You know the drill. This should be an interesting weekend.

Scott, how many screens are the openers getting at your theater?

They are not yet available, are yours?

My local theaters are only 8-12 theaters, so most movies except blockbusters like The Incredibles get 1 screen. Although, this weekend, I'll be going to a 16-screen theater for the first time in a while. Their listings are up. Spongebob will be getting 2 screens, National Treasure will be getting 2 screens, The Polar Express and The Incredibles remain on 2 and 3, and the rest are getting 1 screen.

The screen counts for the theaters around bay area are not up yet either. I checked some large theaters in the L.A. area, and National Treasure and Spongebob are getting basically equal amount of screens; some have 2 each, some have 3.

we got :
3 Spongebobs
2 National Treasures (only due to the fact we are huge with kids and we just dont have any room )
2 Bridgets

sneak of Kranks on Sat.

still have :

4 Incredibles
2 1/2 Polars
1 Grudge
1 Ray
1/2 Saw (splits with a Polar go figure)

heh never in my time at the theatre have we had this few of movies

I would like to point out that Kranks is sneaking with Grudge, now if that will help Grudge I dont know considering its taking the 7 pm show and that has typically been our busiest show on Sat so Im actually kinda upset

edit : forgot about poor old Ray

AMC Mercado 20, Santa Clara, CA:

New
National Treasure - 2 screens in the afternoon, 3 at night (12 showings)
The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie - 3 screens in the afternoon, 2 at night (15 showings)

Holdovers
After the Sunset - 1 screen (6 showings)
Alfie - 1 screen (3 showings at night)
Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason - 2 screens (11 showings)
The Grudge - 1 screen (6 showings)
The Incredibles - 3 screens (17 showings)
The Polar Express - 3 screens (16 showings)
Ray - 1 screen (4 showings)
Saw/Shall We Dance? - sharing 1 screen (3 showings each)
Shark Tale/Seed of Chucky - sharing 1 screen (3 showings each)
Sideways - 1 screen (5 showings)

At my theater

Spongebob - 3 screens plus one interlock in the day.
National Treasure - 3 screens plus one interlock at night.

Looks good for the both of them.

Century 20 Great Mall, Milpitas, CA:

New
National Treasure - 3 screens (11 showings)
The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie - 3 screens (14 showings)

Holdovers
After the Sunset - 1 screen (5 showings)
Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason - 1 screen (5 showings)
Seed of Chucky - 2 screens (11 showings)
The Polar Express - 2 screens (10 showings)
The Incredibles - 5 screens (18 showings)
Ray - 1 screen (4 showings)
Saw - 1 screen (5 showings)
The Grudge - 1 screen (5 showings)
Shall We Dance? - 1 screen (5 showings)
Shark Tale/Alfie - sharing 1 screen (1 and 2 showings)

AMC Hoffman Centre 22
Suburban VA

New
Christmas with the Kranks - 1 screen (1 showing; sneak preview Saturday)
Finding Neverland - 2 screens (10 showings)
National Treasure - 3 screens (13 showings)
Sideways - 1 screen (4 showings)
The Spongebob Squarepants Movie - 2 screens (10 showings)

Holdovers
After the Sunset - 2 screens (9 showings)
Alfie - 1 screen (1 showing; screen shared with After the Sunset)
Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason - 2 screens (10 showings)
The Grudge - 1 screen (4 showings)
The Incredibles - 4 screens (15 showings)
The Polar Express - 2 screens (10 showings)
Ray - 1 screen (4 showings)
Saw - 1 screen (4 showings)
Seed of Chucky - 1 screen (5 showings)
Shall We Dance - 1 screen (2 showings; screen shared with Shark Tale)
Shark Tale - 1 screen (3 showings; screen shared with Shall We Dance)

BTW, I am working midshift tomorrow, so I'll keep you posted.

I'm not sure what I'll be seeing this weekend. My sister wants to see Spongebob, so I might forced to watch that. I want to see either Seed of Chucky or National Treasure, though. We'll see what happens.

My 18-screen theater in Albany, NY

Openers:

National Treasure - 3 biggest screens
Spongebob - 2 medium screens (1 sharing with Alfie 10:10 show)
Sideways - 1 small screen

Holdovers:

Incredibles - 3 screens
Polar Express - 3 screens during the day, 1 sharing with Seed of Chucky
Bridget Jones - 2 screens
After the Sunset - 1 screen
Grudge - 1 screen (sneak preview of Kranks on Sat at 7:00)
Saw - 1 screen
Shark Tale and Ray sharing 1 screen

This is a quote from Yahoo thread.

BJs Crowd report:

Movie: The Incredibles
Theater: Fireweed 7 Theater
Time: 12:30pm
Seater / Pack: Giant Screen 1200-1500 seater / 40% full ( not bad )
Trialers:
didnt like any of them, they only showed three trailers, they all sucked :x

Review: great movie much better than I would have ever expected 8) Th crowd loved it there was some clapping after the show 8) definatly a great movie for anyone looking for a entertaining movie 8)

Grade: A

8)

It was a busy night at our theatre. Here are the highlights of the rush.

Spongebob
455 50% full on a 600 seater
710 70% full on a 292 seater
735 60% full on a 600 seater
Very well for an animated movie at night

National Treasure
310 80% full on a 292 seater
400 65% on a 600 seater
715 85% on a 292 seater
735 sold out on a 600 seater
Alot better than I expected.

The Incredibles
705 sold out on a 160 seater
730 sold out on a 150 seater
745 sold out on a 211 seater
Still going strong

If those stupid Spongebob toys at burger king say anything, we've been selling them where people just come in just for the toys. We've sold just about 30-40% more kids meals because of spongebob toys.

National Treasure

9:30 PM Grand Prairie 18

351 Seater - Sold Out (First sell out I have been to in this town in over 4 months)

The crowd at the theater reminded me of summer. Lots of kids around. Parking lot completely full.

Trailers:

Pacifier
Hitchhiker's guide
Chicken Little

The movie is a solid popcorn movie. Entertaining and fun. People seemed to enjoy it.

Grade B+

I don't see this getting less than 10 mil today. Maybe 12 to 15 mil.

P.S.: The usher told me the crowds have been excellent for both NT and Spongebob all evening.

Here is my theater report.

National Treasure
12:20 (175 seater) - 33% full.
2:00 (300 seater) - 27% full.
2:40 (400 seater) - 20% full.
3:25 (175 seater) - 33% full.
5:05 (300 seater) - 44% full.
5:50 (400 seater) - 33% full.
6:35 (175 seater) - 67% full.
7:25 (200 seater) - 79% full.
8:15 (300 seater) - Sold Out.
9:00 (400 seater) - Sold Out.
9:40 (175 seater) - Sold Out.
9:40 (300 seater) - Sold Out.
With More to Come. Wow, this is amazing (especially the surprizingly strong matinee. A great comeback for Bruckheimer).

Spongebob
12:30 (600 seater) - 4% full.
1:20 (250 seater) - 14% full.
2:10 (200 seater) - 15% full.
3:00 (600 seater) - 6% full.
3:50 (250 seater) - 16% full.
4:40 (200 seater) - 47% full.
5:30 (600 seater) - 29% full.
6:20 (250 seater) - 79% full.
7:10 (200 seater) - Sold Out.
8:00 (600 seater) - 69% full.
8:50 (250 seater) - Sold Out.
9:40 (200 seater) - Sold Out.
(Good Performer here, but surprisingly, it came behind National Treasure here. This could be a close race).

In other news, Incredibles got hit a bit by the presence of Spongebob, with no sold out shows. Polar Express was hit big time by Spongebob. Bridget Jones Diary was not as strong as last time, though we had a Sold Out in at 9:05 in a 150 seater. After the Sunset was barely holding, but Seed of Chucky got crucified, collecting not even a 1/3 of what we did last Friday did. Overall, it was slow at first, but we are picking up big time. I still see a strong frame for the weekend.

National Treasure - 7:30pm
About a 350 seater - SOLD OUT

The other two screens were also sold out including the +500 seat giant screen. I have not seen that one sold out since the Matrix Reloaded, although I did not go to the theater on opening weekend for Shrek 2, ROTK, Spider-man 2, or Harry Potter 3. Compared to the movies I have seen there opening day, it was better then I, Robot, The Bourne Supremacy, and The Incredibles. Bourne and I, Robot were also on 3 screens, and were selling out, however, those screens were smaller and they did not include the giant screen. The Incredibles was on 4 screens, but again they were smaller on average, and it wasn't entirely selling out. Rather, it was about 75% full on average.

I went to see the size of the audiences for Spongebob. It was also playing on 3 screens, but they were smaller then National Treasure's. It was about 70% full on average.

If I were to project the grosses based just on the audiences at this theater and what I've seen from other movies there in the past, I'd say 22m for National Treasure, and 12m for Spongebob. Of course, this assumes the entire country is like this theater, which is likely not the case.

In terms of the demographics, Spongebob was probably over 70% families. National Treasure on the other hand had very few families or teens for that matter. It was an older audience; probably about 75% of it was over 25.

Trailers:
The Pacifier - Looks horrible to me, but it got a good reaction. Many laughs. I get the feeling it will be a hit.
Son of the Mask - Doesn't look good either, but I think the cartoonish mayhem and the concept will attract kids. Probably next year's Kangaroo Jack.
Elektra - WOW! This trailer blew me away! It has a very different look then DareDevil, and that is a very good thing. The special effects look amazing and the style reminds me of Hero in a good way. I've only been blown away by advertising 3 times this year, the other two were TV commercials for The Butterfly Effect and I, Robot. I have to increase my predictions for this one. I'd rank it among the top 3 trailers I've ever seen.
Ocean's Twelve - Another very poor trailer. This continues to remind me of Analyze That with all the inept marketing. I will not be surprised if it bombs badly.
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Well, I'm a fanboy, but I do think the teaser is effective. No reaction though.
Chicken Little - Some laughs, although one guy commented that it's the stupidest thing he has ever seen. Still, I think it looks promising.

The movie - It was a very entertaining popcorn flick. In fact, I'd rank it even with Pirates of the Caribbean as the best adventure film I have ever seen. It's better then The Mummy, or any of the Indiana Jones films IMO. It won't be in my top ten for this year, but it was the most fun I've had all year watching a movie.

Thanks Scott. :wink: It seems like National Treasure is beating Spongebob everywhere. I think it has the top spot for Friday at the very least.

Man, I predicted about $20 million for National Treasure in my Derby...I think thats going to kill me.

I predicted $18.7m for the weekend

I think it'll be under $20m on Friday, though.

Well I also predicted $68.7 million for SpongeBob...I don't know why, I had a feeling it would be HUGE. I bet I'm wrong though My derby is going to be terrible this weekened. lol

I predicted around $30m for Spongebob, so I'll be in the 70-90 range with that one. With National Treasure, I'll be in the .2% range, lol.