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

January 31, 2010 Weekend Estimates Annual Market Share ..MCN Weekend   HE-dge of Darkness Avatar continued to steam along with a sixth weekend estimated gross of $30.1 million. Its incoming competition (combined) grossed roughly the same amount. The Mel Gibson thriller (his first screen role in seven years) Edge of Darkness struggled to $17 million while the programmer romantic comedy When in Rome did a passable $12.1 million. The blahs also infected niche and exclusive debuts including two new offerings on the Bollywood circuit. The regional release of the inspirational Preacher’s Kid marked the second straight weekend of lack of faith and sales for this fare and there weren’t a lot of scares for the fourth edition of the omnibus Horrorfest. Only a couple of exclusive premieres registered a pulse. The German import North Face grossed $21,800 from four venues and the American independent comedy Saint John of Las Vegas had a comparable $21,400 box office at two sites. Overall that translated into viewing downturns from both last weekend and from the comparable frame in 2009. There was a big question mark hovering over the screen return of Mel Gibson in the adaptation of the acclaimed British mini-series Edge of Darkness. Though he’s directed two successful films in the interim and popped up in the news in primarily unflattering fashion, he was a member of the elite box office dependables. Trackers predicted his return picture would gross around $20 million and the actual box office appeared to refute the old saw about absence making the heart grow fonder. Pundits pretty much were on target about the commercial prospects of When in Rome. Weekend revenues should clock in at about $123 million that translates into a 16% dip from seven days earlier. It was also 4% diminished from 2009 when the debut of Taken launched with $24.7 million followed by Paul Blart with $13.9 million and The Uninvited at $10.3 million. Avatar continued to maintain holds that mirrored the sort of stamina Titanic demonstrated more than a decade ago. Last week it surpassed the earlier pictures global record and next weekend will move ahead to position one among box office grossers in the North American marketplace. The film also figures to receive considerable love when Oscar nominations are announced Tuesday. While in no way a hard and fast rule, the best picture winner has generally gone to the biggest grosser among nominees on the slate. So, Avatar’s logical competition would be The Blind Side, which is pushing toward $240 million, and not The Hurt Locker, which has sputtered out at $13 million and may earn a spot in Oscar record books as the lowest grossing (adjusted for ticket prices) best picture candidate of all time. -by Leonard Klady Weekend Estimates: January 29-31, 2010 Title Distributor Gross (average) % change * Theaters Cume Avatar Fox 30.1 (9,790) -14% 3074 594.8 Edge of Darkness WB 17.0 (5,530) New 3066 17 When in Rome BV 12.1 (4,920) New 2456 12.1 The Tooth Fairy Fox 9.8 (2,930) -30% 3345 25.9 Book of Eli WB 8.4 (2,740) -46% 3075 74 Legion Sony 6.5 (2,620) -63% 2476 28.3 The Lovely Bones Par 4.6 (1,750) -45% 2638 37.9 Sherlock Holmes WB 4.5 (1,760) -32% 2250 197.6 Alvin & the Chipmunks: The Squeakqueluel Fox 3.8 (1,520) -40% 2526 209.1 It's Complicated Uni 3.7 (1,750) -37% 2096 104 The Blind Side WB 2.9 (1,670) -30% 1751 237.8 Up in the Air Par 2.6 (1,830) -33% 1430 73.1 Extraordinary Measures CBS 2.5 (990) -58% 2549 10.4 Crazy Heart Fox Searchlight 2.2 (9,250) 63% 239 6.6 The Spy Next Door Lions Gate 2.0 (1,080) -56% 1851 21.5 Leap Year Uni 1.0 (850) -66% 1135 24.7 Bold & Fresh - O'Reilly and Beck Fathom 1.0 (3,610) New 277 1 The Princess and the Frog BV .77 (1,060) -40% 728 100.3 Daybreakers Lions Gate .66 (910) -57% 725 29.4 To Save a Life IDP .64 (1,450) -14% 440 2 The Young Victoria Apparition/Alliance .62 (1,380) -24% 449 9.2 A Single Man Weinstein Co. .51 (2,360) -29% 216 5.2 Weekend Total ($500,000+ Films) - $117.90 - % Change (Last Year) - -4% - % Change (Last Week) - -16% - Also debuting/expanding Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus E1/Sony Classics .31 (1,530) -23% 201 6.4 Preacher's Kid Gener8xion .20 (1,810) 109 0.2 Rann Studio 18 .14 (2,320) - 62 0.14 The White Ribbon Sony Classics .11 (5,040) -3% 22 0.61 Creation Newmrkt/D Film 60,300 (2,320) -29% 26 0.17 Ishqiya Viva 52,100 (4,340) - 12 0.05 Horrorfest 4 After Dark 43,000 (1,100) - 39 0.04 Lucky Luke TVA 25,500 (1,820) - 14 0.03 Saint John of Las Vegas IndieVest 21,400 (10,700) - 2 0.02 North Face Music Box 21,800 (5,450) - 4 0.02 Off and Running First Run 7,600 (7,600) - 1 0.01 Still Bill B-Side 4,100 (4,100) - 1 0.01 For My Father Film Movement 3,200 (3,200) - 1 0.01   Domestic Market Share: January 1-28, 2010 Distributor (releases) Gross (millions) Mkt Share Fox (3) 382.8 40.80% Warner Bros. (7) 206.2 22.00% Universal (4) 84.6 9.00% Paramount (3) 69.9 7.40% Lionsgate (4) 53.3 5.70% Sony (8) 35.9 3.80% Weinstein Co. (4) 28.6 3.10% Buena Vista (3) 26.1 2.80% Summit (3) 9.3 1.00% Sony Classics (6) 8.8 0.90% CBS Films (1) 7.8 0.80% Apparition (2) 5.7 0.60% Other (36)* 19.3 2.10% - 938.3 100.00% * none greater than 0.4%