Tuesday, May 22, 2012 | Edited by Daniel Moores
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Hollywood Gets Ready for Summer Hollywood is hoping that Friday's opening of "Men In Black 3" will kick off a lucrative summer at the box office, a season that got going early with the tremendous success of the superhero action film "The Avengers." Hollywood's releases have grossed more than $4 billion in the U.S. and Canada so far this year. That's a 15.7% increase over the same period last year. Theater attendance is also up 18.4% over last year. And the industry is on track to exceed the $4.4 billion earned at theaters last summer by at least $500 million, according to box-office analysts. "Hollywood lives and dies by its summer blockbusters, and this is the best slate of summer films I've seen in years," said Jeff Bock, a box-office analyst at Exhibitor Relations Co. "The Avengers," released domestically May 4, has taken in $457.1 million to date in North America and nearly $1.2 billion world-wide, and other studios predict that its ability to draw audiences into the theater will keep them coming back in the months ahead for the crop of big-budget films set for release as the temperature rises. Success isn't guaranteed. The science-fiction action adventure "Battleship," which opened domestically over the weekend, following its international release, stands as the first big-budget action film to challenge "The Avengers" for the box-office crown, yet it grossed a disappointing $25.3 million in its first weekend in North American theaters, according to early estimates. Given the dominance of "The Avengers," studios are hoping their films continue to find legs in their second and third weeks. "The marketplace can't be just one movie," said Nikki Rocco, president of distribution at Comcast Corp.'s Universal Pictures, which released "Battleship." "At this time of the year, the multiples on films are better and we'll see what happens." Because of the disappointing numbers posted by "Battleship," the industry will turn to the third installment of the "Men In Black" series that stars Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones, opening May 25, the gritty fairy tale adventure "Snow White and the Huntsman" on June 1, and the Ridley Scott-directed science-fiction film "Prometheus," which will hit theaters on June 8, to set the post-"Avengers" standard for the summer. DreamWorks Animation has its sights on younger moviegoers with the release of "Madagascar 3," also opening on June 8. Walt Disney Co., which released "The Avengers," will look to reclaim box-office success with the June 22 release of "Brave," its newest film from Pixar Animation Studios. But "The Dark Knight Rises," from Time Warner Inc.'s Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures, is the only film expected to pose a serious challenge to "The Avengers" for the top box-office spot this summer. The third and final film in director Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy is set for release on July 20. The first two films in the series grossed nearly $1.4 billion world-wide. Studios make roughly 40% of the year's overall box office in the summer, according to box-office analyst Paul Dergarabedian, president of Hollywood.com's box-office division. This year's slate of summer films -- consisting of the usual sequels and franchise films -- are well-positioned to help domestic box office in 2012 to approach $11 billion for the first time in history, he said. "The lack of originality (in film types) continues, but that's not necessarily a bad thing in the summer," he said. The more important statistic to watch, said Exhibitor Relations' Mr. Bock, is whether theaters and studios will see an attendance boost. Last summer, attendance stalled at roughly 554 million tickets sold -- a significant drop from the 629 million tickets that were sold during the summer of 2002, when director Sam Raimi's take on "Spider-Man," with Tobey Maguire as the comic book web slinger, and "Star Wars: Episode 2 -- Attack of the Clones," ruled the box office. A new Spider-Man film, "The Amazing Spider-Man," starring Andrew Garfield, hits theaters on July 3. There are other major titles to round out the summer, including "The Bourne Legacy," the fourth installment in the Jason Bourne spy thriller series, starring Jeremy Renner and set for an Aug. 3 release. That day will also see the return of "Total Recall," as a remake of the 1990 film of the same name hits theaters, this time featuring Colin Farrell and Kate Beckinsale. And the late summer days hold promise for "The Expendables 2," the action film featuring a handful of big-name stars, including Sylvester Stallone, Jean-Claude Van Damme and Bruce Willis, which is set to open on Aug. 17. (Source: The Wall Street Journal, 05/20/12) Click here to email to client Back to Radio Sales Today |
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