‘Shark’ is b-i-g before the IPO

“Shark Tale” proved quite a big fish story for DreamWorks in the period heading up to the company’s planned initial public offering on the stock market, taking in an estimated $49.1 million over the weekend. It was the studio’s second best opening after “Shrek 2” and the industry’s strongest-ever October opening.

“Performance of the film sets the table nicely for the DreamWorks Animation IPO,” said David Davis of David Davis Inc., an L.A.-based entertainment consulting firm.

When Pixar and Disney decided last year to take the pre-Thanksgiving slot for “The Incredibles,” essentially muscling DreamWorks off its original Nov. 5 launch, “it could have been potentially hurtful,” Davis said. “But to generate almost $50 million on an October weekend is quite impressive. It basically shows you can release a blockbuster any week of the year. It’s really a 52-week-a-year business.”

“It’s good news for the IPO,” agreed Tom Taulli, co-founder of Orange County based IPO research firm Currentofferings.com. “There are not many of these opportunities available. Pixar is really the only other company. All in all, I think they’ll be able to get the deal done within the next month or so.”

In something of a box office surprise, independent distributor Magnolia Pictures’ “Woman Thou Art Loosed” sneaked into the top 10 at No. 6 with an estimated $2.5 million in just 408 theaters. The film stars popular real-life preacher Bishop T.D. Jakes as himself and was adapted from Jakes’ novel about a woman, played by Kimberly Elise, who was raped as a child and wound up on death row.

“Shark Tale” posted a whopping 63% increase in business Friday ($13 million) to Saturday ($21.1 million). A day-to-day jump of that magnitude suggested an eager audience and positive word-of-mouth.

Jim Tharp, head of distribution for DreamWorks, attributed the big increase to the fact that kids were in school Friday and many were preoccupied with high school football games that night. He said the audience for “Shark Tale” was 60% families with 30% kids younger than 12, and those were split evenly between boys and girls. Overall, the audience was 60% female.

Animated films figure more prominently this fall than any other in memory, with four major studio releases in a seven-week period, three of them big-budget productions using computer-generated imagery.

On Nov. 5, Pixar and Disney unveil “The Incredibles,” from “Iron Giant” director and veteran of “The Simpsons” Brad Bird. Five days later, Warner Bros. opens “The Polar Express,” based on the popular book and directed by Robert Zemeckis. It uses motion-capture technology to animate its characters, several voiced by Tom Hanks.

For the Nov. 19 week- end, Paramount brings out “The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie,” based on the hit cable series from Viacom’s Nickelodeon unit. “SpongeBob” is the only hand-drawn movie in the bunch.

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Box Office

Preliminary results (in millions) based on studio projections.

*--* Movie 3-day gross Total Shark Tale $49.1 $49.1

Ladder 49 $22.8 $22.8

The Forgotten $12 $38.3

Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow $3.4 $30.7

Mr. 3000 $2.6 $19.2

Woman Thou Art Loosed $2.5 $2.5

Shaun of the Dead $2.4 $6.9

Resident Evil:Apocalypse $2.3 $47

First Daughter $2.2 $7.1

Cellular $2 $28.2

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Source: Nielsen EDI Inc.