Member News Category: Box Office

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Distribution

NBC News: Disney to cap the number of Marvel movies it releases each year as it doubles down on ‘quality’

Disney will release no more than three Marvel films and up to two Disney+ shows each year going forward as it works to place more focus on quality output.

The announcement by CEO Bob Iger comes as Disney shares plunged 8% in Tuesday trading following the release of the entertainment giant’s quarterly earnings.

This year will see the release of just one Marvel film: “Deadpool and Wolverine” starring Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman, slated for a July 26 release.

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[SUBSCRIPTION] Puck: Apple’s Come-to-Jesus Moment for Movies

I’m pleased to report, however, that Cook and Cue didn’t pull the plug on theaters in that meeting, and Cook was clear in his continued support for Apple TV+ in general—or at least, that’s what Van Amburg and Erlicht have been telling people, both internally and externally. (An Apple rep declined to comment on their behalf.) I’m told the Apple leaders did prod Zack and Jamie to explain how the company can become smarter in its theatrical endeavors—which, at least by traditional metrics, haven’t gone great. Lessons were learned, the duo promised, data was collected, and it’s early—the two career TV guys will figure this theater thing out.  

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Streaming

Variety: Disney’s Entertainment Streaming Business Ekes Out Surprise Profit as Disney+ Core Subscribers Top 117 Million

Disney‘s entertainment streaming segment, anchored by Disney+, scored its first profitable quarter, helping to partially offset continued weakness in the media conglomerate’s linear TV business for the first three months of 2024.

To be sure, Disney’s overall streaming business was still in the red for the quarter when factoring in ESPN+, which had an operating loss of $65 million. The company reiterated its expectation that its combined streaming operations will achieve profitability in the September 2024 quarter.

Overall, Disney revenue for the quarter ended March 30 was in line with Wall Street expectations, while it beat on adjusted earnings per share. The Mouse House’s results got their biggest lift from the theme parks division, where revenue rose 10% and operating income was up 14%. Disney’s theatrical revenue dropped year over year “as there were no significant titles released” in the quarter, and revenue in the linear networks segment declined 8%.

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NOTE: Inclusion of articles in the newsletter DOES NOT equal an endorsement by NATO

Release Schedule

Deadline: Ishana Night Shyamalan’s Horror Pic ‘The Watchers’ Moves Back To Original Release Date – Update

Ishana Night Shyamalan’s debut film is on the move, again. And the new date is a familiar one. Two months after Warner Bros. shuffled The Watchers back by a week to the June 14-16 Fathers Day frame, the pic is headed back to its original June 7 date.

It’ll have some action-packed company that Friday, going against Sony’s Bad Boys: Ride or Die, the long-gestating fourth film in the nearly 30-year-old franchise. Lionsgate’s The Crow remake also was set for June 7, but that pic flew away from the date about three weeks ago and now is set for August 23.

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Deadline: DreamWorks Animation’s ‘The Wild Robot’ Will Go One Week Later In The Fall

DreamWorks Animation’s The Wild Robot will now go on Sept. 27 instead of Sept. 20.

The move comes in the wake of Paramount’s animated Transformers One parking on Sept. 20 (instead of Sept. 13) as the studio needed to get a foothold on Imax auditoriums.

We heard that Transformers One was moved to get further away from Beetlejuice Beetlejuice as that Warner Bros Tim Burton directed, Michael Keaton starring sequel is expected to scare up a ton of September cash; that movie opening on Sept. 6.

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Streaming

The Hollywood Reporter: Peacock Quarterly Loss Narrows to $639M as Streamer Hits 34M Subscribers

Peacock, the streaming service of Comcast’s entertainment unit NBCUniversal, grew its first-quarter revenue and narrowed its loss to $639 million from $704 million in the year-ago period, and $825 million in the fourth quarter of 2023, despite higher programming costs. The streamer ended March with 34 paying subscribers, compared with a year-end 2023 figure of 31 million, the company also said on Thursday.

“Peacock paid subscribers increased 55 percent compared to the prior-year period to 34 million, including net additions of 3 million in the first quarter,” Comcast highlighted. “Peacock revenue increased 54 percent to $1.1 billion.”

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IMAX

Variety: Imax Q1 Revenue Drops 9%, Earnings Beat Wall Street Estimates on Lift From ‘Dune 2’

Imax fans turned up in droves to see “Dune 2” on the really big screen, helping the company top analyst earnings estimates for the first quarter of 2024.

Despite the sandworm bump, it was a tough compare with the year-ago period when Imax benefited from the blockbuster success of “Avatar: The Way of Water” in 2023 to deliver its highest-grossing Q1 to date. Revenue in the first quarter of 2024 was $79.1 million, down 9% year over year, while net income was $3.3 million (an adjusted 15 cents per share), up 33%.

During the most recent quarter, Warner Bros.’ “Dune: Part Two” became one of the Top 10 Imax releases of all time. The Denis Villeneuve-directed sci-fi epic has garnered more than $143 million at the global box office to date on Imax screens — representing 21% of the film’s total gross receipts.

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Marketing

Variety: Movie Marketing Chiefs Talk ‘Barbenheimer’ Effect, Handling Reboots and the Primacy of Trailers at Variety’s Entertainment Marketing Summit

Goldstine noted the ante for theatrical films has been raised by “an extra $100 billion worth of streaming content that has entered the marketplace” since about 2017. Dwight Caines, president of domestic marketing for Universal Pictures, concurred: “Our movies have to be undeniably an event — big screen, immersive experiences that get you off the couch.”

So did Marc Weinstock, president of worldwide marketing and distribution for Paramount Pictures. “You got to be so undeniable that the infrequent moviegoer says, ‘Yeah, I wasn’t thinking about this, I hear it’s really good. The reviews look great. It’s everywhere in culture.’”

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[SUBSCRIPTION] The Ankler: Marketing Mojo! 5 Studio Stunts that Struck Gold

The battle of Hollywood is no longer just about dividing up the audience pie, it’s about luring audiences away from other entertainment choices. If this project is to continue, it’s no longer good enough to win the biggest slice of the viewers we have. You have to lure in new ones, or entice waning viewers back — find new voters, as they put it in political parlance.

And we have to keep doing it over and over and over — probably forever —because the competition from social media-led viewing isn’t getting any smaller.

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NOTE: Inclusion of articles in the newsletter DOES NOT equal an endorsement by NATO

Box Office

Deadline: Warner Bros Tops $1B At International Box Office In Own Record Time; First Studio To Milestone In 2024

Led by Dune: Part Two and Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, Warner Bros has crossed the $1B mark at the international box office, becoming the first studio to reach the milestone this year. Getting there in just 15 weeks, this also sets a new speed record for WB, besting the 17 weeks it took in 2018. The full international estimate through today is $1.04B.

The studio’s biggest releases this year so far are WB/Legendary Entertainment’s Dune: Part Two which has grossed $411.8M offshore through today, with the global cume at $683.9M. WB opened the Denis Villeneuve-directed sequel in 78 markets, with Legendary East handling distribution in China.  Dune: Part Two was the No. 1 film both internationally and globally three weekends in a row.

Variety: Box Office: ‘Civil War’ Sets A24 Record With $25 Million Debut

Director Alex Garland’s provocative dystopian thriller “Civil War” lit up the box office with $25.7 million in its debut. It’s the first A24 movie to lead the charts in North America, setting an opening weekend record for the New York-based specialty studio. It also marks the biggest R-rated start of the year.