A loss of altitude in level of ticket sales

By R. Kinsey Lowe

Oct. 3, 2005 12 AM PT

Time Staff Writer

The four-weekend stretch of sustained improvement for the movie business over last September hit some turbulence this weekend, as arriving titles didn’t generate much momentum. Last weekend’s top-grossing film, “Flightplan,” remained aloft at No. 1 with $15 million, according to studio estimates released Sunday.

“Serenity,” Joss Whedon’s $40-million feature follow-up to his short-lived western/sci-fi TV series, opened at No. 2 with an estimated $10.1 million. The series, “Firefly,” had developed a substantial following in reruns and on DVD, and 44% of moviegoers in theater exit surveys identified themselves as fans, Universal reported.

Going into the weekend, market research indicated a couple of more films might post numbers above $10 million and that they would be closer together than the $5-million gap between “Flightplan” and “Serenity.” But that did not pan out.

“Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride” grossed about $9.8 million, slipping to third place in its second weekend of wide release, and “A History of Violence” expanded from 14 to 1,340 theaters with about $8.2 million to take fourth place after an impressive debut in limited runs a week ago. “Violence” also had the best per-theater average among films in the top 10, about $6,119 per venue, if weekend estimates hold up.

“Into the Blue,” a deep-sea adventure Sony acquired when it absorbed MGM, floated into fifth place with $7 million.

The only other new movie in the top 10, Disney’s “The Greatest Game Ever Played,” about a landmark 1913 golf tournament, opened at No. 9 with about $3.7 million in 1,014 locations. But Disney president of distribution Chuck Viane noted “Game” business jumped 57% on Saturday, indicating strong family appeal. The company plans to add 800 theaters Friday.

Opening on the late author’s birthday Friday, “Capote” performed impressively in openings in a dozen locations in New York and Los Angeles, averaging about $29,000, with a total just under $349,000. Tom Prassis of Sony Pictures Classics said the company will gradually increase the number of theaters the movie is in each week, with the aim of having “Capote” in about 200 theaters by the end of this month.

Overall, after four weekends of better-than-average September business, the weekend just ended was down about 18% from the comparable period of 2004, when the top two new films, “Shark Tale” and “Ladder 49,” together took in $69.7 million Oct. 1 to 3, according to box-office tracking service Nielsen EDI. This year, the tally for the five new or expanding films was just shy of $30 million.

Another tracking service, Exhibitor Relations Inc., said September revenue was about 12% ahead of last September and admissions were up about 8.5%

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Box Office

Preliminary results (in millions) based on studio projections.

*--* Movie 3-day gross Total Flightplan $15.0 $46.1

Serenity 10.1 10.1

Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride 9.8 32.9

A History of Violence 8.2 9.0

Into the Blue 7.0 7.0

Just Like Heaven 6.1 38.4

The Exorcism of Emily Rose 4.4 68.5

Roll Bounce 4.0 12.7