FOX - ICE COOLS; SMOKING SMOKES

Twentieth Century Fox's Ice Age: The Meltdown melted off half its earnings from its opening week but remained the top movie over the weekend with $33.8 million. The debut of Sony's The Benchwarmers ranked second with $19.7 million. However, in terms of money earned per screen, the second-place film was Fox Searchlight's Thank You for Smoking, which earned $2.3 million at just 299 theaters -- or $7,723 per screen. By contrast, The Benchwarmers took in about $1,700 less per screen and Ice Age, about $800 more. New Line's Take the Lead did not come close to taking it, winding up with $12 million in its debut. The MGM-Weinstein Co. film Lucky Number Slevin did a so-so $7 million, while Fox Searchlight's Phat Girlz opened with a very skinny $3.1 million.

The top ten films over the weekend, according to final figures compiled by Exhibitor Relations (figures in parentheses represent total gross to date):
1. Ice Age: The Meltdown, 20th Century Fox, $33,823,894, 2 Wks. ($115,751,973); 2. The Benchwarmers, Sony, $19,656,429, (New); 3. Take the Lead, New Line, $12,051,277, (New); 4. Inside Man, Universal, $9,131,410, 3 Wks. ($66,013,040); 5. Lucky Number Slevin, MGM, $7,031,921, (New); 6. Failure to Launch, Paramount, $4,130,869, 5 Wks. ($79,145,215); 7. ATL, Warner Bros. $3,710,215, 2 Wks. ($17,215,267); 8. V for Vendetta, Warner Bros. $3,404,210, 4 Wks. ($62,296,435); 9. Phat Girlz, Fox Searchlight, $3,109,924, (New); 10. Thank You for Smoking, Fox Searchlight, $2,309,097, 4 Wks. ($6,193,074).

11/04/2006