RichC2

Friday Estimates:
Title / Company / Sites / Friday's Estimate / Per Theater / Change from Last Friday / Total Gross
1. SAW III LIONS GATE 3,167 $14,170,000 4,474 n/a 14,170,000
2. PRESTIGE, THE NEW LINE 2,281 $2,950,000 1,293 -42% 22,020,700
3. DEPARTED, THE WARNER BROS. 2,951 $2,855,000 967 -31% 84,088,000
4. FLAGS OF OUR FATHERS PARAMOUNT 2,190 $1,918,000 876 -45% 15,338,000
5. OPEN SEASON SONY 3,059 $1,468,000 480 -30% 72,605,000
6. MAN OF THE YEAR UNIVERSAL 2,626 $1,421,000 541 -35% 25,582,000
7. FLICKA 20TH CENTURY FOX 2,877 $1,409,000 490 -43% 10,419,000
8. GRUDGE 2, THE SONY 3,063 $1,231,000 402 -54% 34,071,000
9. MARIE ANTOINETTE SONY 859 $872,000 1,015 -54% 7,782,000
10. RUNNING WITH SCISSORS SONY 586 $812,000 1,386 -34% 1,138,784

Flags of our Fathers didn't hold up nearly as well as I think the studios were estimating, though it may pick up on Saturday. The Prestige and The Departed should be neck and neck for the weekend and wind up around $8 or $9m a piece. The SAW Franchise continues to get bigger, while The Grudge franchise has successfully commited seppuku.

fumanstan

Love seeing Saw III come out huge. Can't wait to see it.

Joe Molotov

Looks like another small drop for The Departed as it cruises towards becoming Scorsese's highest grossing movie ever.

RichC2

Yup, won't be long now.

Mr. Cinema

I think Flags will end up with about $7 million, which is only a 30% drop from last week. Granted, they added 300 or so screens, but that kind of drop likely means it'll hang around enough to get some Oscar attention. I have yet to see it, but I love Eastwood directed films.

Artman

From Hollywood Daily:
Newmarket's very controversial Death of a President (91 theaters) did only $.06 mil Friday with a pathetic per screen average of $673 for should be a $0.21 weekend. The Weinstein Company's Dixie Chicks documentary Shut Up & Sing (4 theaters) took in $0.01 mil Friday and a disappointing $2,867 per screen average for what should be a $.04 mil weekend.

Joe Molotov

I saw a piece on ABC news about the Dixie Chicks, and how much they suffered (their words) after speaking out against the president. I think I'll pass.

DeanoBKN

Yea, they are really struggling to get by nowadays

TomOpus

Disappointing? $2,867 isn't that bad. Looking at the top 10 list from Friday, I'd bet 9 of those movies would've taken that amount per screen.

NitroJMS

For the two "micro" releases this week, it's not really that bad. I didn't even know either were coming out until they got so much free publicity from the news networks.

Joe Molotov

1 N Saw III LGF $34,300,000 - 3,167 - $10,830 $34,300,000 - 1
2 2 The Departed WB $9,840,000 -26.9% 2,951 -54 $3,334 $91,090,000 $90 4
3 1 The Prestige BV $9,626,000 -35.0% 2,281 - $4,220 $28,834,000 $40 2
4 3 Flags of Our Fathers P/DW $6,350,000 -38.0% 2,190 +314 $2,899 $19,926,000 $90 2
5 4 Open Season Sony $6,100,000 -25.3% 3,059 -320 $1,994 $77,357,000 $85 5
6 5 Flicka Fox $4,975,000 -35.4% 2,877 - $1,729 $14,138,000 $15 2
7 7 Man of the Year Uni. $4,714,000 -32.0% 2,623 +101 $1,797 $28,871,000 - 3
8 6 The Grudge 2 Sony $3,300,000 -56.9% 3,063 -151 $1,077 $36,016,000 $20 3
9 8 Marie Antoinette Sony $2,850,000 -46.8% 859 - $3,317 $9,756,000 $40 2
10 29 Running with Scissors Sony $2,550,000 +1,027.8% 586 +578 $4,351 $2,884,000 - 2
11 11 The Guardian BV $2,437,000 -33.2% 1,973 -585 $1,235 $50,005,000 - 5
12 N Catch a Fire Focus $2,012,000 - 1,305 - $1,541 $2,012,000 - 1

Ouch @ Catch a Fire. I kinda wanted to see it. Sorta. I'll probably wait for the DVD. Should be a pretty quick turn around.

Mr. Cinema

If I'm Paramount, now I get a little worried. A 38% drop isn't bad for Flags, but for an Oscar contender, it's not great either. Maybe this isn't being marketed right. I figured a war movie directed by Clint Eastwood would be an easy sell, even though the cast doesn't have a huge mass appeal. The Departed is just performing great. I'm reading more lately about its Oscar chances. Seems to be well liked all the way around and I think it'll get a Best Picture nod.

RichC2

The Prestige dropping 35%, not amazing but hey it's not 50% .

Arpeggi

Babel had an average of $52,000 per screen. (only 7 screens though)

The Bus

Looks like I need to see Catch a Fire before it leaves theatres.

RichC2

Actuals :

1 N Saw III LGF $33,610,391 - 3,167 - $10,612 $33,610,391 $10 1
2 2 The Departed WB $9,848,258 -26.8% 2,951 -54 $3,337 $91,098,431 $90 4
3 1 The Prestige BV $9,573,215 -35.3% 2,281 - $4,196 $28,780,742 $40 2
4 3 Flags of Our Fathers P/DW $6,346,856 -38.1% 2,190 +314 $2,898 $19,923,069 $90 2
5 4 Open Season Sony $5,862,674 -28.2% 3,059 -320 $1,916 $77,120,167 $85 5
6 5 Flicka Fox $4,728,261 -38.6% 2,877 - $1,643 $13,891,482 $15 2
7 7 Man of the Year Uni. $4,727,960 -31.8% 2,626 +104 $1,800 $28,884,500 - 3
8 6 The Grudge 2 Sony $3,264,336 -57.3% 3,063 -151 $1,065 $35,980,317 $20 3
9 8 Marie Antoinette Sony $2,845,815 -46.9% 859 - $3,312 $9,752,091 $40 2
10 29 Running with Scissors Sony $2,531,760 +1,019.7% 586 +578 $4,320 $2,865,340 - 2
11 11 The Guardian BV $2,376,416 -34.9% 1,973 -585 $1,204 $49,944,702 - 5
12 N Catch a Fire Focus $2,026,997 - 1,305 - $1,553 $2,026,997 - 1
13 12 Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas in 3-D BV $1,916,645 -41.5% 168 - $11,408 $5,988,305 - 2
14 16 The Queen Mira. $1,909,139 +26.4% 152 +53 $12,560 $6,289,941 - 5
15 9 The Marine Fox $1,885,388 -50.3% 1,868 -677 $1,009 $15,440,515 - 3