The Weekend Report: January 16, 2006

January 16, 2006
Weekend Estimates
Top Worldwide Grosses - 2005
Domestic Market Share - 2005

Wink, Wink, Nudge, Nudge...
The animated spoof Hoodwinked nosed ahead of the competition to claim the weekend box office crown with an estimated $16.7 million. Two other new releases were in close pursuit. The sport-themed Glory Road grossed $16.4 million while the Queen Latifah human comedy Last Holiday ranked third with $14.9 million. However, the report card for the 4-day Martin Luther King holiday frame was generally uninspired with grosses falling behind 2005 by 8% and dipping 10% from last weekend's comparative three-day portion of the revenues.
Hoodwinked marks the first time the nascent Weinstein Co. has had a picture top the weekend charts. The acquisition drew little attention when it played a week to qualify for the Oscars and wasn't expected to gross more than $10 million in its national bow. Tracking and a perception of the film's primary appeal greatly under appreciated the draw it ultimately had for pre-teens that have been largely ignored in recent weeks.
Also somewhat underestimated was the rags to riches tale of an unseeded amateur basketball team in Glory Road. A year ago the similarly themed Coach Carter was top draw with a $29 million debut during the holiday. Disney has mined this field before with the likes of Remember the Titans and Miracle and so the new film suffers somewhat from over familiarity.
Last Holiday, based on a British film from the 1950s that starred Alec Guinness, has been kicking around development circles for more than a decade. A more sober sided version of Nothing Sacred, it was expected to carry the weekend and its more modest response will be one of those head scratchers for studio execs.
The span generated ticket sales approaching $160 million to fall short of last year's tally by roughly 8% and dip below the prior weekend of 10%. The current frame's top grosser would have ranked fourth just one year ago and the situation had distribution execs at least pondering whether last year's record might not be an anomaly but a cultural viewing shift that requires some future budgetary tweaking.
The frame also included the national bow of the classic love saga Tristan & Isolde that grossed a respectable $7.9 million to slot eighth overall. A handful of limited release openers barely registered a blip on the radar screen.
In general holdover titles continued to hold well against new entries. Fun with Dick and Jane is emerging as one of the more resilient seasonal offerings and it and Walk the Line are both poised to surpass $100 million domestically.
The highly strategic, glacial expansion of Brokeback Mountain added 200 additional playdates and was one of the few titles to receive a slight box office boost. Tonight's broadcast of the Golden Globes could provide a boost for the film if it takes away the top statuette. The event could also be significant to Munich's commercial future but insiders say that the drama prize could well be won by Good Night, and Good Luck.

- by Leonard Klady

Weekend Estimates - January 13-16, 2006
-

Title
Distributor
Gross (average)
% change
Theaters
Cume

Hoodwinked
Weinstein Co.
16.7 (6,960)
-
2394
16.6

Glory Road
BV
16.4 (7,400)
-
2222
16.4

Last Holiday
Par
14.9 (5,940)
-
2514
14.9

The Chronicles of Narnia
BV
13.1 (4,050)
-35%
3224
264.3

Hostel
Lions Gate
11.7 (5,010)
-40%
2337
36.9

Fun with Dick and Jane
Sony
10.4 (3,220)
-27%
3239
94.3

King Kong�
Uni
9.2 (3,280)
-40%
2814
204.7

Tristan & Isolde
Fox
7.9 (4,260)
-
1845
7.9

Brokeback Mountain
Focus
7.1 (10,380)
3%
683
32.1

Cheaper by the Dozen
Fox
6.8 (2,450)
-40%
2773
74.7

Munich
Uni
6.1 (4,080)
-33%
1498
34

Memoirs of a Geisha
Sony
5.4 (3,250)
-30%
1654
47.6

The Ringer
Fox
3.3 (2,360)
-35%
1388
32

Rumor Has It
WB
3.2 (1,650)
-53%
1955
40.1

Casanova
BV
2.8 (2,780)
-38%
1011
9.1

The Family Stone
Fox
2.8 (1,920)
-50%
1441
57.3

Match Point
DreamWorks
2.5 (7.950)
-25%
312
6.9

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
WB
2.4 (2,360)
-39%
1003
284.6