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

January 25, 2009 Weekend Finals Domestic Market Share Top Domestic Releases Subterranean Mallsick Blues ... Greens You can keep a bad man down … but not by much. The bow of Underworld: Rise of the Lycans was top of the pops on its opening day but lost ground as the weekend progressed; finishing with an estimated $20.5 million. But bragging rights went to the second-weekend gross of Paul Blart: Mall Cop, who shopped 'til he dropped $21.3 million. In a frame informed by a lot of Oscar maneuvering, the only other national newcomer was the family targeted fantasy Inkheart, which opened seventh overall with $7.7 million. There were also a handful of niche and exclusive premieres including the oft-delayed Elmore Leonard adaptation Killshot and the Viking saga Overlander but none provided an opening salvo of commercial significance. Whether the third installment of Underworld spawns a fourth chapter will come down to its cost to return. The saga has now shifted its focus to secondary characters and while budgets have been kept in line, its debut gross is slightly lower than the prior two editions. As for Inkheart -- a holdover New Line production -- the domestic returns are less significant than business already generated overseas in the likes of Britain and Germany. Weekend revenues rang in with slightly more than $157 million, which was 19% lower than the three-day portion of last week’s Martin Luther King holiday frame. They were a not insignificant 9% improved from 2008 when the opening of Meet the Spartans edged out another newcomer -- the revived Rambo -- with $18.5 million to $18.2 million. In a new day for America, the Academy realized late in the game that its traditional Tuesday announcement of the final Oscar ballot happened to fall on Inauguration Obama Day and pushed back to Thursday. That made expansion plans for quite a number of films a bigger roll of the dice than usual. It’s fair to say that no one had quite anticipated the Oscar love for The Reader, which lost 104 engagements. Conversely pundits anticipated several locked nominations for Gran Torino that failed to materialize. However, that film has the sizeable consolation prize of becoming actor-director’s highest grossing domestic release ever. Also absent was a picture nomination for The Dark Knight which, despite a holiday debut on DVD, re-launched at 350 theaters including 350 large format engagements. Disney held back on a WALL-E reissue and though it garnered several nods, it came up short on the all important top category. Milk simply decided to wait a week rather than go head-to-head with so many expanding titles. Among the best picture nominees, Slumdog Millionaire finally went wide and given its media status as frontrunner could well wind up with a domestic gross of more than $100 million. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, already in wide release, got a slight box office bump while Frost/Nixon went wide to good but not outstanding returns. The latter film continues to suffer from the fact that the masses perceive that they already know the story. Other films that wound up on the Oscar ballot ranged from receiving no bounce (Doubt) to ripping returns (The Wrestler). Revolutionary Road also went wide effectively but its boost has more to do with marquee value than kudo recognition. - Leonard Klady Weekend Finals - January 23-25, 2009 Title Distrib Weekend % Change* Theaters Cume Wks 1 1 Paul Blart: Mall Cop Sony 21,623,182 -32% 3144 64,923,380 2 2 New Underworld: Rise of the Lycans Sony 20,828,511 - 2942 20,828,511 1 3 2 Gran Torino WB 16,244,462 -26% 3045 97,819,975 7 4 5 Hotel for Dogs Par 12,860,944 -24% 3271 37,455,759 2 5 10 Slumdog Millionaire Fox Searchlight 10,699,629 83% 1411 56,065,245 11 6 3 My Bloody Valentine 3D Lions Gate 10,012,658 -53% 2534 37,687,394 2 7 New Inkheart WB 7,601,379 - 2655 7,601,379 1 8 6 Bride Wars Fox 6,868,664 -41% 2621 48,570,928 3 9 11 Curious Case of Benjamin Button Par 6,085,919 9% 2263 111,129,482 5 10 4 Notorious Fox Searchlight 5,779,692 -72% 1641 31,874,538 3 11 8 Defiance Par Vantage 5,666,785 -36% 1793 18,564,544 4 12 17 Revolutionary Road Par Vantage 5,185,146 191% 1058 11,784,049 5 13 7 The Unborn Uni 4,359,865 -53% 2107 39,230,025 3 14 19 The Wrestler Fox Searchlight 3,745,643 120% 566 9,557,610 6 15 9 Marley and Me Fox 3,031,969 -51% 2036 138,092,165 5 16 25 Frost/Nixon Uni 3,022,250 351% 1099 12,005,811 8 17 13 Last Chance Harvey Overture 2,865,298 -33% 1108 9,529,976 5 18 12 Bedtime Stories BV 1,955,408 -59% 1660 107,600,474 5 19 14 Valkyrie MGM 1,509,786 -60% 1110 80,740,385 5 20 20 The Reader Weinstein Co. 1,403,410 9% 367 9,661,121 7 21 18 Twilight Summit 978,618 -44% 552 186,027,660 10 22 16 Not Easily Broken Sony 960,618 -51% 483 9,750,971 3 23 23 Milk Focus 884,715 14% 250 21,637,349 9 24 21 Doubt Miramax 847,855 -31% 404 26,753,136 7 25 15 Yes Man WB 803,019 -69% 704 95,383,486 6 26 RE The Dark Knight WB 667,397 - 350 531,706,809 28 27 27 Madagascar: Escape to Africa Par 509,443 -4% 303 178,853,694 12 28 35 Rachel Getting Married Sony Classics 459,641 348% 370 11,252,249 17 29 22 Seven Pounds Sony 298,514 -82% 319 69,951,824 6 30 24 The Tale of Despereaux Uni 288,540 -60% 380 49,604,065 6 31 30 Quantum of Silence Sony 225,161 -33% 272 168,368,427 11 32 31 Australia Fox 211,154 -29% 241 48,687,600 9 33 32 Four Christmases WB 208,689 -21% 310 119,924,307 9 34 29 Bolt BVI 182,603 -48% 181 112,818,114 10 35 33 Che IFC 164,142 -30% 35 852,607 7 36 New Arundhati Ficus 158,136 - 11 158,136 1 37 37 Waltz with Bashir Sony Class/E1 150,458 91% 25 754,796 5 38 28 The Day the Earth Stood Still Fox 138,222 -70% 185 78,609,083 7 39 26 Chandni Chowk to China WB 125,392 -80% 130 869,611 2 40 34 Beverly Hills Chihuahua BV 100,858 -23% 158 94,408,857 17 41 64 Transporter 3 Lions Gate 97,638 438% 188 32,017,834 9 42 38 Vicky Christina Barcelona Weinstein Co. 77,453 -9% 53 23,118,152 24 43 New Raaz: The Mystery Continues Vishesh 76,648 - 44 76,648 1 44 36 Role Models Uni 75,705 -28% 147 67,266,300 12 45 42 Happy-Go-Lucky Miramax 65,368 -9% 44 3,577,384 16 46 New Outlander Weinstein Co. 59,581 - 81 59,581 1 47 New Entre les murs (The Class) Metropole 56,205 - 11 56,205 1 48 44 Let the Right One In Magnolia 52,304 -11% 40 1,763,900 14 49 40 Sea Monsters: A Prehistoric Adventure NatGeo 50,350 -35% 16 20,691,842 69 50 47 Synedoche, New York Sony Classics 47,581 20% 28 2,921,090 14 51 46 I've Loved You So Long Sony Classics 39,719 -6% 28 2,599,472 19 52 45 Fireproof IDP 26,350 -42% 62 33,451,479 18 53 50 Fly Me to the Moon Summit 35,577 -10% 13 12,734,551 24 54 66 Wendy and Lucy Oscilloscope 32,672 185% 8 193,690 7 55 New Love Me Again ABS 28,464 - 3 31,723 1 56 43 High School Musical 3 BV 25,629 -51% 83 90,535,406 14 57 41 Maska  KAD Entertain. 24,347 -69% 11 115,594 1 58 53 Magnificent Desolation Imax 24,228 -15% 6 27,299,331 175 59 55 Space Station 3D Imax 20,740 -23% 7 77,431,654 254 60 59 Roving Mars BV 19,291 -1% 7 9,932,920 157 61 48 The Secret Life of Bees Fox Searchlight 19,282 -45% 39 37,704,599 15 62 61 Changeling Uni 18,858 -11% 44 35,888,165 14 Source: EDI/MCN   Estimates Title Distributor Gross (avg) % chg* Theas Cume Paul Blart: Mall Cop Sony 21.3 (6,780) --33% 3144 64.6 Underworld 3 Sony 20.5 (6,980) - 2942 20.5 Gran Torino WB 15.4 (5,070) -30% 3045 97.0 Hotel for Dogs Par 12.4 (3,790) -27% 3271 37.0 Slumdog Millionaire Fox Searchlight 10.4 (7,350) 86% 1411 55.7 My Blood Valentine 3D Lions Gate 9.9 (3,900) -53% 2534 37.6 Inkheart WB 7.7 (2,890) - 2655 7.7 Bride Wars Fox 6.9 (2,640) -41% 2621 48.6 Curious Case of Benjamin Button Par 5.8 (2,580) 5% 2263 110.9 Notorious Fox Searchlight 5.6 (3,440) -72% 1641 31.7 Revolutionary Road Par Vantage 5.3 (5,020) 198% 1058 11.9 Defiance Par Vantage 5.2 (2,910) -41% 1793 18.1 The Unborn Uni 4.5 (2,130) -52% 2107 39.4 The Wrestler Fox Searchlight 3.6 (6,340) 111% 566 9.4 Frost/Nixon Uni 3.0 (2,730) 347% 1099 12.0 Marley and Me Fox 2.9 (1,410) -53% 2036 137.9 Last Chance Harvey Overture 2.8 (2,550) -34% 1108 9.5 Bedtime Stories BV 1.8 (1,080) -62% 1660 107.4 Valkyrie MGM 1.4 (1,230) -64% 1110 80.6 The Reader Weinstein Co. 1.2 (3,350) -4% 367 9.5 Not Easily Broken Sony 1.0 (2,010) -50% 483 9.8 Twilight Summit .94 (1,700) -46% 552 186.0 Yes Man WB .86 (1,220) -67% 704 95.4 Milk Focus .83 (3,320) 7% 250 21.6 Doubt Miramax .81 (2,000) -34% 404 26.7 The Dark Knight WB .65 (1,860) - 350 531.7 Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa Par .51 (1,640) -3% 310 178.8 Weekend Total ($500,000+ Films) $153.20 - - - % Change (Last Year) 9% - - - % Change (Last Week) -19% - - - Also debuting/expanding Waltz with Bashir Sony Class/E1 .15 (5,320) 89% 28 0.84 Che IFC .11 (5,090) -54% 21 0.69 Outlander Weinstein Co. 56,300 (700) - 81 0.06 Killshot Weinstein Co. 10,200 (2,040) - 5 0.01 Of Time and the City No Logic 4,300 (4,300) - 1 0.01 Donkey Punch Magnolia 4,100 (4,100) - 1 0.01 The Lodger Stage 6 3,800 (760) - 5 0.01 Domestic Market Share - January 1 - 22, 2009 Distributor (releases) Gross Mrkt Share Fox ( 4) 118.8 16.70% Warner Bros. (10) 117.3 16.50% Paramount (4) 80 11.30% Sony (5) 79.2 11.10% Buena Vista (5) 57.8 8.10% Universal (5) 55.9 7.70% Fox Searchlight (4) 54.1 7.60% MGM (3) 38.5 5.40% Lions Gate (3) 34.7 4.90% Paramount Vantage (2) 19.2 2.70% Miramax (3) 14.7 2.10% Summit (2) 14.6 2.10% Weinstein Co. (3) 7.1 1.00% Focus (1) 6.8 1.00% Overture (2) 6.2 0.90% Other * (23) 6.1 0.90% * none greater than 0.5% 711 100.00%