THE MARKET: “Mamma Mia” goes into wide release on Friday, July 18, 2008. How much will it gross in its opening weekend as first reported by Variety on July 20? Each dollar of the share price represents millions of dollars in sales. Shares bought at $45, for example, would be worth $78 if the movie grosses $78 million. Trading closes on July 18 at 9 a.m. ET.
THE DATA: In a piece on chick flicks Rachel Abramowitz at the LA Times boldly predicts numbers at the international box office in the “Sex and the City” realm, but can the ABBA-inspired “Mamma Mia” match the $55+ million Carrie and the girls scored domestically? Seems like a stretch.
OUR TAKE: The last big musical-turned-movie was Tim Burton and Johnny Depp’s “Sweeney Todd,” a decidedly darker flick that earned Hosanas from the critics, but not a ton of cash. Expect “Mamma Mia” to blow past the $9.3 million opening weekend mark set by “Sweeney.” But competing opener “Dark Knight,” which opens the same weekend, figures to dampen the opening just a touch.

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