Brokeback Mountain remained in top spot on the per theatre charts despite a massive expansion in its theatre count. It went from five theatres to 69 while its per theatre average remained amazing at $36,355. Second place went to The Producers with an average of $25,765 in five theatres, which is a good start, but perhaps not as good as Universal was hoping for. Memoirs of a Geisha slipped to third with $25,045 in 52 theatres; it's not holding up as well as Brokeback Mountain did, but that's hardly a reason for Sony to be upset. The overall box office champ, King Kong, came in fourth with an average of $14,050 in its 3,568 theatres.

This past week also saw milestones reached for a couple of Per Theatre Charts alumni:

• Memoirs of a Geisha earned more than $1 million over the weekend and hit $2 million.
• Brokeback Mountain earned more than $2 million during the weekend and has more that $3 million so far. I would be surprised if the film didn't eventually reach a wide audience, so much so that it will stop being tracked in this column.
• The Squid and the Whale made it to $4 million midweek, and has more than enough steam to make it to $5 million.

- C.S.Strowbridge

Date posted: 2005-12-20