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

February 19, 2007 Weekend Finals Domestic Market Share Ghost Rider In The Sky ... Despite a plethora of product, Ghost Rider ascended with a super heroic gross estimated at $53.2 million. The film shattered all previous Presidents Day holiday openings and propelled the frame to record revenues. It was also generally upbeat news for a quartet of freshmen entries. The family themed Bridge to Tarabithia exceeded expectations to rank second with a $28.8 million gross. And ranked fourth through sixth were Music and Lyrics with $16 million, Daddy's Little Girl at $13.9 million and the intelligence meller Breach scoring with $12.3 million. Additionally new entries in the Bollywood circuit and a homegrown Quebec movie had impressive first forays. The four day holiday session experienced a commercial jolt of about $190 million for a 61% boost from the prior weekend. It was also 22% better than last year's performance when 8 Below and Date Movie led the charge with respectively $25 million and $21.8 million. Ghost Rider debuted with the kind of numbers one associates with summer blockbusters. Its specter was the antithesis of pale at the box office with a truly rabid young male audience that greatly exceeded earlier comic book transplants such as Daredevil and Electra. The film also stepped out with vigor in a number of international territories including Australia with a $1.9 million gross, Spain tallying $3 million, Mexico at $2 million and Taiwan recording $500,000. The kid lit fave Bridge to Tarabithia was only expected to rank fourth among the new openers by industry trackers who ignored past histories of declining stamina for titles that jumped the frame with Wednesday debuts. Its only competition for the family-youth audience was Night at the Museum in its ninth week. Obviously, there was a hunger for an alternative. Both the romantic comedy and human dramas Music and Lyrics and Daddy's Little Girls bowed Wednesday and entered the weekend with respective grosses of $5.5 million and $5.7 million. Both films performed to expectations or just slightly below them. Daddy's Tyler Perry effectively shifted gears from broad comedy and the good will of past efforts carried over to a more sober view of urban America. Breach, based upon the biggest intelligence leak in U.S. history, also fared better than expected. Targeted at an older crowd, it had a virtual clear field with the exception of the diminishing crowd of Oscar contenders. The tidal wave of new movies saw most holdover titles experiencing 40% to 60% declines though in context Norbit's second weekend $20.7 million box office looked very impressive. The fate of the slate of titles on the Oscar ballot was considerably less rosy. With the quintet of new titles capturing in excess of 13,300 playdates, the attrition rate for all continuing movies was considerable. The relative absence of frontrunners in major categories - apart from lead performances - has worked against most hopefuls; suggesting a possible second wind for Babel and/or Letters from Iwo Jima should they capture statuettes. The second year of a touring program of Oscar nominated shorts had a superior result of $157,000 from 39 venues. The New Year saw a fast start for indigenous Quebec product with Ma Fille, Mon Ange grossing about $800,000 from 84 engagements. There was also a solid result of $560,000 for the Indian historical epic Eklavya the Royal Guard from 80 locations. The new limited releases were generally unimpressive with the exception being French Oscar submission Avenue Montaigne that rang up $37,200 from two exposures. The film opened in Quebec last fall and earned about $200,000. - Leonard Klady Weekend Finals - February 16-19, 2007 - - Title Distrib Weekend % Change Theaters Cume Wks 1 New Ghost Rider Sony 52,022,908 - 3619 52,022,908 1 2 New Bridge to Terabithia BV 28,536,717 - 3139 28,536,717 1 3 1 Norbit Par 19,929,662 -42% 3138 62,011,840 2 4 New Music and Lyrics WB 15,875,471 - 2955 21,404,090 1 5 New Daddy's Little Girls Lions Gate 13,064,075 - 2111 18,757,324 1 6 New Breach Uni 12,621,835 - 1489 12,621,835 1 7 2 Hannibal Rising MGM 6,255,564 -52% 3003 22,917,904 2 8 3 Because I Said So Uni 6,053,850 -34% 2446 34,311,515 3 9 5 Night at the Museum Fox 4,866,933 -15% 2042 238,500,531 9 10 4 The Messengers Sony 4,341,827 -40% 2183 31,050,332 3 11 8 Pan's Labyrinth Picturehouse 2,639,431 -26% 905 30,486,056 8 12 9 Dreamgirls Par   1,967,359 -34% 1037 100,011,336 10 13 7 Smokin' Aces Uni 1,771,180 -57% 1107 34,421,936 4 14 6 Epic Movie  Fox 1,672,218 -63% 1426 38,268,898 4 15 10 The Queen Miramax 1,609,141 -32% 807 51,350,148 21 16 14 Letters from Iwo Jima WB 1,272,397 -26% 651 11,811,634 9 17 18 The Last King of Scotland Fox Searchlight 1,088,024 -19% 384 12,959,378 21 18 16 Notes on a Scandal Fox Searchlight 1,030,144 -33% 413 15,427,044 8 19 12 The Pursuit of Happyness Sony 883,814 -62% 690 162,140,234 10 20 New Eklavya - The Royal Guard Eros 812,262 - 80 812,262 1 21 15 Babel Par Vantage 706,687 -58% 305 33,218,792 17 22 New Ma Fille, Mon Ange Alliance 698,685 - 87 698,685 1 23 11 Stomp the Yard Sony 675,448 -71% 626 60,350,812 6 24 38 Factory Girl MGM 631,735 223% 336 1,024,683 3 25 21 Blood Diamond WB 467,230 -40% 225 55,859,580 11 26 24 Volver Sony Class/Seville 456,372 -28% 204 12,440,229 16 27 27 Venus Miramax 451,402 -4% 157 2,435,176 9 28 36 The Lives of Others Sony Classics 438,816 105% 32 749,623 2 29 20 Children of Men Uni 435,745 -46% 210 34,609,898 9 30 25 Happy Feet WB 410,377 -23% 305 193,920,972 14 31 17 The Departed WB 407,187 -70% 320 131,498,360 20 32 30 Casino Royale Sony 374,125 25% 318 166,720,794 14 33 26 The Painted Veil WIP 373,723 -26% 200 6,932,588 9 34 23 Charlotte's Web Par 357,177 -47% 350 81,458,197 10 35 13 Catch and Release Sony 340,914 -81% 419 15,269,668 4 36 22 Arthur and the Invisibles MGM 271,205 -62% 437 14,118,082 6 37 35 Flushed Away Par 261,065 20% 228 64,272,721 16 38 42 Deep Sea 3-D WB 253,830 65% 37 23,514,962 51 39 29 Eragon Fox 244,718 -24% 302 74,393,494 10 40 37 We Are Marshall WB 213,459 7% 355 43,311,884 9 41 31 Rocky Balboa MGM 206,672 -27% 266 70,001,560 9 42 34 Little Children New Line 179,025 -22% 90 4,955,940 20 43 19 Freedom Writers Par 177,832 -82% 232 36,267,856 7 44 48 Breaking and Entering Weinstein Co. 162,682 81% 41 330,611 4 45 New 2006 Academy Awards Shorts Magnolia 128,569 - 38 128,569 1 46 43 Unaccompanied Minors WB 111,848 -21% 159 16,536,388 11 47 59 Work and the Glory III: A House Divided Excel 101,147 128% 36 1,098,062 13 48 55 Roving Mars BV 99,493 83% 19 6,064,955 56 49 41 Apocalypto BV 89,141 -44% 140 50,772,724 11 50 57 Magnificent Desolation Imax 87,854 68% 12 17,334,864 73 51 46 Borat Fox 70,425 -43% 94 128,387,996 16 52 40 Salaam-E-Ishq Eros 67,354 -63% 32 1,919,404 4 53 32 Happily Never After Lions Gate 65,108 -74% 116 15,654,501 7 54 39 The Good Shepherd Uni 53,205 -69% 80 59,839,040 9 55 47 The Holiday Sony 44,955 -60% 65 63,688,835 11 56 44 Alpha Dog Uni 43,120 -69% 69 15,229,325 6 57 50 Perfume: Story of a Murderer Par 42,902 -36% 26 2,170,346 8 58 RE Avenue Montaigne (Orchestra Seats) Thinkfilm/Seville 37,677 - 2 266,879 22 59 49 Déjà vu  BV 34,988 -55% 69 64,011,699 13 60 52 Sweet Land Libero 33,820 -48% 25 1,454,533 19 61 33 The Last Sin Eater Bigger Picture 32,830 -87% 116 379,643 2 62 45 Blood and Chocolate MGM 32,047 -74% 176 3,498,112 4 63 28 The Hitcher  Focus 28,836 -91% 56 16,366,370 5 64 54 Partition Seville 28,319 -49% 18 216,207 3 65 53 Guru Adlabs 28,000 -53% 24 2,087,000 6 66 66 Inland Empire 518 Media 27,236 -25% 10 623,960 11 67 New Days of Glory (Indigenes) Weinstein Co. 25,521 - 3 25,521 1 68 70 Hurricane on the Bayou MacGillevry/Freeman 25,264 2% 5 81,986 4 69 67 Little Miss Sunshine Fox Searchlight 24,504 -16% 23 59,758,048 30 70 56 The Good German WB 22,077 -59% 22 1,161,360 9 71 61 Code Name: The Cleaner New Line 21,879 -25% 41