Pan's Labyrinth saw its theater count more than double this past weekend, but it was still able to win the race on the Per Theater Chart with $17,359 in 44 venues. Letters from Iwo Jima climbed to second place with $15,859, which represents a less than 10% drop-off from the weekend before. Notes of a Scandal showed amazingly strong resilience on the chart, as it dipped just 36% to $12,100, this despite quadrupling its theater count. Two other films just managed to top $10,000: Dreamgirls with $10,168 and Comedy of Power with $10,061.

The only other limited release this week was Thr3e, which struggled with an average of just $1,474. This is less than the costs of the prints.

This past week also saw milestones reached for a couple Per Theater Chart alumni:

• Sweet Land reached $1 million over the weekend, which is in line with its estimated production budget of $1 million.
• The Painted Veil also reached $1 million over the weekend, but unlike the previous film, this one is still growing.
• Pan's Labyrinth surpassed $1 million midweek, and will probably reach $2 million by the end of today.
• Notes of a Scandal's expansion helped it reach $1 million and $2 million over the weekend.
• As expected, Curse of the Golden Flower topped $2 million over the weekend.
• Babel hit $20 million midweek, which is more than several wide releases, including Just My Luck, School for Scoundrels, and Beerfest. However, unless the film earns more Oscar nods than its award-season record indicates, this could be the last milestone the film will reach.

- C.S.Strowbridge

Date posted: 2007-01-09