SorcererMickey
November 23rd, 2004, 13:01
A Disney year after all
Recovering studio nearing $1 billion for '04
By Greg Hernandez, Staff Writer
BURBANK -- Incredibly, the resurgent movie division of The Walt Disney Co. is poised to hit the $1 billion mark in domestic box office grosses over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, despite enduring a string of flops during the first seven months of the year.
As of Monday, Disney's year-to-date total stood at $956.8 million, with the studio having two of the top three movies in the marketplace, a total that includes grosses from some 2003 holdovers. Disney's movies released in 2004 have grossed $909.6 million so far.
Disney has managed to salvage what had been a dismal year with its release of "The Incredibles," the computer-animated smash from Pixar Animation Studios that has grossed $177.5 million in three weeks. "Incredibles" was bumped from the No. 1 spot by another Disney release, "National Treasure," which opened with a surprisingly strong $35.1 million.
"We were very soft until August," admitted Chuck Viane, president of Disney's Buena Vista Distribution. "But now we're on a strong roll again."
This will mark the record ninth time that Disney will reach $1 billion, even if it comes more than three months later than last year. In 2003, the studio reached the milestone during the first week of August on the strength of the $300 million-plus grossing blockbusters "Finding Nemo" and "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl."
"I've been here for 16 years, and one thing I know about us is consistency," Viane said. "We may in a short period of time underproduce, but on a year-in, year-out basis, we are very consistent."
The studio began 2004 as the reigning box office champ, coming off one of the best years in its long history. But it soon began to sputter in early spring with such expensive failures as "Hidalgo," "The Alamo" and the animated "Home on the Range." Then the studio's first big summer releases, "Around the World in 80 Days" and "King Arthur," opened dead on arrival.
"They are held to a very high standard," observed box office analyst Paul Dergarabedian, president of Exhibitor Relations Co. "There was a lot of talk earlier in the year about their box office performance. Unless they are doing just gangbuster business with every film, people wonder why they aren't doing better."
Still, nearly seven months into 2004, no Disney release had even managed to cross the $70 million mark domestically.
But things finally began to turn around with the July 30 release of "The Village," a thriller from M. Night Shyamalan that opened at No. 1 with a gross of $50.7 million. While "The Village" became Disney's first $100-million grosser of 2004, its final tally of $114.2 million was considered somewhat of a disappointment when compared with the $227.9 million gross two years ago by the Shyamalan-directed "Signs."
Less than two weeks later, "Princess Diaries 2: The Royal Engagement" opened a strong No. 2 and went on to gross a solid $94.7 million. While the Bernie Mac comedy "Mr. 3000" was a disappointment in September, the John Travolta-Joaquin Phoenix drama "Ladder 49" bowed in second place last month and has grossed a respectable $72.3 million to date.
But the real turnaround came with the Nov. 5 release of "The Incredibles," which enjoyed universally positive reviews and has been a major hit among several demographics of the moviegoing audience. The film is sure to cross the $200 million mark over the Thanksgiving holiday and looks to add handsomely to its total in the weeks to come.
While "Incredibles" kept the Disney/Pixar streak alive at six films, "Treasure" seems assured of extending the streak of Jerry Bruckheimer-produced films starring Nicolas Cage that have grossed at least $100 million at the box office. The others are "The Rock," "Gone in 60 Seconds" and "Con Air."
"Treasure" surprised most box office experts, who had not expected it to earn more than "The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie" ($32 million) over the weekend. Those two new films and "Incredibles" combined to lead the domestic box office to its biggest weekend since the Fourth of July holiday.
"Disney is salvaging their year and are a big part of turning the year-end box office into something that could end on a positive note," Dergarabedian said. "Despite the ups and downs of this year, they are still a force to be reckoned with."
Source: http://www.dailynews.com/Stories/0,1413,200~20950~2551956,00.html
Recovering studio nearing $1 billion for '04
By Greg Hernandez, Staff Writer
BURBANK -- Incredibly, the resurgent movie division of The Walt Disney Co. is poised to hit the $1 billion mark in domestic box office grosses over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, despite enduring a string of flops during the first seven months of the year.
As of Monday, Disney's year-to-date total stood at $956.8 million, with the studio having two of the top three movies in the marketplace, a total that includes grosses from some 2003 holdovers. Disney's movies released in 2004 have grossed $909.6 million so far.
Disney has managed to salvage what had been a dismal year with its release of "The Incredibles," the computer-animated smash from Pixar Animation Studios that has grossed $177.5 million in three weeks. "Incredibles" was bumped from the No. 1 spot by another Disney release, "National Treasure," which opened with a surprisingly strong $35.1 million.
"We were very soft until August," admitted Chuck Viane, president of Disney's Buena Vista Distribution. "But now we're on a strong roll again."
This will mark the record ninth time that Disney will reach $1 billion, even if it comes more than three months later than last year. In 2003, the studio reached the milestone during the first week of August on the strength of the $300 million-plus grossing blockbusters "Finding Nemo" and "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl."
"I've been here for 16 years, and one thing I know about us is consistency," Viane said. "We may in a short period of time underproduce, but on a year-in, year-out basis, we are very consistent."
The studio began 2004 as the reigning box office champ, coming off one of the best years in its long history. But it soon began to sputter in early spring with such expensive failures as "Hidalgo," "The Alamo" and the animated "Home on the Range." Then the studio's first big summer releases, "Around the World in 80 Days" and "King Arthur," opened dead on arrival.
"They are held to a very high standard," observed box office analyst Paul Dergarabedian, president of Exhibitor Relations Co. "There was a lot of talk earlier in the year about their box office performance. Unless they are doing just gangbuster business with every film, people wonder why they aren't doing better."
Still, nearly seven months into 2004, no Disney release had even managed to cross the $70 million mark domestically.
But things finally began to turn around with the July 30 release of "The Village," a thriller from M. Night Shyamalan that opened at No. 1 with a gross of $50.7 million. While "The Village" became Disney's first $100-million grosser of 2004, its final tally of $114.2 million was considered somewhat of a disappointment when compared with the $227.9 million gross two years ago by the Shyamalan-directed "Signs."
Less than two weeks later, "Princess Diaries 2: The Royal Engagement" opened a strong No. 2 and went on to gross a solid $94.7 million. While the Bernie Mac comedy "Mr. 3000" was a disappointment in September, the John Travolta-Joaquin Phoenix drama "Ladder 49" bowed in second place last month and has grossed a respectable $72.3 million to date.
But the real turnaround came with the Nov. 5 release of "The Incredibles," which enjoyed universally positive reviews and has been a major hit among several demographics of the moviegoing audience. The film is sure to cross the $200 million mark over the Thanksgiving holiday and looks to add handsomely to its total in the weeks to come.
While "Incredibles" kept the Disney/Pixar streak alive at six films, "Treasure" seems assured of extending the streak of Jerry Bruckheimer-produced films starring Nicolas Cage that have grossed at least $100 million at the box office. The others are "The Rock," "Gone in 60 Seconds" and "Con Air."
"Treasure" surprised most box office experts, who had not expected it to earn more than "The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie" ($32 million) over the weekend. Those two new films and "Incredibles" combined to lead the domestic box office to its biggest weekend since the Fourth of July holiday.
"Disney is salvaging their year and are a big part of turning the year-end box office into something that could end on a positive note," Dergarabedian said. "Despite the ups and downs of this year, they are still a force to be reckoned with."
Source: http://www.dailynews.com/Stories/0,1413,200~20950~2551956,00.html