Lionsgate Entertainment (NYSE: LGF) came out on top this past weekend. According to Boxofficemojo, the studio's film The Forbidden Kingdom took in about $20.9 million at domestic movie theaters, driven perhaps by the star power of Jackie Chan. That's more than I thought it would do. (I should point out, though, that all the numbers discussed here are based on estimates -- finalized figures will be out at a later date.)

Forgetting Sarah Marshall, from General Electric's (NYSE: GE) Universal Pictures, was second with $17 million (I also thought this might do less). Jason Segel is the star of the TV series How I Met Your Mother and was also on one of my favorite TV shows, Freaks and Geeks. Then we have Sony's (NYSE: SNE) Prom Night, which came in third with $9 million. That was quite a drop from last week's $20 million debut. In fact, going back to the spiel about estimates vs. final numbers, when I covered the box office winners last week, Prom Night was originally credited with a $22.7 million take -- this was eventually reduced to $20.8 million. I went and saw the movie last Thursday afternoon by myself -- I literally walked into a completely empty auditorium, first time that ever happened in my life (it was a large auditorium, too). Talk about creepy. Nevertheless, I guess I can see why Prom Night is fading so fast (it wasn't that bad of a film, I should mention). Sony's 88 Minutes and News Corp.'s (NYSE: NWS) Nim's Island took fourth and fifth places, respectively.

But the big story of the weekend could be found in Lions Gate's triumph. The little studio scored again. One has to wonder when one of the majors, or perhaps a consortium of private equity concerns, is going to finally step up to the plate and buy it out. Those speculating on such an outcome have been waiting a long, long time. I like to follow Lions Gate, and I'm waiting for its stock to break out at some point -- it's got to happen one of these days.

Disclosure: I own shares of General Electric; positions can change at any time.

Lionsgate conquered the multiplex over the weekend originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 21 Apr 2008 10:25:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

According to early estimates at Boxofficemojo, moviegoers were in the mood for a bloody slasher. Sony's (NYSE: SNE) Prom Night came in at number one over the weekend at the domestic multiplex marketplace, with approximately $22.7 million in ticket grosses. Horror is back, baby, after the ruinous performance of Viacom's (NYSE: VIA) The Ruins. That film plunged to eighth place, and it has only taken in about $13 million so far after two full weekends on the silver screen -- as can be seen, the teen/college crowd responded much better to the slick marketing campaign behind Prom Night than it did to the one offered up in support of Viacom's project.

Street Kings from News Corp. (NYSE: NWS) couldn't even come close to Prom Night, as it only did about $12 million -- that was good enough for second place, though. Sony's 21 dropped to third place after two weekends at top, its total gross now standing at around $62 million. News Corp.'s Nim's Island was fourth, and George Clooney's Leatherheads, from General Electric's (NYSE: GE) Universal asset, is right now in fifth place with $6.2 million. Dr. Seuss' Horton Hears a Who!, the number-six film, was credited with a similar amount, so it might end up changing places with Clooney's unfortunate not-blockbuster.

Sony had a pretty good weekend between Prom Night and 21. I can see how the younger crowds reacted in a positive manner to the horror piece -- we are pretty much in the season, after all, when high-school kids across the land are preparing for the popular cultural rite. Plus, there is some significant brand equity to the title -- Jamie Lee Curtis starred in the classic 1980 film with the same name (to the best of my knowledge, this is not a remake of that cinematic icon). Sony's challenge now is to keep the momentum going and get this thing as close to $100 million as possible -- I don't think the century mark is 100% doable in this case, but approaching it will ensure that a new franchise is born. Who knows, maybe we'll see a Prom Night video game on the PlayStation 3.

Disclosure: I own shares of General Electric; positions can change at any time.

Sony shareholders scored last weekend with "Prom Night" originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 14 Apr 2008 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.