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

March 16, 2008 Weekend Finals Top Limited Grosses Domestic Market Share Who's On First ... Doc Seuss's Horton Hears a Who translated best to the big screen audience this past weekend with an estimated $45.3 million. It was sloppy seconds for the frame's two other national freshmen with the teen martial arts yarn Never Back Down generating a respectable $8.8 million to rank third overall and the Apocalyptic adventure Doomsday struggling to find a crowd with a $4.7 million tally. Limited release openers generated uninspiring returns including Funny Games' failure to translate controversy into box office with a $520,000 gross from 289 theaters. American indie drama Sleepwalking proved commercially somnambulistic with a $1,640 average from 30 venues and Maldeamores targeted at the Hispanic audience sputtered with an $830 per screen in 20 exposures. The potent bow of the first big screen animated adaptation of the beloved Dr. Seuss assuaged critics ruffled by live-action movie Grinch and hatted Cats. Horton Hears a Who broke a series of arcane box office records but the really important one is its current status as 2008's biggest opening grosser. With the current absence of family fare in the marketplace expectations were high for the movie … just not as high as ticket sales bore out. Never Back Down repped the first saturation release for Summit and as with most start ups there was plenty of room to observe: "if only this film had been released by a major." Summit's ground floor participation with such films as Step Up, Babel and Michael Clayton has resulted in impressive international returns. But logically starting a domestic operation at full throttle would have been a true anomaly. Similarly, the prospect of squeezing more commercial juice out of Rogue Pictures' genre outings by flipping distribution from Focus to Universal is likely best served on a title by title basis. Doomsday, in retrospect, played no better going out via the mother company. Weekend box office experienced a 12% boost from last weekend with overall revenues approaching $118 million. Horton had that extra bit of b.o. utz to push grosses up 2% from 2007 when the second weekend of 300 led with $32.9 million and the top new entry was Premonition at $17.6 million. Holdover titles displayed no great stamina and it's safe to say that the award/Oscar season is officially over. Last week's leader 10,000 B.C. took a 55% hit and continues to be the overall prominent title in the international arena. Horton's initial foreign foray saw it slightly out-paced in Mexico and Spain by the caveman and a local debut in Germany but first in Brazil and excluding previews in the U.K. and Australia, it corralled an estimated $14.2 million. Activity in the margins continued to be tepid though the session's debut of Funny Games generated considerable media scrutiny. An American adaptation of and by Michael Haneke of his decade old Austrian movie raised eyebrows for its scathing look at a complacent society via the framework of an abusive psychological thriller. Defenders applauded the filmmaker's fiat of challenging viewers not to look … but in the end there appeared little concrete reason to thrown down the gauntlet. - Leonard Klady Weekend Finals - March 14-16, 2008 Title Distrib Weekend % Change* Theaters Cume Wks 1 New Horton Hears a Who Fox 45,012,998 - 3954 45,012,998 1 2 1 10,000 B.C. WB 16,773,312 -53% 3410 61,577,423 2 3 New Never Back Down Summit 8,603,195 - 2729 8,603,195 1 4 2 College Road Trip BV 7,810,400 -43% 2706 24,203,543 2 5 3 Vantage Point Sony 5,462,747 -26% 2761 59,263,128 4 6 4 The Bank Job Lions Gate 5,054,961 -15% 1613 13,257,949 2 7 New Doomsday Uni 4,926,565 - 1936 4,926,565 1 8 5 Semi-Pro New Line 3,043,162 -47% 2270 29,809,714 3 9 7 The Other Boleyn Girl Sony 2,882,846 -29% 1212 19,153,729 3 10 6 The Spiderwick Chronicles Par 2,335,238 -50% 2407 65,376,031 5 11 8 Jumper Fox 2,025,810 -45% 1605 75,657,556 5 12 11 Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day Focus 1,940,781 -22% 539 5,299,639 2 13 10 Fool's Gold WB 1,688,262 -39% 1505 65,356,918 6 14 9 Step Up 2 the Streets BV 1,531,231 -50% 1546 55,458,225 5 15 13 Juno Fox Searchlight 1,192,817 -39% 846 139,812,288 15 16 12 Penelope Summit 886,917 -58% 757 8,258,801 3 17 14 Definitely, Maybe Uni 695,520 -40% 649 30,689,995 5 18 18 The Bucket List WB 618,202 -49% 595 90,218,795 12 19 16 Be Kind Rewind New Line 591,178 -49% 452 10,026,037 4 20 17 Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins Uni 579,165 -49% 515 41,666,605 6 21 15 No Country for Old Men Miramax 525,085 -66% 511 73,674,390 19 22 New Funny Games WIP 510,958 - 274 510,958 1 23 21 In Bruges Focus 487,876 -6% 211 5,246,624 6 24 20 Alvin and the Chipmunks Fox 478,797 10% 461 215,163,603 14 25 26 The Counterfeiters Sony Classics 419,049 50% 72 1,214,974 4 26 27 Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus 3-D BV 402,684 0% 60 64,156,981 7 27 19 There Will Be Blood Par Vantage 346,935 -62% 339 39,339,536 12 28 29 The Band's Visit Sony Classics 263,633 7% 105 1,564,060 6 29 24 U2 3D nWave 241,010 -21% 66 6,589,038 6 30 23 27 Dresses Fox 234,735 -35% 272 75,525,410 9 31 25 I Am Legend WB 228,857 -22% 264 256,015,411 14 32 22 The Eye Lions Gate 205,709 -48% 213 30,979,834 7 33 37 Cloverfield Par 187,004 46% 357 79,589,201 9 34 31 Enchanted BV 181,998 -19% 256 127,989,260 17 35 34 Sea Monsters: A Prehistoric Adventure nWave 166,588 10% 45 9,029,475 24 36 30 National Treasure: Book of Secrets BV 165,786 -30% 177 217,216,391 13 37 32 La Ligne brisee Alliance 153,675 -16% 65 432,975 2 38 47 Rambo Lions Gate 104,508 46% 201 42,611,220 8 39 33 Atonement Focus 101,505 -35% 129 50,732,545 15 40 51 Married Life Sony Classics 97,915 75% 22 178,243 2 41 28 Witless Protection Lions Gate 87,652 -65% 196 4,131,640 4 42 71 Paranoid Park IFC/Filmoption 86,818 191% 29 145,229 2 43 38 Mad Money Overture 84,133 -30% 155 20,536,106 9 44 35 The Water Horse: Legend of Deep Sony 75,501 -48% 179 41,915,580 12 45 60 Deep Sea 3-D WB 70,875 68% 10 34,606,940 107 46 39 Jodhaa Akbar UTV 70,040 -41% 40 3,336,296 5 47 41 The Diving Bell and the Butterfly Miramax 61,253 -28% 65 5,791,810 16 48 53 Dolphins and Whales 3-D 3D Entertainment 59,556 9% 10 397,174 5 49 40 Meet the Spartans Fox 58,433 -50% 91 38,011,770 8 50 42 The Savages Fox Searchlight 54,554 -34% 58 6,426,953 16 51 43 Persepolis Sony Classics 52,999 -35% 60 4,019,675 12 52 44 The Kite Runner Par Vantage 50,914 -38% 74 15,690,103 14 53 73 Caramel Roadside Attract. 49,709 83% 26 507,717 7 54 50 4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 Days IFC/Mongrol 47,834 -17% 44 1,165,676 18 55 New Sleepwalking Overture 47,762 - 30 47,762 1 56 58 Space Station 3-D Imax 46,282 4% 7 73,866,926 309 57 36 Charlie Bartlett MGM 46,078 -68% 80 3,846,192 4 58 63 Borderline TVA 43,309 12% 32 1,024,983 6 59 54 Diary of the Dead Weinstein Co. 42,713 -21% 47 750,309 5 60 56 CJ7 Sony Classics 42,233 -15% 25 104,527 2 61 62 Magnificent Desolation Imax 40,129 2% 7 22,907,477 130 62 RE Continental, un film sans fusils Christal 36,047 - 8 163,972 14 63 46 Untraceable Sony 33,997 -53% 49 28,892,644 8 64 52 City of Men Miramax 33,753 -38% 38 307,076 4 65 45 The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything Uni 32,824 -55% 103 12,914,476 10 66 70 Up the Yangtze KinoSmith 30,570 -2% 9 333,013 6 67 64 La Vie en Rose Picturehse/TVA 28,489 -27% 23 10,194,734 53 68 69 Year My Parents Went on Vacation City Lights 25,514 -19% 20 341,801 5 69 New Maldeamores Maya 25,486 - 25 25,486 1 70 83 Snow Angels WIP 25,428 78% 3 44,898 2 71 59 Bee Movie Par 25,420 -42% 61 127,185,171 20 72 65 The Golden Compass New Line 25,158 -34% 58 70,188,003 15 73 55 Sweeney Todd Par 25,048 -52% 72 52,882,759 13 74 66 Charlie Wilson's War Uni 24,228 -32% 29 66,748,978 13 75 49 Michael Clayton WB 23,808 -63% 43 49,024,969 24 76 68 P.S. I Love You WB 23,657 -26% 37 53,719,465 13 77 57 One Missed Call WB 23,392 -47% 51 26,913,433 11 78 48 Bonneville SenArts 22,979 -69% 24 386,969 3 79 77 Chicago 10 Roadside Attract. 22,888 13% 13 106,401 3 80 75 The Orphanage Pichouse/Christal 22,019 2% 31 7,102,135 12 81 72 Girls Rock! Shadow 17,461 -41% 13 58,965 2 Source: MCN/EDI   Estimates - March 14-16, 2008 Title Distributor Gross (average) % change * Theaters Cume Horton Hears a Who Fox 45.3 (11,460) - 3954 45.3 10,000 B.C. WB 16.2 (4,750) -55% 3410 61 Never Back Down Summit 8.8 (3,220) - 2729 8.8 College Road Trip BV 7.9 (2,920) -42% 2706 24.3 Vantage Point Sony 5.5 (1,980) -26% 2761 59.3 The Bank Job  Lions Gate 4.9 (3,020) -18% 1613 13.1 Doomsday Uni 4.7 (2,420) - 1936 4.7 Semi-Pro New Line 3.0 (1,320) -48% 2270 29.8 The Other Boleyn Girl Sony 2.9 (2,380) -29% 1212 19.1 The Spiderwick Chronicles Par 2.3 (970) -51% 2407 65.4 Jumper Fox 2.0 (1,270) -44% 1605 75.7 Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day Focus 1.9 (3,580) -23% 539 5.3 Fool's Gold WB 1.7 (1,150) -38% 1505 65.4 Step Up 2: The Streets BV 1.5 (950) -52% 1546 55.4 Juno Fox Searchlight 1.2 (1,390) -40% 846 139.8 Penelope Summit .89 (1,180) -58% 757 8.3 Definitely, Maybe Uni .73 (1,120) -57% 649 30.7 Be Kind Rewind New Line .63 (1,390) -46% 452 10 The Bucket List WB .61 (1,030) -41% 595 90.2 Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins Uni .59 (1,140) -48% 515 41.7 No Country for Old Men Miramax .53 (1,040) -66% 511 73.7 Funny Games WIP .52 (1,800) - 289 0.52 Weekend Total ($500,000+ Films) - $114.30 - - - % Change (Last Year) - 2% - - - % Change (Last Week) - 12% - - - Also debuting/expanding The Counterfeiters Sony Classics .39 (5,560) 42% 71 1.2 Paranoid Park Filmop/IFC 80,200 (2,770) 125% 29 0.14 Sleepwalking Overture 49,300 (1,640) - 30 0.05 Maldeamores Maya 16,600 (830) - 20 0.02 Contempt Rialto 13,100 (13,100) - 1 0.01 Towards Darkness Peace Arch 1,220 (1,220) - 1 0.01   Domestic Market Share - To March 13, 2008 Distributor (releases) Gross Mkt Share Warner Bros. (12) 322.7 18.20% Fox (7) 269.5 15.20% Buena Vista (8) 236.1 13.30% Paramount (5) 170.9 9.60% Sony (10) 166.4 9.40% Fox Searchlight (3) 115.4 6.50% Universal (5) 113.2 6.40% Lions Gate (6) 85.8 4.80% Par Vantage (6) 63.2 3.50% New Line (4) 53.2 3.00% Focus (4) 47.6 2.70% Miramax (3) 36.6 2.10% Overture (1) 20.4 1.10% MGM (6) 20.2 1.10% Other * (69) 55.6 3.10% - 1776.8 100.00% Top Limited Grossers - To March 6, 2008 Title Distributor Gross The Orphanage Picture/Christal 6,785,399 U2 3D nWave 5,928,939 The Diving Bell and the Butterfly Mrmx 4,658,936 The Savages Fox Searchlight 4,439,120 In Bruges Focus 4,029,929 Persepolis Sony Classics 3,668,394 Jodhaa Akbar UTV 3,114,658 Sea Monsters: A Prehistoric Adventure nWave 2,908,041 Cassandra's Dream Weinstein Co. 978,515 The Band's Visit Sony Classics 970,389