Living up to expectations

Openers “Ratatouille,” “Live Free or Die Hard” and the female-driven romantic drama “Evening” met expectations.

Michael Moore’s provocative healthcare documentary “Sicko” grossed a healthy $10,200 average per venue -- second only to the $12,000 of “Ratatouille” -- after expanding to 441 locations in its second weekend.

The Angelina Jolie drama “A Mighty Heart” fell 61% in its second weekend and finished outside the top 10.

Overall results were flat from a year ago. Year-to-date revenue has risen almost 3%, but the increase stems from ticket price hikes. Attendance is down about 1% from 2006.

Preliminary results (in millions) in the U.S. and Canada, based on studio projections:

*--* MOVIE 3-DAY TOTAL WEEKS (STUDIO) GROSS (MILLS.) (MILLS.)

1 Ratatouille (Disney) $47.2 $47.2 1

2 Live Free or Die Hard (20th Century 33.2 48.2 1 Fox)

3 Evan Almighty (Universal) 15.1 60.6 2

4 1408 (Weinstein/MGM) 10.6 40.4 2

5 Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver 9.0 114.8 3 Surfer (20th Century Fox)

6 Knocked Up (Universal) 7.4 122.4 5

7 Ocean’s Thirteen (Warner Bros.) 6.1 102.1 4

8 Pirates of the Caribbean: At 5.0 295.8 6 World’s End (Disney)

9 Sicko (Weinstein/Lions Gate) 4.5 4.6 2

10 Evening (Focus/Universal) 3.5 3.5 1

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Industry totals

*--* 3-day gross Change Year-to-date gross Change (in millions) from 2006 (in billions) from 2006 $154.0 +0.1% $4.60 +2.9%

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Note: A movie may be shown on more than one screen at each venue.

Source: Media by Numbers

Los Angeles Times