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

July 1, 2007 Weekend Estimates Domestic Market Share Live Hard or Eat French ... Ratatouille savored an estimated $46.9 million to lead weekend movie going. There was also good news for the bow of Die Hard 4.0 (aka Live Free or Die Hard) that grossed $32.9 million in its opening weekend and $47.9 since its Wednesday launch. Add to that a healthy report for Sicko of $4.2 million from 441 observations and a boffo $650,000 from 63 in Quebec for local fave Nitro. However, the session was also characterized by steep drops for holdover titles that overall translated to the slightest upward tremor from 2006's box office. Industry expectations were high for both Ratatouille and Die Hard and both debuted reasonably close to the bars that had been set. While Ratatouille's opening business was dominated by family audiences there were strong signs of crossover appeal that have largely eluded summer season's high profile entries. Pictures that bring in the four quadrants have been one of the hallmarks of Pixar animation and its newest offering has all the elements to continue the trend. The film also dipped a toe into a handful of foreign markets including Russia and the Ukraine where it topped the market with a $3.5 million debut. As with Rocky, the question hovered over Die Hard about just how long Bruce Willis could return to the franchise and perform the physical demands credibly. For the moment the verdict is two thumbs up with a grudging nod from the critical community. It also got the OK in limited international exposure including a first place $6 million finish in Germany. Weekend ticket sales clocked in at roughly $157 million for a 19% rise from the immediate prior frame. It was just 1% improved from 2006 when debuts of Superman Returns and The Devil Wears Prada were the top choices with respective grosses of $40 million and $23.3 million. While the summer season continues to noticeably trail last year's pace industry pundits minimally expect the gap to close with upcoming releases of Transformers and new editions of Harry Potter, Rush Hour and Bourne again. Despite the potent box office of Fahrenheit 911, there was entrenched skepticism about the commercial prospects of Michael Moore's health care report card Sicko. The patient is doing fine with theater averages of close to $10,000 that suggests it's primarily preaching to the choir. However, with no sign of a lull in the debate, it has the makings of a long distance runner. The multi-generational drama Evening enjoyed fair response of $3.5 million but one suspects the limited wide release may not have been the best counter-programming. A similar strategy was accorded A Mighty Heart last weekend and its box office sank 60% in the sophomore round. Evan Almighty saw its initial salvo shrink by half and hopes of it taking hold as a family film have largely evaporated. The similar diminution of 1408 is being viewed as a sign of buoyancy with the Stephen King adaptation easily exceeding what was perceived as its grossing potential. The frame also had good tidings for the Quebec actioner Nitro that posted theater averages in line with last year's record breaking Bon Cop, Bad Cop. Bollywood entry Apne continued the string of recent disappointing returns for the Hindi circuit and the weekend's exclusive runs were generally fair including a reissue of the 1962 French gangster classic Le Doulos of close to $9,000 from a single in Manhattan. - Leonard Klady Weekend Estimates - June 29 - July 1, 2007 Title Distributor Gross (average) % change * Theaters Cume Ratatouille BV 46.9 (11,500) - 4080 46.9 Live Free or Die Hard Fox 32.9 (9,640) - 3408 47.9 Evan Almighty Uni 15.2 (4,170) -51% 3636 60.7 1408 MGM 10.7 (3,920) -48% 2733 40.5 Fantastic Four: Rise of Silver Surfer Fox 8.9 (2,590) -56% 3424 114.7 Knocked Up Uni 7.4 (2,740) -33% 2686 122.4 Ocean's Thirteen WB 6.1 (2,090) -47% 2903 102.1 Pirates of Caribbean: At World's End BV 4.9 (2,270) -32% 2162 295.6 Sicko Lions Gate 4.2 (9,590) - 441 4.3 Evening Focus 3.5 (3,550) - 978 3.5 Shrek the Third Par 2.5 (1,220) -55% 2066 313.6 Surf's Up Sony 2.4 (970) -63% 2503 53.7 Nancy Drew WB 1.9 (1,000) -56% 1932 21.3 A Mighty Heart Par Vantage 1.6 (1,160) -60% 1350 7 Nitro Aliance .65 (10,320) - 63 0.65 Spider-Man 2 Sony .63 (1,030) -49% 609 333.7 La Vie en Rose TVA/Picturehouse .61 (4,210) -21% 145 4.5 Mr. Brooks MGM .51 (850) -69% 602 27.8 Waitress Searchlight .50 (1,590) -47% 314 16.8 Weekend Total ($500,000+ Films) - $152.00 - - - % Change (Last Year) - 1% - - - % Change (Last Week) - 19% - - - Also debuting/expanding Once Fox Searchlight .39 (3,050) -18% 128 3.8 You Kill Me IFC .15 (3,680) -35% 41 0.49 Apne Sharma 93,100 (2,170) - 43 0.09 Le Doulos (reissue) Rialto 8,900 (8,900) - 1 0.01 Ghosts of Cite Soleil Thinkfilm 7,100 (7,100) - 1 0.01 In Between Days Kino 5,250 (5,250) - 1 0.01 Vitus Sony Classics 3,320 (1,660) - 2 0.01 Domestic Grossers: To June 28, 2007 Title Distrubutor Gross Spider-Man 3 Sony 333,091,273 Shrek the Third Par 311,065,826 Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End BV 290,742,707 300 WB 210,447,211 Wild Hogs BV 166,659,593 Night at the Museum * Fox 125,041,114 Blades of Glory Par 117,702,519 Ghost Rider Sony 117,257,346 Knocked Up Uni 114,989,430 Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer Fox 105,800,808 Meet the Robinsons BV 96,438,208 Ocean's Thirteen WB 96,034,578 Norbit Par 95,908,391 Bridge to Terabithia BV 82,272,442 Disturbia Par 78,601,385 Dreamgirls * Par 66,370,036 The Pursuit of Happyness * Sony 65,771,807 Stomp the Yard Sony 61,591,536 TMNT WB 54,149,098 Surf's Up Sony 51,313,901 * does not include 2006 box office Domestic Market Share: To June 21, 2007 Distributor (Releases) Gross Market Share Sony (17) 871.7 19.30% Paramount (13) 840.4 18.60% Buena Vista (13) 681.5 15.10% Warner Bros. (19) 580.8 12.90% Fox (15) 401.4 8.90% Universal (11) 381.9 8.50% MGM (13) 139.1 3.10% New Line (6) 108.8 2.40% Lions Gate (12) 102.1 2.30% Fox Searchlight (9) 78.2 1.70% Miramax (6) 43.8 1.00% Picturehouse (3) 42.2 0.90% Focus (2) 39.7 0.90% Sony Classics (10) 32.1 0.70% Par Vantage (4) 30.8 0.70% Weinstein Co. (6) 26.9 0.60% Other * (132) 109.6 2.40% * none greater than 0.5% 4511 100.00%