..Gary Dretzka
..Noah Forrest
..Leonard Klady
..David Poland
..Douglas Pratt
..Ray Pride
..Kim Voynar
..Michael Wilmington

September 3, 2007 Weekend Finals Summer Market Share Trick or Treat? The calendar challenged folks at MGM sprang forward with Halloween as the Labor Day weekend's top viewing choice with an estimated $33.4 million. It was also balls out for the ping pong madness of Balls of Fury that ranked third with $13.8 million and a strong screen average for the Spanish-language thriller Ladron Que Roba a Ladron on its $2.1 million tally. And while not quite living up to its title commercially, Death Sentence was close to moribund with a $5.2 million debut. Summer's last frame provided a 23% closing boost from the 2006 Labor Day session and provided the season with a closing tally of $4.17 billion that amounted to an 11% year-to-year increase as well as a 7% uptick in admissions. The industry just grinned when it was announced that Halloween was ignoring a late October berth for the traditionally fallow first week of September. Entering the weekend most pundits were predicting a top end estimate of slightly more than $20 million but as Friday matinee figures began flowing in the projections rapidly accelerated to $30 million. There also wasn't a lot of heat generated for Balls of Fury that opened Wednesday and rang up close to $3 million pre-weekend. And a big question mark hung over Ladron Que Roba a Ladron, a tongue-in-cheek U.S. made caper movie that was looking to tap into the large and elusive Hispanic market and with a $6,100 screen average ranks close to the top in terms of response. There was general surprise about the summer's last burst of activity and, of course, the industry waited breathlessly for a seasonal total. Pundits are likely to pump up the volume about a double-digit boost and any plus has to be a better than a rollback. However, it's tough to ignore prognostications of a gargantuan summer early in the year and the fact that it took three months to turn around declining numbers that had put the industry into a blue funk. The difference boiled down to a handful of potent grossing attractions that appeared much later in the season than is normally seen. The Bourne Ultimatum, The Simpsons Movie and Rush Hour 3 had been anticipated as strong titles but no one was willing to bank on the success of Hairspray or Superbad or I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry. In a sense it was a summer like any other with half the majors experiencing increased revenues and the other half taking it on the chin. And with so much of the summer consisting of high profile, very expensive sequels the math demanded revenue boosts of between 30% and 50% simply to stay even. While some of the majors likely met minimum benchmarks, it was the likes of New Line and MGM that experienced the sort of conspicuous growth that reflected the expectations that had been predicted. And apart from Rush Hour 3 they did it without benefit of pre-sold titles. So, what lessons will be learned … and which ones will be applied? - Leonard Klady Weekend Estimates - August 31 - September 3, 2007 Title Distributor Gross (average) %Chg Theas Cume Halloween MGM 33.4 (9,630) - 3472 33.4 Superbad Sony 15.4 (5,140) -31% 3002 76.83 Balls of Fury Focus 13.8 (4,520) - 3052 16.8 The Bourne Ultimatum Uni 13.1 (3,980) -18% 3290 202.5 Rush Hour 3 New Line 10.3 (3,420) -28% 3008 122.1 Mr. Bean's Holiday Uni 8.0 (4,540) -41% 1765 21 The Nanny Diaries MGM 6.6 (2,520) -31% 2636 16.8 War Lions Gate 5.3 (2,310) -58% 2277 18.1 Death Sentence Fox 5.2 (2,870) - 1822 5.2 Stardust Par 3.8 (2,160) -22% 1766 31.8 The Simpson Movie Fox 3.5 (1,700) -37% 2066 178.4 Hairspray New Line 3.3 (2,080) -19% 1604 112.1 Harry Potter & the Order of the Phoenix WB 2.4 (2,380) -24% 1017 286.7 Ladron Que Roba a Ladron Lions Gate 2.1 (6,090) - 340 2.1 Becoming Jane Miramax 2.0 (1,740) -11% 1162 15.6 Underdog BV 2.1 (1,320) -38% 1602 39.8 I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry Uni 1.6 (1,500) -37% 1076 116.6 Ratatouille BV 1.5 (1,420) -3% 1068 201.1 The Invasion WB 1.4 (1,040) -64% 1375 14 Death at a Funeral MGM 1.4 (5,260) -2% 264 4.7 Transformers Par 1.4 (1,500) -5% 937 310.4 No Reservations WB 1.2 (1,540) -25% 783 40.7 Illegal Tender Uni .76 (1,480) -60% 514 2.6 Resurrecting the Champ FreeStyle .64 (500) -69% 1284 2.9 Weekend Total ($500,000+ Films) - $140.20 - % Change (Last Year) - 23% - % Change (Last Week) - 7% - Also debuting/expanding Self-Medicated Thinkfilm 59,200 (3,700) - 16 0.06 The Nines Newmarket 29,300 (14,650) - 2 0.03 Exiled Magnolia 19,100 (9,550) - 2 0.02 Vanaja Emerging 10,500 (10,500) - 1 0.01 * % change is 3-day to 3-day Domestic Summer Market Share (May 3 - Sept 3, 2007) Rank 2007 Distributor Gross Mkt Share % Change From 2006 Rank 2006 1 Paramount 724.6 17.40% 45% 4 2 Universal 609.5 14.60% 61% 6 3 Buena Vista 580.7 13.90% -26% 1 4 Warner Bros. 544.7 13.10% 31% 5 5 Sony 521.3 12.50% -26% 2 6 Fox 470.1 11.30% -14% 3 7 New Line 251.2 6.00% 386% 14 8 MGM 169.3 4.10% 373% 11 9 Lions Gate 92.3 2.20% 36% 7 10 Focus 43.2 1.00% 33% 8 11 Fox Searchlight 34.2 0.80% 203% 15 - Other 127.5 3.10% - - - -  4168.6 100.00% 11% - % Change 2006 (Other Distributors) - Paramount Vantage - - -58% - - Picturehouse - - -47% - - Sony Classics - - -11% - - Weinstein Co. - - -81% -