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

February 25, 2007 Weekend Finals Domestic Market Share The Number 911... Despite a not unexpected 57% box office decline, Ghost Rider continued to hold the top spot on weekend movie going charts with an estimated $19.5 million gross. The frame saw a quartet of new openers but none rated better than passable commercial grades. The chiller The Number 23 ranked second with $15.3 million while TV transplant Reno 911!: Miami charted fourth with $10.5 million. The other national freshmen were The Astronaut Farmer at $4.5 million and the historical drama Amazing Grace grossing $4.2 million. Limited release offerings including Starter for 10 and Gray Matters were a dim blip on the movie going radar screen. With the cinematic Super Bowl looming, Sunday business is expected to take a steeper than usual drop though pundits are predicting low ratings for this year’s Oscars. Overall revenues for the frame should slightly exceed $115 million for a 26% decline from last weekend’s three-day portion of the President’s Day holiday frame. It was also down a modest 2% from 2006 when Medea’s Family Reunion bowed to $30 million. The focus of the weekend was The Number 23 and audience response to Jim Carrey in a non-comic role. While tracking was tepid and reviews downbeat, its ultimate gross of $15.3 million nonetheless translated into sticker shock. Since Dumb and Dumber in 1994, only 2001’s The Majestic ($10.1 million) and Man on the Moon ($7.5 million) in 1999 had a lower opening weekend. The low brow antics of television’s Reno 911 translated to its core audience more potently than last year’s effort for Larry the Cable Guy. While the modest effort should turn a nice profit, it’s far from a slam dunk to spawn a sequel. Returns were better than expected for Amazing Grace, a biopic of 19th Century abolitionist William Wilberforce. Its niche appeal had many questioning a national release but theaters were chosen well and translated into solid averages and very good word-of-mouth. Exit polls were also upbeat for The Astronaut Farmer but marketing and promotion failed to draw in much of a crowd. The picture failed to find an attractive hook for movie goers and now appears to be headed for the celluloid scrap heap. Holdover titles generally experienced 40% to 50% drops with most of the major Oscar contenders experiencing less severe declines. Still they were declines and historically the last spurt prior to broadcast has reflected a surge in interest that can’t be palpably seen among this year’s slate of movies. The best one can glean in the closing hours is that the public believe Helen Mirren and Forest Whitaker will take best acting honors. The appropriately titled The Abandoned slipped onto 1,000 screens and barely registered an audible sound with a $780,000 gross. By comparison the indie efforts Starter for 10 and the gender bender comedy Gray Matters were robust in limited exposure. Otherwise their expansion prospects also remained limited. - Leonard Klady Weekend Finals - February 23-25, 2007 - - Title Distrib Weekend % Change Theaters Cume Wks 1 1 Ghost Rider Sony 20,067,443 -56% 3620 79,027,540 2 2 New The Number 23 New Line 14,602,867 - 2759 14,602,867 1 3 2 Bridge to Terabithia BV 14,157,645 -37% 3139 46,805,679 2 4 New Reno 911!: Miami Fox 10,273,477 - 2702 10,273,477 1 5 3 Norbit Par 9,825,021 -41% 3145 74,763,394 3 6 4 Music and Lyrics WB 7,652,433 -44% 2955 31,715,552 2 7 6 Breach Uni 5,994,950 -43% 1493 20,304,675 2 8 5 Daddy's Little Girls Lions Gate 4,815,337 -57% 2111 25,132,757 2 9 New The Astronaut Farmer WB 4,454,319 - 2155 4,454,319 1 10 New Amazing Grace IDP 4,054,542 - 791 4,054,542 1 11 8 Because I Said So Uni 2,758,815 -46% 1936 38,269,240 4 12 9 Night at the Museum Fox 2,170,661 -41% 1371 241,640,806 10 13 7 Hannibal Rising MGM 1,706,165 -68% 1596 25,863,475 3 14 10 The Messengers Sony 1,603,570 -57% 1492 33,400,113 4 15 11 Pan's Labyrinth Picturehouse 1,278,420 -42% 682 32,356,624 9 16 15 The Queen Miramax 1,105,665 -16% 662 52,862,098 22 17 12 Dreamgirls Par   835,251 -47% 593 101,233,784 11 18 17 The Last King of Scotland Fox Searchlight 783,758 -11% 334 14,009,273 22 19 New The Abandoned Lions Gate 782,000 - 1000 782,000 1 20 16 Letters from Iwo Jima WB 707,311 -31% 530 12,834,854 10 21 18 Notes on a Scandal Fox Searchlight 579,054 -32% 322 16,267,488 9 22 21 Babel Par Vantage 443,475 -25% 289 33,806,170 18 23 28 The Lives of Others Sony Classics 441,256 26% 58 1,315,931 3 24 22 Ma Fille, Mon Ange Alliance 400,543 -36% 87 1,365,986 2 25 14 Epic Movie  Fox 400,236 -71% 553 38,941,409 5 26 13 Smokin' Aces Uni 390,650 -74% 352 35,232,966 5 27 26 Volver Sony Class/Seville 319,511 -16% 250 12,900,104 17 28 27 Venus Miramax 308,136 -18% 168 2,858,520 10 29 19 The Pursuit of Happyness Sony 275,325 -62% 287 162,586,036 11 30 25 Blood Diamond WB 242,611 -37% 142 56,220,154 12 31 30 Happy Feet WB 221,523 -24% 230 194,254,584 15 32 24 Factory Girl MGM 214,240 -58% 292 1,400,704 4 33 31 The Departed WB 214,213 -38% 274 131,805,297 21 34 32 Casino Royale Sony 210,077 -34% 267 167,007,184 15 35 29 Children of Men Uni 198,660 -45% 154 34,905,193 10 36 33 The Painted Veil WIP 184,645 -41% 140 7,214,892 10 37 20 Eklavya - The Royal Guard Eros 182,246 -74% 80 1,100,762 2 38 23 Stomp the Yard Sony 172,501 -70% 198 60,623,618 7 39 34 Charlotte's Web Par 162,465 -31% 226 81,733,289 11 40 38 Deep Sea 3-D WB 156,569 -23% 36 23,775,558 52 41 37 Flushed Away Par 150,037 -29% 202 64,459,316 17 42 New Nos Voisins dhamtsu Christal 140,460 59   140,460 1 43 39 Eragon Fox 133,365 -31% 219 74,573,402 11 44 40 We Are Marshall WB 108,374 -41% 270 43,459,122 10 45 44 Breaking and Entering Weinstein Co. 77,076 -47% 36 444,327 5 46 36 Arthur and the Invisibles MGM 75,822 -62% 192 14,244,764 7 47 67 Days of Glory (Indigenes) Weinstein Co. 69,093 255% 18 101,288 2 48 45 2006 Academy Awards Shorts Magnolia 69,055 -35% 28 240,110 2 49 69 Little Miss Sunshine Fox Searchlight 65,468 232% 31 59,831,476 31 50 42 Little Children New Line 64,275 -55% 61 5,071,224 21 51 50 Magnificent Desolation Imax 60,218 -22% 12 17,491,350 74 52 46 Unaccompanied Minors WB 60,128 -32% 119 16,614,132 12 53 48 Roving Mars BV 52,452 -25% 19 6,134,378 57 54 35 Catch and Release Sony 50,800 -83% 113 15,388,860 5 55 43 Freedom Writers Par 50,267 -65% 111 36,358,137 8 56 51 Borat Fox 43,205 -28% 70 128,449,559 17 57 New Starter for 10 Picturehouse 37,141 - 20 37,141 1 58 RE Primeval BV 33,606 - 118 10,576,486 7 59 49 Apocalypto BV 32,851 -56% 73 50,829,674 12 60 47 Work and the Glory III: A House Divided Excel 30,934 -50% 38 1,150,155 14 61 New Gray Matters FreeStyle 25,711 - 15 25,711 1 62 54 The Good Shepherd Uni 24,390 -46% 61 59,873,825 10 63 53 Happily Never After Lions Gate 23,453 -64% 39 15,719,534 8 64 57 Perfume: Story of a Murderer Par 22,686 -41% 42 2,208,939 9 65 56 Alpha Dog Uni 22,628 -38% 47 15,265,078 7 66 RE Black Christmas MGM 22,349 - 69 16,171,703 9 67 55 The Holiday Sony 21,203 -53% 34 63,732,877 12 68 58 Avenue Montaigne (Orchestra Seats) Thinkfilm/Seville 20,752 -29% 2 297,513 23 69 68 Hurricane on the Bayou MacGillevry/Freeman 19,507 -23% 5 115,925 5 70 71 Code Name: The Cleaner New Line 19,127 -13% 30 8,307,795 8 71 75 God Grew Tired of Us Newmarket 16,990 -41% 10 203,312 9 72 60 Sweet Land Libero 16,679 -33% 20 1,479,192 20 Source: Nielsen EDI; MCN   Estimates - February 23-25, 2007 Title Distributor Gross (average) % change Theaters Cume Ghost Rider Sony 19.5 (5,390) -57% 3620 78.5 The Number 23 New Line 15.3 (5,560) - 2759 15.3 Bridge to Tarabithia BV 31.6 (4,340) -40% 3139 46.3 Reno 911!: Miami Fox 10.5 (3,890) - 2702 10.5 Norbit Par 9.8 (3,120) -42% 3145 74.7 Music and Lyrics WB 8.1 (2,730) -41% 2955 32.1 Breach Uni 6.2 (4,130)