..Gary Dretzka
..Noah Forrest
..Leonard Klady
..R.J. Matson
..David Poland
..Douglas Pratt
..Ray Pride
..Michael Wilmington

June 1 , 2008 Weekend Finals Domestic Market Share Top Global Grossers Sexyyyyyy... In possibly the first pleasant surprise of the season Sex and the City led weekend movie going with an estimated $56.1 million in its debut session. Also unexpected was a potent $20.6 million bow for the horror programmer The Strangers that ranked third in the frame lineup. Together they provided for a thrust that translated into a significant boost from 2007 grosses. Response to limited releases was generally good with the mocumentary The Foot First Way generating $34,300 at four sites and the similarly themed verity Bigger, Stronger, Faster adding up $29,700 at six venues. American indie Saving Grace had an encouraging start of $22,300 in a pair of exclusives and the genre thriller Stuck proved a passable amusement with an $8,400 gross form two encounters. While the critics were generally ho-hum about the big screen Sex and the City, there was no sign of indifference from devotees of the further exploits of Carrie and her posse. Expectations of an opening salvo between $35 million and $40 million were shattered when Friday figures tallied up to more than $26 million. However, Saturday experienced a sharper than anticipated 34% drop that was more typical of arcs for concert films with high first day "want see." Warner Bros. distribution president Dan Fellman said first day exits reflected an extraordinarily high 85% female attendance. The film also set a new benchmark for the debut of an R-rated comedy; shattering the $45 million bow of American Pie. Sex additionally ranked in the top 10 for advance ticket sales that suggested box office estimates were conservative about the film's potency. Sex and the City went day-and-date in a handful of overseas venues generating uniformly strong response. Among initial results was a $10 million weekend in Great Britain following $7.5 million from Wednesday/Thursday business. It grossed $5 million in Germany and an opening day gross of $1.3 million in France from 550 theaters. The Strangers - a tale of a vacationing couple terrorized by thugs - was largely viewed as counter-programming with limited chances to prevail in the competitive marketplace. But reviews were generally upbeat and word-of-mouth proved sufficiently strong to provide a slight boost for Saturday returns in a genre that generally experiences double-digit second day declines. Weekend box office should by close to $170 million for a slim 1% decline from last weekend's three-day portion of the Memorial weekend session. There was a demonstrable 28% improvement from 2007 when the second weekend of The Pirates of the Caribbean finale grossed $44.2 million and the bow of Knocked Up followed with $30.7 million. The anticipated 50% to 60% drop for Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull fell roughly in the middle of the range but such films as Iron Man and What Happens in Vegas are holding well against the competition. Nonetheless, the number of films in wide release continues to erode rapidly with just 10 movies grossing in excess of $1 million during the past weekend. - Leonard Klady Weekend Finals - May 30-June 1, 2008 Title Distrib Weekend % Change* Theaters Cume Wks 1 New Sex and the City WB 56,848,056 - 3285 56,848,056 1 2 1 Indiana Jones & Kingdom of Crystal Skull Par 44,754,615 -55% 4264 215,635,899 2 3 New The Strangers Uni/Alliance 20,997,985 - 2466 20,997,985 1 4 3 Iron Man Par 13,541,264 -34% 3650 276,166,336 5 5 2 Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian BV 12,704,545 -44% 3801 115,362,725 3 6 4 What Happens in Vegas Fox 6,681,097 -27% 3086 65,904,971 4 7 5 Speed Racers WB 2,259,031 -43% 2070 40,677,371 4 8 7 Baby Mama Uni 2,194,320 -35% 1784 56,117,805 6 9 6 Made of Honor Sony 1,913,035 -43% 1905 42,878,354 5 10 8 Forgetting Sarah Marshall Uni 1,059,840 -40% 768 60,485,980 7 11 10 The Visitor Overture 553,704 -23% 270 5,322,550 8 12 9 Harold & Kumar Escape Guantanamo WB 487,021 -47% 474 36,967,086 6 13 11 Horton Hears a Who Fox 367,734 -23% 428 152,571,420 12 14 42 The Fall Roadside Attract. 345,138 597% 108 646,364 4 15 12 Forbidden Kingdom Lions Gate 247,656 -41% 262 51,730,925 7 16 13 Then She Found Me Thinkfilm/TVA 244,812 -39% 150 2,840,511 6 17 15 Nim's Island Fox 230,671 -22% 350 46,109,150 9 18 14 Young@Heart Fox Searchlight 220,190 -32% 197 2,840,511 8 19 16 21 Sony 204,891 -35% 336 83,025,091 10 20 17 College Road Trip BV 195,596 -36% 241 44,531,764 13 21 22 Sea Monsters: A Prehistoric Adventure nWave 189,845 16% 48 13,430,080 35 22 19 Son of Rambow Par Vantage 165,570 -31% 139 1,175,679 5 23 20 Prom Night Sony/Alliance 137,033 -34% 203 43,995,413 8 24 18 Drillbit Taylor Par 121,119 -62% 142 32,700,565 11 25 23 Dolphins and Whales 3-D 3D Entertainment 114,539 -1% 15 2,035,377 15 26 21 Roman de Gare IDP 104,267 -33% 35 648,202 5 27 37 U2 3D nWave 88,611 10% 11 8,232,943 19 28 32 Superhero Movie MGM 82,780 -5% 157 25,638,520 10 29 27 The Counterfeiters Sony Classics 80,161 -22% 97 5,154,980 15 30 26 10,000 B.C. WB 69,505 -34% 139 94,647,446 13 31 29 Street Kings Fox Searchlight 65,113 -35% 98 26,238,385 8 32 24 Before the Rains Roadside Attract. 64,932 -39% 44 445,280 4 33 25 88 Minutes Sony  63,770 -38% 86 17,194,916 7 34 35 The Ruins Par 63,700 -22% 140 17,348,436 9 35 60 Space Station 3-D Imax 63,467 116% 8 75,242,680 319 36 31 Leatherheads Uni 60,015 -33% 138 31,199,215 9 37 75 Edge of Heaven Metropole 55,954 129% 9 192,815 5 38 43 The Bank Job Lions Gate 52,959 2% 130 30,028,592 13