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

May 21, 2006 Weekend Estimates Domestic Market Share Box Office Comes in for the Code ... The Da Vinci Code rang up an estimated $77.2 million to lead domestic film viewing for the weekend and added close to $150 million in its international debut. The current weekend also had a strong opening of $37.3 million for the animated Over the Hedge and the combined juggernaut pretty much had a vacuum cleaner effect on everything else in the marketplace with DVC dominating adult patrons and OTH proving to be a powerful magnet for kids and families. Domestic weekend revenues spiked to more than $160 million for a 63% boost from seven days earlier. However, business experienced a 2% decline from 2005 when the final installment of Star Wars bowed to $108 million. There was unquestionable elation at Sony as a result of the opening Da Vinci Code domestic box office and especially for foreign returns. According to a source at the studio, the highest internal estimate for the controversial picture's first weekend was $190 million worldwide and it now appears business will exceed that number by at least 18 percent. "We were pretty confident of a "6" in our gross and realized between the controversy and the picture's primarily adult appeal it would be tough to expect much more," said Sony domestic distribution president Rory Brewer. "So, this result has us over the moon." The one potentially unsettling element on the domestic front was a 6% decline in ticket sales from Friday to Saturday. Adult appeal films historically experience Saturday boosts because it's an audience that isn't prone to want to see a film on opening day. However, with the enormous popularity of the novel Da Vinci could well prove to be an anomaly. For starters, the 25 plus crowd is traditionally more likely to read reviews and the picture had at best a lukewarm response from the nation's major critics. The box office records set internationally were considerable but its $147 million tally easily made Da Vinci the biggest overseas debut ever (Its worldwide gross was second only to Star Wars - Episode III). The film clearly had appeal to all denominations with box office in Italy and Spain setting new box office standards and its Chinese debut proving to be the biggest for a non-local movie. Estimates in top markets included: United Kingdom - $15.7 million; Germany - $12.3 million; France - $11.6 million; Italy - $11.5 million; Japan - $11.3 million; Spain - $11.1 million; Australia - $6.4 million; Mexico - $6.2 million; China - $5 million; and Russia - $3.7 million. With all the noise made by The Da Vinci Code, it was easy to overlook the exceptional launch of Over the Hedge. The animated yarn wasn't expected to do more than $30 million and many within the industry questioned the rationale of opening against a film that was receiving almost unparalleled media scrutiny. The Hedge decision to have as much distance between next month's Cars from Pixar and serve as an alternative for audiences wound up being quite sage. The combined Da Vinci/Hedge pin deflated the rest of the marketplace. Films experiencing less than 50% erosion proved to be comparatively robust. The niche arena largely decided to give a wide berth to the picture that came in with the Code. New entries that included Lemming, Twelve and Holding and The King bowed with exclusive or near-exclusive engagements that were good but not outstanding. - by Leonard Klady Weekend Estimates - May 19-21, 2006 Title Distributor Gross (average) % change Theaters Cume The Da Vinci Code Sony 77.2 (20,680) - 3735 77.2 Over the Hedge Par 37.3 (9,190) - 4059 37.3 Mission: Impossible III Par 11.1 (3,210) -56% 3450