The Weekend Report: March 5, 2006

March 5, 2006
Weekend Estimates
Domestic Market Share

16 Block Party...
Medea’s Family Reunion withstood a quartet of new releases as top draw in the marketplace with an estimated $12.7 million. There was a lack of real utz in film going for Oscar weekend with 16 Blocks taking second spot with $11.6 million and the bow of Dave Chappelle’s Block Party trailing the freshman field with $6.7 million. The frame also saw the very big screen debut of Deep Sea 3-D grossing $680,000 at 43 Imax locations.
Overall business was on the descendant with almost all of the Oscar contenders getting at least a slight box office boost. However, as most nominees are in limited release it did nothing to enliven weekend revenues that were in double-digit decline.
16 Blocks’ opening day had a slight edge on Medea that faded as the span proceeded. Pundits anticipated a more buoyant weekend with incoming product expected to perform with greater force to surpass Tyler Perry’s sophomore entry. But despite upbeat reviews Bruce Willis’s Block party came up short of a perceived $15 million or $16 million bow. WB-based Alcon Entertainment acquired the film with the studio providing only modest promotional support in the days leading up to release.
Similarly both the actioner Ultraviolet and the teen mermaid Aquamarine fell short of eight-figure weekends. Certainly in the former instance, there appears to be weariness among the young male audience of distaff superheroes in light of the recent performance of Elektra and Catwoman. The second film indicates again that young females don’t have quite the zeal to see targeted product on opening day. The films were ranked fourth and fifth with respective grosses of $8.9 million and $7.5 million.
The combination of past performance histories of concert films by Richard Pryor, Eddie Murphy and Martin Lawrence and Dave Chappelle’s current popularity and intriguing behavior also anticipated bigger returns than the $6.7 million gross of Block Party. The film had a strong opening day but promptly fell 17% on Saturday and emerged as a “for rapid fans only” endeavor.
Weekend revenues should top out at roughly $105 million, or a rollback of 14% from seven days earlier. It’s also off last year’s pace of 16% when the debut of The Pacifier grossed an unexpected but welcome $30 million.
While the media was buzzing with Oscar news, multiplex marquees were giving limited space to this year’s nominees. Brokeback Mountain, this year’s frontrunner, received a 10% boost and was the top grossing among contenders. A clutch of statuettes Sunday should add about $20 million to the picture’s gross for an ultimate domestic tally of $100 million. There’s also no denying that such films as Capote, Transamerica and Good Night, and Good Luck are receiving wider exposure both in the U.S. and overseas as a result of their award glory.
The session also included the American bow of French Oscar-submission Joyeux Noel (Merry Christmas) that grossed about $45,000 from six screens. The second weekend of South African nominee Tsotsi added a location and its seven venues tallied roughly $75,000.

- by Leonard Klady

Weekend Estimates - February 17-20, 2006

Title
Distributor
Gross (average)
% change
Theaters
Cume

Medea's Family Reunion
Lions Gate
12.7 (5,780)
-58%
2194
47.8

16 Blocks
WB
11.6 (4,300)
0
2706
11.6

Eight Below
BV
10.2 (3,270)
-36%
3122
58.7

Ultraviolet
Sony
8.9 (3,470)
0
2558
8.9

Aquamarine
Fox
7.5 (3,000)
0
2512
7.5

The Pink Panther
Sony
7.0 (2,310)
-37%
3024
69.6

Dave Chappelle's Block Party
Focus
6.7 (5,550)
0
1200
6.7

Date Movie
Fox
5.2 (1,990)
-43%
2603
40.8

Curious George
Uni
4.4 (1,710)
-38%
2590
49.2

Firewall
WB
3.6 (1,640)
-46%
2212
42.5

Final Destination 3
New Line
3.2 (1,440)
-42%
2208
49.7

Brokeback Mountain
Focus
2.5 (1,990)
10%
1272
78.9

Doogal
Weinstein Co.
1.9 (830)
-47%
2319
6.2

Capote
Sony Classics
1.6 (2,600)
55%
635
25.5

TransAmerica
Weinstein Co.
1.5 (2,300)
77%
656
6.7

Running Scared
New Line
1.3 (800)
-62%
1611
5.9

Nanny McPhee
Uni
1.2 (920)
-49%
1329
44.4

When a Stranger Calls
Sony
1.1 (1,020)
-55%
1118
47.1

Big Momma's House 2
Fox
1.1 (1,170)
-54%
950
67.3

Mrs. Henderson Presents
Weinstein Co.
.94 (1,800)
-6%
522
8.5

Good Night, and Good Luck
WIP
.76 (2,670)
16%
285
31.3

Deep Sea 3-D
WB
.68 (15,810)
0%
43
0.68

Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada
Sony Classics
.65 (1,860)
-38%
350
2.8

Freedomland
Sony
.63 (640)
-78%
987
12.3

Match Point
DreamWorks
.59 (1,700)
-36%
347
22.4

Munich
Uni
.53 (1,630)
6%
325
46.8

Walk the Line
Fox
.52 (1,390)
-28%
375
118.3

Weekend Total ($500,000+ Films
$98.50
0
0
0

% Change (Last Year)
0
-16%
0
0
0

% Change (Last Week)
0
-14%
0
0
0

Also debuting/expanding

Night Watch
Fox Searchlight
.36 (2,280)
74%
158
0.77

Tsotsi
Miramax
74,800 (10,690)
-2%
7
0.18

Joyeux Noel
Sony Class/Seville
48,600 (6,950)
0
7
0.47

Woman is the Future of Man
New Yorker
5,230 (5,230)
0
1
0.01

Domestic Market Share: January 1 - March 2, 2006

Distributor (releases)
Gross
Percentage

Sony (10)
274.1
19.30%

Fox (8)
203.7
14.30%

Buena Vista (10)
202.6
14.20%

Universal (6)