May 1 — 4

The first holiday weekend – from May 1 to May – the comic book adaptation Iron Man (UPI), starring Robert Downey, Jr., led by a wide margin. In its first four days, the film grossed $4,429,214 from 607 screens, and $4,581,269 in five days – the film was released on Wednesday, April 30. Iron Man’s average gross per screen was $7,297 the best such figure of all the films that week.

The next two places in the chart were also taken up by new films. In second place was Igor Kalenov’s $7 million historical epic Alexander: The Nevsky Battle [Aleksandr. Nevskaya bitva] (Caroprokat) with Anton Pampushny in the role of the grand duke Alexander Nevsky. The film grossed $1,547,881 from 408 screens in its first four days. One notch down was Made of Honor (BVSPR), the romantic comedy starring Patrick Dempsey and Michelle Monaghan, which was just shy of $1 million: on 183 screens, it grossed $966,491.

Another two films – Nim’s Island (West), the adventure comedy starring Jody Foster, Abigail Breslin and Gerard Butler and the Swiss-Belgian-French-British film animated film Max & Co. (Luxor) – debuted in seventh and eighth place, respectively. Nim’s Island grossed $409,496 from 258 screens and Max & Co. took $271,896 from 75 screens. The sixth new film in the chart was Import-Export (Cinema Without Frontiers), the Austrian drama directed by Ulrich Seidl and starring Yekaterina Rak. It had to make do with 28^th place, grossing $5,532 from two screens.

In addition to Iron Man and Alexander: The Nevsky Battle, there were several other films that made more than $1 million – the erotic thriller Deception (Paradise) and the romantic comedy Forgetting Sarah Marshall (UPI), which, in 11 days of release, respectively grossed $1,683,887 and $1,612,446. Consequently, this box-office year’s “millionaire’s club” membership was already 70-strong. Total CIS box office in May 1–4 was $10,039,375, which is 43.9% higher compared with the last weekend’s figure.

May 8 — 11

The CIS box office leader was a new film – What Happens in Vegas…, Tom Vaughan’s American romantic comedy starring Cameron Diaz and Ashton Kutcher (20^th Century Fox CIS), which grossed $3,697,764 from 476 screens and had the best average gross per screen with $7,768. Vaughan’s film relegated last week’s winner – the comic book adaptation Iron Man (UPI), starring Robert Downey, Jr.  – to second place. The film grossed $2,308,786 from 608 screens (48% less than its opening weekend), for a total of $8,122,226 in 12 days.

Igor Kalenov’s historical epic Alexander: The Nevsky Battle (Caroprokat) retreated to second place, grossing $763,700 (a 51% drop) from 408 screens. The film’s 11-day gross was $2,477,032. Made of Honor (BVSPR), the romantic comedy starring Patrick Dempsey, slipped from third to fourth place and broke the $1 million barrier. Its second weekend brought in $448,893 (down 53%) from183 screens and its total 11-day gross was $1,794,020.

What Happens in Vegas… and Made of Honor were the latest additions to the list of film that made more than $1 million. Currently, the “millionaire club’s” membership is 72-strong.

In addition to What Happens in Vegas…, three other new films made the top ten. Renny Harlin’s criminal thriller Cleaner (Top Film), starring Samuel L. Jackson, started in fifth place with a $427,601 gross from 129 screens. Seventh place was taken up by the Russian-Ukrainian $2 million melodrama directed by Anders Puustusmaa The Red Pearl of Love [Krasny zhemchug lyubvi] (Paradise), starring Oksana Fandera and Yevgeny Tsyganov. The film grossed $158,092 from 98 screens. Two lines lower was the $6 million English-language Ukrainian erotic melodrama Sappho (Luxor) directed by British director Robert Crombie. The film, which stars Avalon Barrie and Bogdan Stupka grossed $104,052 from 75 screens.

The 1991 japanimation drama Memories of Yesterday [Omohide poro poro] (RUSCICO), directed by Isao Takahata started in 20^th place in the chart (three screens, $9,041). On the next line down was the crime drama The Second Wind [Le deuxième souffle] (CP Classic), the remake of the classic 1966 film by Jean-Pierre Melville based on a novel by Jose Giovanni. The original starred Lino Ventura and Christine Fabréga, while this update stars Daniel Auteil and Monica Belucci. The film grossed $8,969 from five screens.