DISNEY - A (SOMEWHAT) CHECKERED FLAG FOR CARS

Disney/Pixar's Cars crossed the finish line at the weekend box office ahead of the competition, but it set no record in doing so. Its estimated $62.8 million was nearly $9 million below Pixar's Finding Nemo and The Incredibles and represented its first production that did not exceed a prior Pixar release in ticket sales. In an interview with today's (Monday) Los Angeles Times, Anthony Valencia, an analyst at money management firm TCW in Los Angeles, remarked, "Pixar is like the parent who has a straight-A student: One day the child comes home with a B-plus" Nevertheless, Disney said it was counting on bigger grosses during the week -- which marks the first week of summer school vacation for most kids. Meanwhile, last weekend's top film, Universal's The Break-Up, fell 48 percent to about $20.5 million to place second. Fox's X-Men: The Last Stand appeared to be on its last legs as it dropped another 54 percent week to around $15.6 million. (Nevertheless, its potent record opening three weeks ago guaranteed it hit status. It's $201.7 million gross makes it the biggest money-maker of the year.) After debuting on Tuesday with $12.6 million, Fox's The Omen took in $15.5 million over the weekend, placing fourth. Paramount's Over the Hedge and Sony's The Da Vinci Code will be fighting for fifth place as each studio estimated that its respective films took in $10.3 million. Picturehouse's A Prairie Home Companion, which opened in only 760 theaters, took in about $4.7 million and placed seventh.

The top ten films for the weekend, according to studio estimates compiled by Exhibitor Relations:
1. Cars, $62.8 million; 2. The Break-Up, $20.5 million; 3. X-Men: The Last Stand, $15.55 million; 4. The Omen, $15.45 million; 5. Over the Hedge, $10.3 million; 5. The Da Vinci Code, $10.3 million; 7. A Prairie Home Companion, $4.7 million; 8. Mission: Impossible III, $3 million; 9. RV, $2 million; 10. Poseidon, $1.8 million.

12/06/2006