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Huge Summer for Hollywood, but With Few Blockbusters

September 1, 2013 by

Ticket revenue in North America for the period between the first weekend in May and Labor Day totaled $4.71 billion, a 10.2 percent increase over the same period last year, according to analyst projections. Attendance rose 6.6 percent, to about 573 million. Higher ticket prices contributed to the rest of the growth.

But behind that rosy picture lurk some darker realities.

Ticket sales rose in part because Hollywood crammed an unusually large number of big-budget movies into the summer, a period that typically accounts for 40 percent of box office revenue. Studios released 23 films that cost $75 million and up (sometimes way up), 53 percent more than in the same period last year.

The audience fragmented as a result, leaving films like “The Wolverine” and “The Hangover Part III” wobbling when they should have been slam dunks.

“Turbo” the animated snail was squished, taking in $80 million at North American theaters — one of the smallest totals in DreamWorks Animation history. (Only the unfortunately titled “Flushed Away” from 2006 did worse.)

“We’re very pleased with the overall strength of the summer,” said John Fithian, president of the National Association of Theater Owners, “but there was almost too much product. Some of these individual movies would have made more money if studios had spread them out a little more.”

Mr. Fithian noted that the $4.71 billion in total summer ticket sales represents a new high-water mark for the industry, not accounting for inflation, and the growth comes after several years of largely flat sales or declines. It is not surprising that more films sold more overall tickets, but the total does demonstrate a resilience for cinema as competition for consumer attention continues to spike.

“To keep the exhibition business alive, we have to give people a darn good reason to put down all their electronics and get in their cars and get into theaters, and this summer we did it,” said Nikki Rocco, president of distribution at Universal Pictures, which printed money with “Despicable Me 2” and “Fast Furious 6,” both of which took in roughly $800 million worldwide.

Still, appearances can be deceiving. “Pacific Rim,” for instance, has taken in more than $400 million worldwide — no small feat. The picture’s price tag, however, made it an everyone-or-nothing enterprise. Legendary Entertainment and Warner Brothers spent about $330 million to make and market the film, which could end its run in the red since theater owners take roughly 50 percent of ticket revenue.

With the notable exception of Paramount, which released just two films, “Star Trek Into Darkness” and the surprisingly successful “World War Z,” every studio suffered at least one major dud. In many cases, big hits were offset by big flops.

Disney, for instance, had the summer’s No. 1 movie in “Iron Man 3,” which took in $408.6 million in North America, for a global total of $1.2 billion. Disney’s Pixar also scored with “Monsters University,” a prequel that generated more than $700 million in global ticket sales.

But Disney also had the summer’s No. 1 box office bomb: “The Lone Ranger,” which cost at least $375 million to make and market, and has taken in about $232 million worldwide. After theater owners take their cut, Disney is looking at a write-down of $160 million to $190 million on the film.

Higher-priced 3-D tickets took another tumble, at least in the United States and Canada, as more consumers decided the visual gimmick was not worth paying a $2 to $5 premium per ticket. Family films fared the worst — those glasses don’t fit little faces very well — with “Turbo” setting a new industry low for the format, according to analysts: 3-D screenings accounted for only 25 percent of its opening-weekend results. (Last summer’s low was 35 percent.)

Article source: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/02/business/media/huge-summer-for-hollywood-but-with-few-true-blockbusters.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

Filed Under: Media Business Tagged With: , ,

Markets Rise on Hopes of Assurance From Fed

June 17, 2013 by Leave a Comment

Investors are in a game of wait-and-see with the Federal Reserve. On Monday, they sent stocks higher as they guessed that the Fed would continue trying to prop up the economy.

The major stock indexes all rose about 1 percent in early trading and stayed there for most of the day before dipping slightly in the afternoon. The Standard Poor’s 500-stock index rose 12.31 points, or 0.8 percent, to 1,639.04. It had been up as much as 20 points.

The market’s gains were broad. Telecommunications was the only one of the 10 industry sectors in the S. P. 500 to post a loss. Netflix did better than any other stock in the S. P. 500 after announcing that it would run original TV series from DreamWorks Animation.

There were few big company announcements or economic reports, and trading was light. Investors will have to keep guessing about the Fed’s future actions until Wednesday, when the chairman, Ben S. Bernanke, holds a news conference at the end of a two-day policy meeting.

Investors sent stocks up Monday because they think Fed policy makers will determine that the economy is not recovering fast enough. A still-weak economy would influence the Fed to continue its programs intended to stimulate the economy: keeping interest rates low to encourage borrowing, and buying bonds to push investors into stocks.

Doug Lockwood, branch president of Hefty Wealth Partners in Auburn, Ind., said it was not rational for the stock market to regard bad news as good, and to be yanked back and forth more by the actions of a central bank than the underlying fundamentals of the economy.

The market has been in flux since May 22, when Mr. Bernanke said that the Fed would consider pulling back on its bond-buying program if measures of the economy, especially hiring, improve. The comment, made in response to a question from the Joint Economic Committee in Congress, was not expected. In the 17 trading days since then, the Dow Jones industrial average has swung by triple digits 11 times.

On Monday, the Dow rose 109.67 points, or 0.7 percent, to 15,179.85. The Nasdaq composite rose 28.58, or 0.8 percent, to 3,452.13.

The price of crude oil rose throughout the day but ended 4 cents lower at $98.03 a barrel in New York. Gold edged down $4.50 to $1,383.10 an ounce.

In the market for government bonds, the benchmark 10-year Treasury note fell 13/32 to 96 7/32, bringing the yield up to 2.18 percent from 2.13 percent late Friday.

Jim McDonald, chief investment strategist at Northern Trust in Chicago, said Mr. Bernanke would seek to “walk back” on some of his previous comments, and reassure investors that the Fed will not pull back on stimulus until it is sure the economy is ready. The surprise factor, more than the substance of Mr. Bernanke’s comments, might have been what unnerved investors, McDonald said.

The fact that Mr. Bernanke is now expected to regard the economy as still weak enough to need stimulus stems from a jobs report and low inflation since his testimony, analysts said.

This month, the government reported that the United States added 175,000 jobs in May — not enough to cut into the unemployment rate. And on Friday, the government said that a crucial measure of inflation — the producer price index, which measures wholesale prices — rose just 0.1 percent after stripping out the volatile costs of food and gas. That is important because the Fed knows that its stimulus measures can stoke inflation; if inflation is low, the central bank has more flexibility to keep pumping money into the economy.

Two measures of economic data released on Monday were positive, though both are considered less important gauges of the economy. A report on manufacturing in New York State showed a pickup, and a survey of American home builders said they were more optimistic about sales than they had been in seven years.

Article source: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/18/business/daily-stock-market-activity.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

Filed Under: Economy News Tagged With: , ,

Media Decoder Blog: Netflix Teams With DreamWorks Animation on Cartoon Series for Children

February 13, 2013 by Leave a Comment

LOS ANGELES — Continuing a campaign to deepen its appeal to children, Netflix on Tuesday announced a partnership with DreamWorks Animation to create an original cartoon series.

The show, expected to make its debut on the streaming service in December, will be based on DreamWorks Animation’s coming movie “Turbo,” about a snail who gains the power of superspeed. The Netflix spinoff will be called “Turbo: F.A.S.T.,” which stands for Fast Action Stunt Team.

Netflix is gambling that “Turbo” will be a hit when it arrives in theaters on July 19. Although DreamWorks Animation has high hopes for that movie, it’s still anyone’s guess how audiences will respond; the company’s last film, “Rise of the Guardians,” was a box-office disappointment.

Ted Sarandos, Netflix’s chief content officer, said in a statement that DreamWorks Animation had “a long track record of creating incredibly successful characters.” DreamWorks Animation’s chief executive, Jeffrey Katzenberg, never shy about making a hard sell, called the partnership “part of the television revolution.”

A rival streaming service, Amazon’s Prime Instant Video, is racing to prepare its own original series, and has five children’s shows in development.

Netflix, which recently introduced the original series “House of Cards” to strong reviews from critics, has been working over the last several years to enhance its offerings for children. In 2011, it acquired the streaming rights to DreamWorks Animation’s movies and television specials. New films from Disney, Pixar and Marvel will move from Starz to Netflix in late 2016, following a deal the streaming company made with the Walt Disney Company in December.

Netflix said its members streamed more than two billion hours of children’s content in 2012, taking care to note that it is “always commercial free.” Netflix is also trying to enhance its appeal with multiple audience niches. A new horror series called “Hemlock Grove” is on the way, for instance. “Orange Is the New Black,” an original comedic drama from the “Weeds” creator Jenji Kohan, is aimed at women.

Children’s programming is particularly important to the company’s growth plans. Children are avid streaming consumers, particularly overseas, and Netflix can pitch itself to parents as a commercial-free alternative to television. Cartoons are also less likely to appear on the pirated-content sites that compete with Netflix for viewers.

For DreamWorks Animation, the agreement is part of an effort to diversify into television both as a way to grow and to avoid the sharp ups and downs of the movie business. The company’s shares rose 2.91 percent on Tuesday, to $16.63.

The company has two shows on Nickelodeon that are spinoffs of its “Madagascar” and “Kung Fu Panda” films; a third series built around “Monsters vs. Aliens” is in the works. DreamWorks Animation also has a series built around the film “How to Train Your Dragon” on the Cartoon Network, as well as a growing number of holiday-themed television specials.

Article source: http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/02/12/netflix-joins-with-dreamworks-animation-to-create-series-for-children/?partner=rss&emc=rss

Filed Under: Media Business Tagged With: , ,

Movie Studios Reassess Comic-Con

June 13, 2011 by Leave a Comment

Walt Disney Studios staged “Tron: Legacy” stunts there three years in a row. Last July, DreamWorks Animation paraded Will Ferrell, Tina Fey and other members of the “Megamind” cast through the convention.

This year? Warner’s main studio operation is bringing nothing. Ditto Disney and DreamWorks. The Weinstein Company, a perennial presence, will also sit this one out. Even Marvel Entertainment, whose panel for “The Avengers” was a highlight of Comic-Con 2010, is on the fence about whether it will mount a major presentation.

Comic-Con, as a growing number of movie marketers are realizing, has turned into a treacherous place. Studios come seeking buzz, but the Comic-Con effect can be more negative than positive. The swarm of dedicated fans — many of whom arrive at the convention in Japanese anime drag or draped in Ewok fur — can instantly sour on a film if it doesn’t like what it sees, leaving publicity teams with months of damaging Web chatter to clean up.

“It’s a red-letter opportunity, but you shouldn’t go simply because it sits there on the calendar,” said Michael Moses, co-president of marketing for Universal Pictures. “You have to be absolutely certain you have goods ready that can really make a difference for your film.”

Even a joyous reaction at Comic-Con, which takes place in San Diego from July 21 to 24, can skew expectations, as a platoon of studios learned last year, if hard-core enthusiasm doesn’t spill into the mainstream.

Warner got burned with “Sucker Punch,” which had fans vibrating with excitement in July but failed in its March release. The millions that Disney spent on “Tron: Legacy” at Comic-Con had a less-than-fantastic payoff. A stunt involving video of attendees trapped in coffins made a splash for Lionsgate’s “Buried,” but the film sold just $1 million in tickets when it opened two months later.

“Scott Pilgrim vs. the World” was the big alarm. That Universal movie was the belle of last year’s convention, and the studio spent heavily to make it so, draping the entire side of a skyscraper with an ad, for instance. Released just three weeks after the convention, “Scott Pilgrim” fizzled and the $60 million movie sold just $32 million in tickets.

Comic-Con, which attracts about 130,000 people, usually doesn’t lock in its schedule of presentations until two weeks before the convention — a practice that keeps studio publicists on edge, as they struggle to wrangle stars for appearances in slots that remain at a premium.

David Glanzer, the convention’s director of marketing, said he didn’t detect any major shift in the film industry’s stance toward Comic-Con.

“We get more and more requests, and have less ability to fulfill them,” he said, adding, “Not every studio comes every year.”

For certain, Big Hollywood will still be represented. Universal is plotting a stunt for “Cowboys Aliens,” which has the advantage of a July 29 release date, when memories of a Comic-Con splash will be fresh. Paramount plans to trot out “The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn,” with a possible appearance by its director, Steven Spielberg.

Twentieth Century Fox is expected to tackle Comic-Con head-on, particularly with its “Rise of the Planet of the Apes,” which arrives in theaters on Aug. 5. And Sony will roll out an aggressive promotion for its “The Amazing Spiderman,” even though the film won’t be seen until July 2012.

And the light schedule of some major studios leaves a void that newer players want to fill. Relativity Media, once a film financier and now a producer, is expected to make a push at the convention for “Immortals” and “The Raven,” while promoting “Shark Night 3-D,” which is bloodier than the convention usually tolerates.

Among smaller studios, Lionsgate, which won strong results last year for “The Expendables,” will be back; and Summit Entertainment will stage a panel for “The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn — Part 1.”

The industry has also realized that Comic-Con’s timing, in late July, is actually friendlier to TV shows, which are getting revved up for fall debuts.

Fox plans to increase its Comic-Con footprint, mounting promotions for at least 10 series, including “Terra Nova,” a dinosaur show produced by Mr. Spielberg. Warner’s Digital operation is planning to promote several original Web series, including “Mortal Kombat: Legacy,” and Warner’s TV division wouldn’t mind stealing the show.

“We’re certainly hoping to,” said Lisa Gregorian, chief marketing officer for the Warner Brothers Television Group, which plans to promote as many as 16 shows — including returning ones “Big Bang Theory” and “Chuck” — at the convention.

Still, even Ms. Gregorian, who said she had spent six months planning to reach fans at Comic-Con — whom she calls “evangelists” — doesn’t foresee her medium displacing the movies in the convention’s Hall H, which annually takes on the aura of a pop cinematic shrine.

“That’s a creative decision by the convention,” she said of the movies’ pride of place in the largest room. “We’re very respectful of that.”

Article source: http://feeds.nytimes.com/click.phdo?i=c9b6ecaeb06f40a6e85d2ce5d878538e

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