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This weeks report will cover both: Weekend 22nd - 25th December 2005 Long Weekend 22nd - 27th December 2005 
Although it wasn't a member of the last full weekend frame of the year, The
Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe made enough in the two days, Monday and Tuesday,
to almost double the next closet film, King Kong's six-day takings. In the battle of the New Zealand-lensed
blockbusters, BVI's The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe arrived on Boxing Day with a roar that more than tripled
its rival's opening day, with a $3.52m launch. That launch stands as 6th-best Opening Day
of all time in Australia, a mere $38k behind the $3.55m of this year's Star Wars:
Revenge of the Sith. Through its first two days of play, the Andrew Adamson-directed film has bewitched a
colossal $6.58m from a willing Australian audience and from its first three days, Monday to Wednesday it has collected
$8.75m.
Those first two days of takings for Wardrobe excelled the $6.19m that Kong drew from its first five days after its December 14th opening, which admittedly isn't as an historically strong date to launch a picture. None the less, it's clear that Narnia has shown more than double the draw since opening. The Boxing Day opening for the first entry, in what is sure to be speedily produced and lengthy franchise from BVI, stands as the fourth-best of all time in Australia, behind only the Lord of the Rings trilogy. It healthily trumps the $2.62m and the $1.92m of last year's Boxing Day leaders Meet The Fockers and The Incredibles which opened well and enjoyed a length and very profitable January run. The difference with Fockers and The Incredibles from The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is that Wardrobe has yet to see any weekend play. Whilst last year's Fockers and Incredibles scored stunning opening days, those single day figures also counted as their first official weekends, which on the All-Time chart aren't quite as impressive. I'll be treating Narnia's current earnings as a purely mid-week affair. Although the $8.75m it's collected so far aren't previews, there's no first-weekend quotient either. So how will this Thursday 29th through January 1st treat Narnia's opening weekend? It'll almost certainly be tops again, but which rung on that All Time Openings is it aiming for? Last year, Fockers collected $8.77m over four days, Sunday through Wednesday. Having drawn a substantial audience already, the comedy smash went into it's first full four-day weekend very strong and came away with a $5.35m second weekend. Had it not been for the irregular opening, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe's opening day figure suggests it would have secured an opening weekend in excess of $10m. On the Opening Day chart, it clearly toppled all four previous Harry Potter films, but would that have equated to a Goblet-like $12m opening? Boxing Day probably did serve to inflate Wardrobe's opening day, as it did with each of the Lord of the Rings films. Arguably the three-day opening for Reloaded skewed its first day as well. But for Wardrobe, the lack of any kind of record-like opening weekend figure is replaced by an opening-day figure that looks great on any chart. Given that Wardrobe is a younger film than Fockers was leading into its first full weekend frame (by a day) and that demand has proven to be stronger for Wardrobe, (Fockers averaged $2.2m a day before its first Thursday and Narnia almost $3m), Narnia could be looking at a $6m opening weekend. That would bring its first seven days to $14.7m, bettering the pace of the first two Harry Potter films. Although there's no weekend comparison as of yet, Narnia's local opening day of $3.52m was 53% stronger* than the first day of play it saw in the U.S.. However, when comparing the first three days of play (from Boxing Day locally and the first regular weekend in the U.S.) Narnia stands a great 34% ahead* in Australia. Compared to my Boxing Day forecast, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe's $3.52m was 91% accurate when compared to my $3.2m opening prediction. 
King Kong claimed a second weekend as jungle ruler, even if it was by default. With
Narnia resigned to a Boxing Day opening, King Kong was free to lead one of the more difficult frames of the
year. With business down on Christmas Eve due to obvious distractions and most theatres around the country closed on
Christmas Day, there were really only two effective box office days over the weekend. Coming off of a rather modest
opening last weekend, the Peter Jackson-directed epic about a giant gorilla's infatuation with woman tumbled 65% in its
second weekend. As one of the highest second-weekend declines of the year, it's certainly a distorted figure when taking
into account the restraints of the weekend.
Still playing on 480 screens, King Kong collected $1.81m through the weekend frame for a $10.41m end-of-weekend-two total. Whilst the second weekend drop of 65% is quite high, a more accurate gauge of King Kong's longevity might be the 4% decline seen from its mid-week sessions. The Jack Black starrer made $2.41m through mid-week one and collected $2.32m through mid-week two. The 4% counts as quite a good hold, in perspective, this is a mid-week where King Kong should and capitalise. Including Boxing Day and two robust days of play through Tuesday and Wednesday, a $2.32m collection from this period is acceptable, even if it wasn't an increase, averaging $0.77m a day. King Kong has held of Monday's spike in competition resonably, which saw seven new options. It should also be able to retain second position behind Narnia this weekend coming. Including its long-weekend takings its cume stands at $12.08m going into its third weekend, good enough for position 198 on the Australian All-Time chart. Including it's Wednesday opening, last weekend King Kong opened 14% behind the action sequel X-Men 2. The Fox hit scored better in its second weekend with a take of $2.74m, down 55%, of course, that was a regular weekend. After two weekends King Kong is tracking 10% behind, the difference made up through that first mid-week of $2.41m. X2's was $1.6m. King Kong has an excellent chance of holding steady or increasing this coming weekend, as do both Potter and Dozen. A $2m weekend would give King Kong $14.6m and a ticket to fly past the $16.5m final of X2, although $20m is still a challenge. Compared to the U.S. pace, King Kong is tracking 4% behind* in Australia, a small improvement on the 6% smaller* margin as the close of weekend one. Although King Kong made up ground through its first mid-week session (15% better* locally) to stand 4% behind*, it's second weekend frame was 15% down* and its second mid-week is looking to finish a rather horrid 49% down*. King Kong has seen its fortunes hit quite severely in Australia by the success of the new competition, but although the number of new films it's up against here isn't that different than the number it's facing off in the U.S., the difference lies with Narnia. In the U.S., Narnia is a week older than Kong, but here it's the new audience favourite, plus Harry is still drawing good numbers too. 
In a weekend where the Christmas curse presided over 60% declines throughout the chart,
Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire kept the its weekend drop down to a 55% reduction, the second best in the
top ten. Collecting $1.18m through the weekend frame and $0.96m from the long weekend, its $2.60m through the seven day
span lifted the boy wizard's fourth adventure to $29.15m after the long weekend, $29.61m after the full week, or for
traditionalists, $28.19 after four weeks.
Ranking in position three for the three-day frame behind Kong and Cheaper by the Dozen 2, Goblet of Fire fought off a decline through the long weekend by jumping ahead of Cheaper's six-day figure. An encouraging feat for a four week old film. The solid fourth-week pace put Goblet of Fire in position 26 on the local All-Time chart behind The Sixth Sense and ahead of My Big Fat Greek Wedding. Still ranking behind only Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith on the local 2005 chart, Goblet's was easily the weakest of the series, with the previous three collecting $2.27m, $1.99m and $1.72m. Despite this, Goblet' Four-Week Cume of $28.19m still beats the $26.62m of Philosopher's Stone, the $26.14m of Chamber of Secrets and the $26.98m of Prisoner of Azkaban. The Harry Potter films have had a history of bigger openings and faster burns, so a smallest fourth weekend could be considered part of a tradition. However unwelcomed that one may be, a fifth-weekend tradition that Goblet of Fire is aiming to continue involves increasing sales. The first film jumped by 28% through weekend five. The second climbed 21%, and without the aid of New Years, even Azkaban managed an increase, even if it was only 0.4 of a percent. Last year, the Weekend 30th Dec to 2nd Jan proved that there's good money to be made over New Years, with even holdovers like Ocean's Twelve and Lemony Snicket's a Series of Unfortunate Events witnessing a spike in ticket sales over the weekend. Compared to the U.S. pace, Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire is tracking 16% ahead* in Australia after four weekends, up from last weekend's 12% better* tally. This comes despite the large local drop of 55% vs. a 48% fourth weekend dip in U.S.. The fourth Australian weekend of $1.18m comes in 15% better*. But the real differences lay ahead. Not reflected in that 16% better* margin is a local third mid-week take of $0.96m that stands a massive 272% better* in Australia. Include it, and the local pace stands 18% better*. Goblet is set for good business in Australia this weekend which will put it well on target for that patented 33% better* local final margin, the same margin that the first and third Potter films found here. 
Fox scored decent returns from their family sequel Cheaper by the Dozen 2
through its first four days. Unlike the flood of releases that opened on Boxing Day, the Steve Martin and Bonnie Hunt
starring comedy was the only release to open on the usual Thursday slot, and it did well for it. Avoiding both the crush of
the Monday and the limited Christmas screenings that hammered most holdovers through the weekend frame, Cheaper by the
Dozen 2 scored a fine $1.23m opening weekend. Opening on 223 Screens, the Eugene
Levy co-starrer collected $5,521, the best average in the top 20 outside IMAX.
While it scored great numbers over its first four days and placed second through the weekend, Dozen 2 didn't have it all its own way after Sunday. Adding in the $0.71m that it earned from Boxing Day and Tuesday, its $1.94m long weekend total was only fourth best, whilst that two-day portion of $0.71m was the sixth best. As the newer family film, Dozen 2 should have been able to hold onto the lead over Goblet that it created for itself through the weekend. Clearly its decent performance through its first four days had more to do with a lack of alternative product as opposed to performing as an audience draw in its right. At number 44, the $1.23m opening for Dozen 2 was right next door to the $1.28m of BVI's June family flick Herbie: Fully Loaded on the 2005 Openers chart. Will Dozen 2 be more of a Herbie ($9.3m) or a Haunted Mansion ($5.98m)? Compared to the original, the four-day launch is down on the $1.62m that it collected in January 2004. Cheaper by the Dozen performed well through January, but really only had three solid weeks of family time in which to collect, eventually finishing with $8.91m. An earlier release date does give the sequel more time for business before school starts back at the end of January, but can Dozen 2 stay alive in amongst the competition. With Narnia, Goblet and Chicken Little the family market is far more competitive than it was two years ago when Dozen's only main threat was Spy Kids 3D and Brother Bear. Compared to the U.S. pace, Cheaper by the Dozen 2 is tracking 16% down* when including the U.S.' mid-week figures, although the first weekend frame came in 32% better* in Australia. Whilst the local opening weekend results for Dozen 2 are down on Dozen (24% down), the weakness of the sequel is reflected much better in the U.S. difference, 66% down. While the first weekend of Dozen 2 came in 32% better*, in 2004, Dozen's first weekend was 54% weaker*. Compared to my opening weekend forecast, Cheaper by the Dozen 2's $1.23m weekend was 68% accurate in contrast to my $1.8m prediction. 
Rounding out the top five for the long weekend was Fun with Dick and Jane.
From the seven new Boxing Day releases, the Jim Carrey and Tea Leoni comedy was a clear second best of the newcomers, even
if it had to settle for position five behind Narnia and three holdovers for the week. Collecting $1.64m through the
two days, Fun with Dick and Jane's numbers were the third best for the period behind Narnia's $6.54m and
King Kong's $1.67m. It's a promising start for the film, more than doubling what Cheaper by the Dozen 2
or The Legend of Zorro collected from Boxing Day to Wednesday.
Like Narnia, Fun with Dick and Jane will see its first weekend this weekend and has a good shot at jumping up to this position in the rankings behind Kong. The Sony release which also co-stars Alec Baldwin would be hoping for a better opening frame than the $1.81m which Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo collected in September, although matching the $3.56m of Bewitched - currently Sony's best 2005 opening - is most likely too high. With a strong first three days, Fun with Dick and Jane has cemented itself as the comedy of choice at the moment. All films in release should have a clear run for the next few weeks, with Dick and Jane's route ahead one of the clearer. Being a Jim Carrey film only helps, especially now that it's more reflective of the comedy he built his name on. Fun with Dick and Jane has already passed the final total of his 'dramatic' mistakes Man on the Moon ($1.40m) and The Majestic ($0.58m), but its opening weekend will determine if it's set to pass the $9.5m of last year's Lemony Snicket's a Series of Unfortunate Events. Currently Sony's best for 2005 is the $14.2m of March's Hitch, which they'd love Dick and Jane to pass. Looking at last year's Comparable Weekend, Fun with Dick and Jane's first three days of $2.36m well passes the $1.66m that The Phantom of the Opera made through the four days after its Boxing Day release. It more closely resembles the $2.50m that Blade Trinity collected through its first three days. Those flicks ended up with respective totals of $6.9m and $6.6m. - It was largely up to the Boxing Day openers to populate the rest of the top ten, with Just Like Heaven landing in sixth position and collecting more on its first day than the next best holdover did in through the entire six-day long weekend. Just short of the magical million, the Reese Witherspoon and Mark Ruffalo picture nabbed $0.92m through its first two days of play. Collecting close to $420k on its first day, Just Like Heaven's opening Boxing Day was very similar to 1998's The Siege, which ended up with $4.66m in Australia. Hoping for a little better holding power than that, Just Like Heaven might be aiming for the $6.26m that 1997's In and Out collected after its $398k opening day. - The Legend of Zorro was probably the only Boxing Day release that could be classed as a disappointment. While results could have been better elsewhere, Roadshow were audibly cringing over their swashbuckling sequel's first two days. The Antonio Banderas and Catherine Zeta-Jones starring picture corralled $0.64m through its opening, a figure which wasn't that much higher than the $492k that 1998's The Mask of Zorro collected on its first day of release. The original Zorro went on to have a $1.17m two-day opening weekend (which included its opening day) and closed play with $8.79m in Australia. Results for Legend of Zorro appear to be roughly half as strong. Although still early in its life, it's certainly not an encouraging start. - Mrs. Henderson Presents was the next Boxing Day opener to outpace the charts holdovers, raking in $337k for the long weekend. The Judi Dench-starring pic collected $110k worth of previews on the weekend before Boxing Day, and including previews from the weekend of the 15th has $489k. The Hopscotch film is only drawing modest figures. Despite playing on only 61 screens, its average of $5,528 was in the lower range of the Boxing Day openers. Excluding previews, it's average of $3,713 betters only Legend of Zorro's poor man's mark of $3,550. - Broken Flowers was the second-best averaging film of the Boxing Day openers, collecting $6,931 from its scant 43 screens. The Bill Murray-starring film which follows a guy who travels the country visiting previous relationships to find clues about a possible son found $298k in its first two days. Including previews, Broken Flowers' total is $310k leading into its first weekend. Will Broken Flowers be another Lost In Translation or a Life Aquatic. - Rounding out the top ten was the George Clooney written and directed drama Good Night, and Good Luck. Although it was pushed down to tenth place for the week with $251k, it's $99k weekend take was good enough for fifth position. Down 36% from weekend to weekend, Good Night, and Good Luck actually scored the lowest decline in the weekend's top ten. The Dendy film rebounded well from Boxing Day too, collecting $152k over the two days. It was the only holdover to collect more in the two days from Boxing Day than in the four days from Thursday. With $575k so far, Good Night, and Good Luck is looking like a sure bet to pass the $1.29m of Clooney's Confession of a Dangerous Mind. The top 20 films collected $5.17m over the weekend, down 46.7% from last weekend and down 48.5% from this weekend Last Year when Meet The Fockers and The Incredibles were chart leaders from a single day's worth of sales, $2.61m and $1.91m. The weekend was down 76% on this weekend from Two Years Ago when Return of the King lead a three-day weekend clear of any closed Christmas theatres with $12.73m with a decent Love Actually opening in second with $2.98m. Weekend Coming: No new releases this Thursday 29th New releases this Sunday: 1st - 2nd January 2006 
Exhibitors have been quite happy since Boxing Day, with the big-chain theatres giving chart's super seven an almost
exclusive presence. That comes to an end after Saturday, and it'll probably means Harry and Kong shedding
screens for the weekend's two new films. If BVI weren't happy enough with the rule of Narnia, their attempts to push
non-Disney family fare out of the charts receive a boost this Sunday with the release of their second non-Pixar
CGI-animated flick Chicken Little. Directed by Mark Dindal (The Emperor's New Groove) and voiced by Zack
Braff, the story follows Chicken, whose reputation lies in tatters after causing chaos when he mistakenly declares the sky
is falling. However, duty calls when aliens begin invading and he must save the town without causing another panic.
Chicken Little opened in the U.S. in November with a quite good $US40.0m. At the time, its launch was considered fine, but down on the marks set by the Pixar films that Disney has previously released. Opinion briefly changed after its second weekend when it declined by a micro-sized 21%. However, Harry Potter made sure it was a short life, sending it tumbling down the charts. With $US130.5m, Chicken Little's time is almost up in the U.S.. Disney would surely have liked to see more from Chicken Little. It's opening counts as the 9th-best of the all-CGI group, whilst its final total will rank in position 14, behind the $US137.7m of 2000's Dinosaur - their first fully non-Pixar CGI film. If it weren't for Fox screwing up with Robots, Chicken Little would be weakest performing mainstream CGI film since Antz made $US90.7m in 1998. (Jimmy Neutron is strictly a kids affair and Final Fantasy is anything but. The less said about talking religious vegetables, the better.) Chicken Little is released in Australian on New Years Day, another traditional augmentation of the regular Thursday release pattern in the vein of Boxing Day. Last year Finding Neverland and Raise Your Voice made New Years home, the year before it was Spy Kids 3D, Welcome to the Jungle and Cold Mountain who all arrived in an already crowded market with strong figures. It's been a uncommon occasion when an all CGI film has collected comparatively less* in Australia than it did in the U.S. Recently, Shark Tale finished 5% behind* and the Toy Story films both finished with less*. Some finished right on par* (Dinosaur, Monsters, Inc. and Incredibles up 2%) but most were leagues ahead* (Ice Age 14%, A Bug's Life 23%, Madagascar 35%, Shrek 20%, Finding Nemo 9% and Robots 11%). Even if openings for these films haven't historically passed the U.S. benchmark (which they haven't, Nemo and Shrek 2 are the exceptions), the school holidays have always ensured a lengthy run. Chicken Little isn't out to break any records this weekend, as it only has one day of play, Sunday, but BVI are hoping January will be as kind to Chicken Little as it was their Spy Kids 3D in 2003, which eventually earned a great $13.62m. Chicken Little is looking for about $0.8m this New Year's Day and should have $1.5m after the public holiday Monday. 
Also opening on Sunday is the romantic comedy The Family Stone. Going head to head with an underdeveloped Just
Like Heaven, this film stands a good chance of become the new film of choice for the female-influenced date crowd.
Directed by relative newcomer Thomas Bezucha, The Family Stone features quite a cast, headlined by Sarah Jessica
Parker and co-starring Claire Danes, Diane Keaton, Rachel McAdams, Dermot Mulroney and Luke Wilson. The films follows
happy couple Meredith and Everitt, who travel back to Everitt's family for the holidays. Troubles begins to brew however
when Everitt's family develop a disliking to Meredith, who's unable to fit into the unfamiliar dynamic of her boyfriend's
family.
The Family Stone opened just last weekend in the U.S. to $US12.5m. The third placed launch wasn't a great opening for the Fox release, having gone on to dip by 48% through weekend two. So far however, the film is collected $US34m after 13 days, excelling the modest $US18m production cost. Despite a soft start, it has performed well through the festive mid-week sessions and has already passed recent similar films such as Elizabethtown's $US26.9m and In Her Shoes' $US32.8m. The Family Stone looks headed for around $US55m in the U.S., which would put it ahead of Just Like Heaven's $US48.3m. The Family Stone will have trouble drawing a large audience in Australia, despite the large cost of known names, none of them are romantic comedy draws in their own right. It's the same trouble it had in the U.S. and why only a couple of 2005's romantic comedies drew in an decent crowd. Whilst Chicken Little is a chance for a new record, on the list of previous New Years Day openers The Family Stone might fit somewhere between 2002's Shallow Hal and 2003's The Hot Chick. Indeed, coming close to Heaven's $420k would mean a similar ranking. The Family Stone might open with $400k on New Year's Day and have $0.7m after Monday. * Based on a US index of 10/1 with currency, ticket prices, population and cinema visits per head. ^ Based on a UK index of 2.1/1 with currency, ticket prices, population and cinema visits per head. |
The Top 20 Films for the weekend
The Top 20 Films for the week