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

May 14, 2006 Weekend Estimates Worldwide Grosses Domestic Market Share That Sinking Feeling ... Mission: Impossible III took close to a 50% hit but that was still enough to keep it ahead of the debut of Poseidon. The Mission statement was estimated at $24.6 million while the upside-down remake soaked up $20.5 million. The marketplace had other soggy starts including a fourth place opening of $5.6 million for the Lindsey Lohan romantic-comedy Just My Luck and a $1.9 million bow for the soccer-themed Goal! from England. It added down to lower grosses from the prior year as well as the prior weekend. It wasn't much of a surprise that MI3 experienced what's become a typical second weekend drop for a tentpole movie. However, as its opener was below estimates, there was disappointment that it won't emerge as quite the powerhouse the industry had anticipated. Fears that next weekend's arrival of The Da Vinci Code will suck up the grosses of current releases leave the Tom Cruise vehicle gasping to surpass an eventual $175 million domestic gross. More than just the Captain went down with Poseidon. The remake of the 1972 catastrophe chestnut had been displaying all the signs of commercial disappointment for weeks but pundits still expected a first place finish with a box office of $25 million to $30 million. Its Imax run was about the only bright spot with an estimated $1.5 million from 64 venues. The picture dipped its toe into international markets with openings in six Asian territories including India, Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines were in rang up an impressive $4.4 million estimate including Imax runs in India. The film opened at the top of the charts in all territories except Indonesia and India. On a scaled down basis, the expectation/results ratio wasn't any better for Just My Luck. Promoted as Lindsay Lohan's first mature role, the romantic comedy appeared to have drawn in her core audience … just not enough of them. Weekend business was clocking in just shy of $100 million in ticket sales or 13% behind last weekend's Cruise speed. It also lagged in relation to 2005's pace when Monster in Law and Kicking and Screaming led the frame with respective debuts of $23.1 million and $20.2 million. Soccer movies have never particularly galvanized American audiences though ironically one year ago a variant with a comedic spin opened with comparable numbers to this weekend's Poseidon. Goal! certainly failed to buck the trend though the British production's U.S. release appeared to be an afterthought. The film was released internationally in 2005 and rang up about $18 million in Europe and South America. Results in niche play were also generally disappointing. The ethnic comedy Keeping Up with the Steins had no better than fair returns of $590,000 from 138 mtzvahs. Sony Classics abandoned its traditionally cautious release expansions on Art School Confidential with the addition of 750 playdates from its 12-screen bow. Its $1.2 million weekend painted it into an alcove with no commercial upside. On a pound-for-pound basis a couple of non-fiction portraits were trumps among new releases. Sketches of Frank Gehry by Sydney Pollack grossed almost $17,000 from two exclusive engagements while Giuliani Time on the former Big Apple mayor was eyeing $8,500 on a single screen. The rest of the freshman class included the coming of age Wah-Wah with $52,000 at 25 engagements; Russian Dolls, the sequel to L'Auberge Espagnole, cradling $15,000 from three theaters and the heartwarming canine Saving Shiloh off the leash with $5,200 from 30 kennels. - by Leonard Klady Weekend Estimates - May 5-7, 2006 Title Distributor Gross (average) % change Theaters Cume Mission: Impossible III Par 24.6 (6,060) -48% 4059 84.7 Poseidon WB 20.5 (5,760) - 3555 20.5 RV Sony 9.0 (2,540)