The Weekend Report: November 8, 2009

A Christmas Carol gave cheer as the weekend box office leader with an estimated $30.7 million. However, it was the cumbersomely titled Precious: Based on the novel “Push” by Sapphire that had industry heads spinning. The well-received, unblinking urban drama grossed $1.88 million from a mere 18 screens for a jaw-dropping theater average of $104,810.

The session had three additional national debuts that opened to slightly better than anticipated business. The offbeat political comedy The Men Who Stare at Goats ranked third with $13.1 million and the paranormal The Fourth Kind was a notch behind with $12.4 million. The Box -- largely dismissed or disdained critically -- was commercially discarded with a $7.7 million premiere.

Niche and exclusive bows were also generally strong. Bollywood entry Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani had one of the better 2009 openings with a $420,000 tally and La Donation in Quebec grossed $99,300 from 21 cinemas. Exclusives at solo venues were all encouraging including the non-fiction La Danse with $11,600, Splinterheads with $8,200 and indie drama The Evening Sun comparable at $8,100.

It all added up to a sizeable box office boost from last weekend but it wasn’t enough to top the performance from 2008.

Critical response to the new 3D motion capture version of the Dickens’ A Christmas Carol was mixed and its $30.7 million gross puts it on the borderline in regard to its perennial potential. There’s always the possibility it could spike as occurred with The Polar Express during the Thanksgiving period. Roughly 55% of playdates were stereoscopic and those engagements comprised 74% of sales. The 181 Imax dates accounted for about $4.5 million of the total. And to no great surprise, teenagers were a slim 15% of the audience.

The Fourth Kind also received pros and cons from reviewers as it was gauged against the Paranormal Activity phenom. While the similarity of theme of the two pictures likely bled gross, the new film had sufficient distance that improved upon internal estimates in the arena of $10 million.

There were similar expectations for The Men Who Stare at Goats but strong buzz and its older skewing audience pumped up its initial box office.

Overall weekend sales clocked in with approximately $125 million in torn stubs that translated into a 42% upturn from seven days earlier. Still it was 12% diminished from last year when the launches of Madagascar 2 and Role Models led with respective first salvos of $63.1 million and $19.2 million.

A critical and audience favorite on the fest circuit, Precious -- with its tough love saga of a young African American woman -- was expected to connect in the art house environment. Its appeal to the urban crowd remained a question mark but in its limited exposure response across the board has been ferocious. With awards frenzy mounting, the film could readily turn in box office comparable or better than Monster’s Ball and Crash.

The frame’s other seeming anomaly was the virtual carbon copy b.o. results for Couples Retreat. It appears to have connected with plus 25s who aren’t avid about viewing movies on opening weekend. And with the paucity of titles appealing to adults (especially films with a few laughs) the movie receives at least a momentary second wind.

by Leonard Klady