear marks of a second or third choice option that’s likely to suffer commercially. It could well find itself competing with the Johnny Knoxville comedy The Ringer - also released by Fox - that debuted Friday and ranked seventh overall with an $8.2 million box office. The prospects appear rosier for Rumor Has It starring Jennifer Aniston that bowed Christmas Day to $3.5 million and is expected to finish with a two-day gross of $7.7 million. It initially appears to be a more likely viewing choice for over 25s. With the calendar conspiring to place Christmas on Sunday the movie going weekend was a brutal rollercoaster ride with a sharp Friday to Saturday drop followed by a rapid Sunday upturn. Four day revenues should hit about $180 million for a 30% boost from 2004. However, comparing three-day figures to the prior weekend shows a 13% decline in gross. With five days remaining in the calendar the domestic year stands at approximately $8.65 billion and that’s narrowed the gap from 2004 to 5.5%. The highly anticipated and controversial political thriller Munich from Steven Spielberg opened Friday and finished the span with $5.7 million. Its $10,680 theater average anticipates a slow, carefully orchestrated expansion. For the moment it benefits from being one of the few serious holiday offerings but awards buzz appears to be tilting toward Brokeback Mountain that currently playing on 50% fewer screens and generating a $12,580 theater average. The sessions other national freshman was the horror item Wolf Creek that’s expected to gross $6.1 million after two days at the multiplex. The expansion of Memoirs of a Geisha looked promising rather than rapturous with a $10.1 million gross and $6.540 average. Conversely, it continues to be a hard slog for the musical-comedy The Producers that went wide Christmas Day. In the limited arena Casanova emerged after two days in release with $260,000 from 37 venues. Considerably more seductive was the Pocohantas legend of The New World that grossed about $67,000 from three sites in two days. Other exclusives included the French thriller Cache (Hidden) with $77,500 from five playdates and the period drama The White Countess grossing roughly $61,000 from 10 engagements. - by Leonard Klady Weekend Estimates - December 23-26, 2005 - Title Distributor Gross (average) % change Theaters Cume King Kong  Uni 30.8 (8,620) -58% 3576 118.2 The Chronicles of Narnia BV 30.4 (7,890) -36% 3853 163.9 Fun with Dick and Jane Sony 23.2 (7,580) - 3056 30.7 Cheaper by the Dozen Fox 14.6 (4,590) - 3175 19.8 Memoirs of a Geisha Sony 10.1 (6,540) 415% 1547 13.2 The Family Stone Fox 10.0 (4,040) -48% 2469 29.2 The Ringer Fox 8.2 (4,460) - 1829 8.2 Rumor Has It WB 7.7 (2,730) - 2815 7.7 Wolf Creek Weinstein Co 6.1 (3,480) - 1749 6.1 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire WB 5.9 (2,350) -34% 2521 262.6 Munich Uni 5.7 (10,680) - 532 5.7 Syriana WB 4.5 (2,590) -45% 1725 30.1 The Producers Uni 3.4 (3,530) - 975 3.7 Brokeback Mountain Focus 2.7 (12,580) -23% 217 7.6 Walk the Line Fox 2.3 (1,960) -57% 1183 87 The Polar Express Imax (reissue) WB 1.4 (21,670) -7% 66 170.8 Yours, Mine and Ours Par