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

July 19, 2009 Weekend Estimates Domestic Market Share Top Grossers HP and the Full-Blooded Dish It was all Harry 24/7 as the sixth installment, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, stormed the box office with an estimated $79.7 million box office ($159.9 million for 5½ days). It was the most fierce debut in the series history (inflation unadjusted) and all the more incredible in light of a paucity of Imax playdates (just three). The session also afforded a torrid debut for the youthful romance (500) Days of Summer of $850,000 from a scant 27 screens. Otherwise niche bows were largely subsumed by the Hogwarts deluge. Anticipation was rabid for the latest chapter in the money-printing franchise with some pundits spit-balling the prospects of a $200 million opening week gross. And while its opening salvo was bigger than past efforts, the film’s box office curve proportionally was a virtual carbon copy to the prior episode, Order of the Phoenix. The difference, at least domestically, was the absence of large-format dates that won’t enter the picture significantly until the third weekend and should be a large carrot for fans anxious to repeat the viewing experience. While a number of box office records for an individual film were broken, one Potter wasn’t enough to carry the marketplace. Overall revenues pushed close to $165 million and that represented a 13% upturn from last weekend’s Bruno debut. But it plummeted 38% from 2008 when The Dark Knight virtually equaled the current session with a $158.4 million debut and second spot added $27.7 million for freshman Mamma Mia! As the summer grinds on there’s little question that the steam’s escaping faster from the seasonal bullet train. There’s little chance short of unrelenting catastrophe that a new summer box office record won’t be reached. But there might still be a good news/bad news scenario for ticket sales. Continued erosion through Labor Day could well translate to a marginal boost in ticket sales of 3% or 4%. But in light of fewer wide releases any increase in attendance sustains the contention that the size of the audience remains consistent even with fewer choices at the multiplex. The verdict on where the money’s being spent (and not) will just have to wait for the dust to settle. - Leonard Klady Weekend Estimates - July 17-19, 2009 Title Distributor Gross (average) % change * Theaters Cume Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince WB 79.7 (18,430) - 4325 159.9 Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs Fox 17.6 (4,620) -36% 3817 151.9 Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen Par 13.6 (3,540) -44% 3857 363.7 Bruno Uni 8.4 (3,060) -72% 2759 49.6 The Hangover WB 8.4 (3,150) -15% 2667 236 The Proposal BV 8.3 (2,720) -22% 3043 128 Public Enemies Uni 7.6 (2,430) -45% 3121 79.5 Up BV 3.1 (1,820) -34% 1706 279.5 My Sister's Keeper WB 2.7 (1,390) -36% 1967 41.4 I Love You, Beth Cooper Fox 2.7 (1,420) -46% 1872 10.3 Du Pere en flic Alliance 1.0 (9,370) -22% 111 3.7 The Taking of Pelham 123 Sony .89 (1,460) -42% 610 62.9 (500) Days of Summer Fox Searchlight .85 (31,480) - 27 0.85 The Hurt Locker Summit .75 (8,060) 17% 93 2.2 Night at the Museum 2 Fox .73 (1,420) -50% 515 171.8 Star Trek Par .67 (1,330) -42% 505 253.1 Moon Sony Classics .51 (2,020) -24% 252 2.6 Away We Go Focus .50 (1,670) -31% 299 8.3 Whatever Works Sony Classics .44 (1,810) -35% 244 3.9 Angels & Demons Sony .39 (1,070) 16% 365 132.4 Weekend Total ($500,000+ Films) $158.00 - - - % Change (Last Year) - -38% - - - % Change (Last Week) - 13% - - - Also debuting/expanding Cheri Miramax .28 (1,480) -18% 191 2 Humpday Magnolia 26,700 (5,340) -7% 5 0.07 Kalavaramaye Madilo Adlabs 18,800 (320) - 58 0.02 Death in Love Screen Media 14,300 (3,570) - 4 0.01 A Woman in Berlin Strand 11,200 (11,200) - 1 0.01 Homecoming Paper Street 6,100 (3,050) - 2 0.01 The Poker House Phase 4 4,700 (1,570) - 3 0.01 Off Jackson Avenue Group Ent. 2,900 (2,900) - 1 0.01   Domestic Market Share - January 1 - July 16, 2009 Distributor (releases) Gross Market Share Paramount (12) 1125.9 19.10% Warner. Bros (22) 1100.9 18.60% Fox (12) 813.2 13.80% Buena Vista (12) 706.1 11.90% Sony (13) 617.7 10.50% Universal (14) 568.3 9.60% Lionsgate (7) 237.4 4.00% Fox Searchlight (6) 194.3 3.30% Summit (7) 148.8 3.50% Focus (5) 103.3 1.70% Paramount Vantage (2) 52.4 0.90% MGM (3) 42.3 0.70% Miramax (5) 40.4 0.70% Weinstein Co. (6) 34.5 0.60% Other * (165) 121.7 2.10% * none greater than 0.45% 5907.2 100% Top Global Grossers - January 1 - July 16, 2009 Title  Distributor  Gross Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen Par 733,174,657 Angels & Demons Sony 478,266,878 Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs Fox 450,422,134 Night at the Museum 2 Fox 379,629,917 Star Trek Par 378,103,399 Monsters vs. Aliens Par 373,459,691 X-Men Origins: Wolverine Fox 362,212,338 Terminator Salvation WB/Sony 357,365,257 Slumdog Millionaire * Fox Searchlight 357,237,152 Fast & Furious Uni 349,433,766 Up BV 329,614,470 The Hangover WB 305,974,416 Curious Case of Benjamin Button * Par/WB 276,124,938 Gran Torino * WB 267,520,992 Watchmen WB/Par Intl 183,393,190 Paul Blart: Mall Cop Sony 182,874,488 Knowing  Summit 170,669,247 Marley and Me * Fox 169,182,604 He's Just Not That Into You WB/New Line 168,325,492 The Proposal BV 160,618,427 * does not include 2008 box office