Top 10 for February 10-12, 2006 Summary: Sunday estimates are in.
Four new wide releases led the charge this weekend with a particularly heated battle for the top spot between Sony's The Pink Panther
and New Line's Final Destination 3. According to Sunday estimates, the Steve Martin comedy remake The Pink Panther
topped the charts with a strong $21.7 million debut, averaging a solid $6,241 in a very wide 3,477 theaters.
Costarring Kevin Kline and Jean Reno, the poorly-reviewed $80 million budgeted film was set for a late summer release last year but was pushed back
due to Sony's acquisition of MGM.
New Line's $25 million budgeted Final Destination 3 finished a close second with an estimated $20.1 million, opening higher than
its two predecessors, 2000's Final Destination ($10 million) and 2003's Final Destination 2 ($16 million).
The low budget R-rated franchise has been fairly lucrative for New Line, which earned over $200 million worldwide from the first two pics.
Expect Final Destination 3 to surpass $50 million domestically and over $100 million worldwide.
The weekend's only well-reviewed release, Universal's traditionally animated Curious George, played solidly in third
with an estimated $15.3 million debut, averaging $5,969 in 2,566 theaters. Budgeted at $50 million and featuring the voice talents of
Will Ferrell and Drew Barrymore, expect the G-rated picture to have a steady run in theaters.
The weekend's final wide release debut, Harrison Ford's Firewall, opened a disappointing fourth with an estimated $13.8 million,
averaging $4,869 in 2,840 theaters. The Warner Bros. pic was the worst reviewed film opening this wekend, managing a "rotten" 17% recommendation
rating from critics polled by Rottentomatoes.com. Once a box office force,
Ford's track record since 2000's hit thriller What Lies Beneath ($155 million domestic) has been disappointing to say the least.
2002's K-19: The Widowmaker managed just $35 million domestically, while 2003's Hollywood Homicide took in $30.9 million.
Look for Firewall to finish its domestic run similarly.
Last week's champ When a Stranger Calls slipped four notches to fifth place, falling 54% to an estimated $10 million in its
sophomore frame. Budgeted at just $15 million, the ScreenGems release has now amassed $34.8 million in ten days, and should finish with
$50 million by the end of its run. Among other holdovers, Focus Feature's Brokeback Mountain took in $4.19 million in
its tenth week of release, pushing its cume to $66 million.
Out of the top ten for the first time was Disney's blockbuster fantasy pic The Chronicles of Narnia,
which fell just 31% to an estimated $2.1 million, bringing its ten week take to a fantastic $284.8 million domestically. That's more than
the last three Harry Potter pictures, although globally Narnia's $650 million total is still well below the $790
million global take of 2004's Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, the lowest grossing of the four Harry Potter pics.
The four new releases helped push the top ten to $102.2 million, up 4% from last year's comparable frame when Hitch
debuted at No. 1 with a record $43.1 million.
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