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

May 28, 2007 Weekend Estimates Domestic Market Share Yo Ho Ho! Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End dropped anchor with an estimated $143.2 million to plunder weekend movie going. The third installment of the popular franchise accounted for about 55% of the record Memorial holiday ticket sales. The frame also saw a wan $4 million debut for the oft-delayed horror entry Bug and potent returns for several exclusive engagements including the Japanese anime Paprika and Italian import Golden Door. The Pirate wave began Thursday evening with a $14 million taste of a lot more booty to come. Its four-day gross easily surpassed the prior benchmark of $122.8 million set a year ago by X-Men 2 and with Shrek the Third and Spider-Man 3 in support rewrote the record book for Memorial weekend box office. Industry response was buoyant though there's continuing concern that high profile movies could crowd out lesser known genre fare in the coming weeks. Pirates 3 - as with the other May behemoths - received largely tepid reviews that could translate into limited adult appeal. However, they certainly didn't quell the avids and thanks to the versatility of multiplexes, its roughly three hour running time proved no obstacle to ringing up record grosses. The picture also made a considerable onslaught internationally with openings in all major markets with the exceptions of China and India. Initial estimates of $245 million overseas boost the global box office to a record $400 million. Among the most conspicuous bows was a $26.6 launch in the U.K., $18.4 million in Korea, France delivering $17.7 million, Japan rendering $15.9 million to the war chest, Germany with $16.8 million and Russia adding $13.7 million to the coffers. Domestic weekend lucre added up to just shy of $260 million for a tidy 13% increase for the comparative three-day portions of the span. It was also 8% improved from Memorial weekend 2006 when X-Men 2 debuted and the second weekend of The Da Vinci Code contributed $42.2 million. Most titles took 50% plus hits including Shrek the Third and Spider-Man 3. The burn factor of seasonal tent poles has accelerated but their initial box offices have opened to higher numbers and only studio accountants know for sure the true balance once profit participants are added to the equation. Bug figuratively got tossed into the lion's den and made the tiniest of commercial flutters. The film was first exposed at last year's Cannes fest and it remains a head scratcher as to why a more lucrative and earlier release date was not found for the picture. Waitress and Away from Her have continued to mine the spare terrain for adult appeal movies with steady expansions. There was also quick response for the unexpectedly potent Once that added 18 playdates and generated a $21,150 theater average. It's adding 10 markets next weekend. Two Bollywood newcomers went head to head and generated comparable per screens. And while U.S. audiences favored Cheeni Kum, internationally Shootout at Lokhandwala proved to be the dominant movie. A quartet of other specialized imports generally fared well though one suspects Paprika from Japan could see sharp declines after the initial avids spiced up its debut. More encouraging is the Italian immigrant saga Golden Door - a 2006 Oscar submission - that's already won raves and awards overseas. by Leonard Klady Weekend Estimates - May 25-28, 2007 Title Distributor Gross (average) % change * Theaters Cume Pirates of Caribbean: At World's End BV 143.2 (32,820) - 4382 157.4 Shrek the Third Par 70.1 (16,940) -57% 4172 221 Spider-Man 3 Sony 17.6 (4,730) -53% 3723 307.3 Bug Lions Gate 4.0 (2,430) - 1661 4 Waitress Searchlight 3.9 (7,700) 184% 510 6.5 28 Weeks Later Fox 3.3 (1,630) -53% 2013 24.4 Disturbia Par 2.4 (1,640) -50% 1632 74.9 Georgia Rule Uni 2.3 (1,220) -53% 1904 16.7 Fracture New Line 1.5 (1,630) -45% 907 37 Wild Hogs BV 1.4 (3,220) 151% 426 163.2 Away from Her Mongrel/Lions Gate 1.0 (3,410) 21% 287 3.1 The Invisible BV .79 (1,730) -51% 1378 18.4 Hot Fuzz Focus .65 (1,410) -61% 462 22.3 Blades of Glory Par .64 (2,020) -52% 317 116.4 Delta Farce Lions Gate .62 (740) -72% 833 7.3 Weekend Total ($500,000+ Films) $253.40 - - - % Change (Last Year) - 8% - - - % Change (Last Week) - 13% -- - - Also debuting/expanding Once Fox Searchlight .42 (21,150) 421% 20 0.53 Cheeni Kum Eros .19 (4,270) - 45 0.19 Shootout at Lokhandwala Rainbow .15 (4,640) - 33 0.15 Paprika Sony Classics 44,300 (22,150) - 2 0.04 Angel-A Sony Classics 37,100 (5,300) - 7 0.04 Golden Door Miramax 35,900 (17,950) - 2 0.04 Boss of It All IFC 9,400 (9,400) - 1 0.01 International Grosses: To May 24, 2007 Title Distributor Gross Spider-Man 3 Sony 770,965,080 300 WB 440,949,612 Night at the Museum * Fox 393,645,651 Wild Hogs BV 236,820,424 Ghost Rider Sony 225,790,901 The Pursuit of Happyness * Sony 209,105,741 Mr. Bean's Holiday Uni/Wk Title 176,801,339 Shrek the Third Par 169,008,690 Norbit Par 158,344,470 Music and Lyrics WB 145,956,146 Meet the Robinsons BV 145,630,981 Blood Diamond * WB 134,413,770 Blades of Glory Par 131,256,376 Bridge to Terabithia BV/Summit 119,149,335 Dreamgirls * Par 117,549,536 Rocky Balboa * MGM/Fox 106,742,344 Casino Royale * Sony 102,970,798 Happy Feet * WB 93,972,684 TMNT WB/Weinstein 88,726,509 Shooter Par   88,673,463 * does not include 2006 box office Domestic Market Share: To May 24, 2007 Distributor (releases) Gross Mrkt Share Sony (16) 774.2 22.60% Paramount (13) 669.7 19.60% Warner Bros. (17) 461.6 13.50% Buena Vista (13) 398.7 11.70% Fox (13) 282.2 8.30% Universal (9) 216.9 6.30% New Line (6) 105.2 3.10% MGM (11) 81.7 2.40% Lions Gate (9) 73.1 2.10% Fox Searchlight (8) 59.9 1.80% Miramax (4) 43.2 1.30% Focus (2) 38.2 1.10% Picturehouse (2) 37.2 1.10% Sony Classics (8) 28.3 0.80% Weinstein Co. (5) 25.9 0.80% Paramount Vantage (3) 25.3 0.70% IDP (5) 21.9 0.60% Other * (107) 74.6 2.20% * none greater than 0.4% 3417.8 100.00%