Friday Box Office Analysis
By Kim Hollis
December 4, 2004
BoxOfficeProphets.com

Do you think anyone believes that's *not* a piece?
Now that the turkey has been eaten and the leftovers have been devoured too, we come to that weekend at the box office where practically nothing happens. This weekend is no exception, though we do have one limited release showing some promise early on.

Closer

Academy Award-winning director Mike Nichols returns with this critically divisive film that feels awfully similar in tone to his previous film, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Closer was banking on its gorgeous cast, including Natalie Portman, Julia Roberts, Jude Law and Clive Owen to carry it to some degree of success with a moderate opening on 476 screens. The film was able to do just fine in its limited debut on opening day, taking in $2.8 million. Since it (obviously) skews adult, Closer should see a Friday-to-Sunday multiplier in excess of 3.0 - probably in the 3.2 range. That would give the Sony film a three-day total of $9 million and a smashing per screen average.

Notable Holdovers

All of last week's chartholders dropped a minimum of 53%, which is to be expected in the aftermath of a Friday that was a holiday for most people. Best off was Finding Neverland, which fell a slight-by-comparison 53%, while the largest drop was reserved for The Incredibles, which depreciated 75% from its previous Friday. Things should even up a bit as we head to the holiday season and loads of people find time to see movies they might have missed.