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

July 27, 2008 Weekend Estimates Domestic Market Share Top Grossers Canada Step Lively The (Dark) Knight remained box office king with a weekend estimated at $76.5 million but there was significant room for laughs as Step Brothers debuted in second place with a potent $30 million. Doubting Thomases plagued X-Files: I Want to Believe - the frame's other national bow - with the franchise attracting a fan base of $10.1 million to rank fourth. Activity was fierce in the niche and limited arenas with Brideshead Revisited getting a commercial thumb's up just shy of $330,000 from 33 venues. The tightrope act of Man on Wire was applauded to $47,400 on two screens but two new Bollywood entries were moribund. Also on the plus side were pop doc American Teen with a $41,200 tally at five and Brit social drama Boy A generating $11,400 at two sites. Last weekend's one-two punch of The Dark Knight and Mamma Mia! had excellent sophomore frames with respective drops of 52% and 36%. The gloomy Bat set a new speed record as it passed the $200 million milestone in its 10th day in theaters with Imax sites particularly buoyant with screen averages triple those of conventional engagements. The other film benefiting from unconventional exhibition is Journey to the Center of the Earth in its roughly 800 3-D exposures. While critical response was mixed, reviewers urged filmgoers to see the enhanced version if they opted to buy a ticket. Theater owners and distributors only complaint is the paucity of 3-D outlets that essentially limit the marketplace to a single stereoscopic release at a time. Pundits sensed that summer viewers were ready for seasonal silliness but unconvinced by a new tale of the paranormal and both predictions proved valid. The Ferrell-Reilly comedy redux of Step Brothers effectively touched the national funny bone and its strategic arrival should ride out the rest of the summer. The new X-Files, despite claims of non-cognoscenti appeal, played to the choir and that may for bottom lines be just enough to break even. However, die-hards may have been a bit non-plused as the new big screen yarn played more like CSI than The Outer Limits. Weekend box office approached $180 million and experienced a not unexpected 32% decline from the prior record setting session. It was also slightly off the 2007 pace by 3% when The Simpsons Movie bowed to a staggering $74 million. Industry trackers were skeptical of the summer placement of Brideshead Revisited but the historic record for niche upscale fare has plenty of positive precedent to support an audience for alternative fare. Mongol and The Visitor have already effectively mined the hot months and the current roll outs of Tell No One and The Wackness are also contributing to the expansion of the summer crowd. - Leonard Klady Weekend Estimates - July 18-20, 2008 Title Distributor Gross (average) % change * Theaters Cume The Dark Knight WB 76.5 (17,520) -52% 4366 315.1 Step Brothers Sony 30.0 (9,690) - 3094 30 Mamma Mia! Uni 17.8 (5,940) -36% 2990 62.6 X-Files: I Want to Believe Fox 10.1 (3,160) - 3185 10.1 Journey to the Center of the Earth WB 9.3 (3,470) -24% 2688 60.1 Hancock Sony 8.0 (2,420) -43% 3309 206.2 Wall-E BV 6.2 (2,043) -38% 3044 195.1 Hellboy II: The Golden Army Uni 4.8 (1,600) -52% 3018 65.8 Space Chimps Fox 4.3 (1,700) -40% 2538 15.9 Wanted Uni 2.7 (1,520) -47% 1754 128.6 Get Smart WB 2.1 (1,490) -49% 1420 124 Kung Fu Panda Par 1.0 (1,110) -45% 917 209 Kit Kittredge: An American Girl Picturehouse .62 (1,160) -35% 535 15.3 Indiana Jones: Kingdom of Crystal Skull Par .57 (1,190) -40% 477 313.6 Sex and the City WB .51 (1,470) -29% 347 150.9 The Incredible Hulk Uni .39 (970) -38% 403 132.5 Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian BV .38 (1,180) 171% 322 140.1 Meet Dave Fox .37 (740) -78% 503 10.8 Tell No One Music Box .36 (4,910) -8% 75 1.6 Brideshead Reisited Miramax .33 (9,970) - 33 0.33 Weekend Total ($500,000+ Films) - $174.40 - - - % Change (Last Year) - -3% - - - % Change (Last Week) - -32% - - - Also debuting/expanding The Wackness Sony Classics .19 (1,690) 24% 111 1.01 Mongol Picturehouse .16 (1,120) -37% 144 5.2 Man on Wire Magnolia 47,400 (23,700) - 2 0.05 American Teen Par Ventage 41,200 (8,220) - 5 0.04 CSNY: déjà vu Roadside At. 38,800 (1,620) - 24 0.04 Money Hai To Honey Hai Eros 20,300 (810) - 25 0.02 Mission Istanbul Shemaroo 14,100 (830) - 17 0.01 Boy A Weinstein Co. 11,400 (7,200) - 2 0.01 Bustin' Down the Door Screen Media 10,500 (2,620) - 4 0.01 Jack Brooks: Monster Slayer Anchor Bay 4,800 (1,200) - 4 0.01 No Regrets Regent 3,900 (1,950) - 2 0.01 Domestic Market Share - To July 24, 2008 Distributor (releases) Gross Market Share Paramount (12) 1109.1 19.50% Warner Bros. (18) 1028.9 18.10% Universal (14) 695.4 12.20% Sony (16) 681.8 12.00% Fox (15) 678.8 11.90% Buena Vista (10) 603.9 10.60% Lions Gate (8) 204.1 3.60% Fox Searchlight (5) 150.8 2.60% Par Vantage (9) 71.9 1.30% New Line (4) 61.8 1.10% Focus (5) 60.1 1.10% Miramax (5) 48.1 0.80% MGM (9) 46.5 0.80% Summit (2) 34.9 0.60% Picturehouse (6) 32.7 0.60% Other * (194) 180.5 3.20% * none greater than 0.5% 5689.3 100.00% Top Limited Releases - To July 24, 2008 Title * Distributor Gross Under the Same Moon Weinstein Co. 12,590,147 Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day Focus 12,413,165 Sea Monsters: A Prehistoric Adventure nWave 10,601,018 U2 3D nWave 8,942,770 The Visitor Overture 8,891,128 In Bruges Focus 7,800,824 The Orphanage Picture/Christal 6,894,612 The Counterfeiters Sony Classics 5,463,111 Shine a Light Par Vantage 5,421,098 The Diving Bell and the Butterfly Mrmx 5,064,793 Mongol Picturehouse 5,008,741 The Savages Fox Searchlight 4,795,616 Persepolis Sony Classics 4,266,064 Young@Heart Fox Searchlight 3,847,606 Then She Found Me Thinkfilm 3,679,854 Jodhaa Akbar UTV 3,440,718 Dolphins and Whales 3D 3D Entertainment 3,341,856 The Band's Visit Sony Classics 3,054,457 Cruising Bar 2 Alliance 2,776,340 Space Station Imax 2,679,134