Ticket Sales for ‘My Chauffeur’ Allegedly Overstated : Crown Won’t Release Film’s Gross

Crown International Pictures said Monday that it will not release weekly ticket sales figures for its film “My Chauffeur” after allegedly exaggerated numbers released last week made the movie appear to be the nation’s top box-office hit.

“My Chauffeur” moved into the No. 1 spot of trade publication Daily Variety’s box-office reports for the week ended Jan. 26, based on Crown International’s report that the movie grossed $4.78 million in ticket sales. Variety compiles a weekly box-office report, which it publishes on Tuesdays, from data provided by film distributors.

The figure from Los Angeles-based Crown International, which is privately owned, was immediately challenged by other film distributors and exhibitors, prompting Variety’s editor, Thomas Pryor, to subsequently concede in an editorial published last Friday that the publication “was asleep at the switch in that it published the greatly exaggerated box office claimed by Crown International.”

On Monday, Crown Senior Vice President Albert Giles read a statement saying that Crown International, “upon advice of counsel, will not release any grosses or any other information this week on ‘My Chauffeur.’ Crown further reports that each distributor and/or producer provides their own estimates on grosses of its theatrical pictures based on its own guidelines and procedures from its own sources.”

Giles declined to elaborate.

Variety’s list is a widely followed barometer of a film’s popularity. The weekly report is often picked up by other media such as the syndicated television show “Entertainment Tonight” and the newspaper USA Today. Critics, however, believe the list often leads to false expectations and disappointment among the viewing public.

Industry sources say the data provided by publicly held distributors are highly reliable, but independent distributors have been known to inflate their numbers. Crown’s figure was especially startling, considering that the Jan. 25-26 weekend competed with the Super Bowl. Traditionally, the game cuts into weekend movie receipts.