Pamela McClintock of Vatiety:
With a week to go, Warner Bros. declared Monday it will set a new industry record in reaching $3.99 billion in worldwide ticket sales in 2009.
Or will it? Twentieth Century Fox could match that number, or even best it, on the strength of James Cameron's "Avatar" and "Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel." While 2009 officially ends on Thursday, 2009 box office receipts will include grosses from this weekend.
Warners projections for the year are $2.13 billion in domestic revs -- by far the best of any studio -- and $1.86 billion in international ticket sales.
Fox insiders say the studio will likely reach $1.64 billion in domestic revs, including $261 million in Fox Searchlight grosses. Overseas, the studio expects to come in with $2.43 billion in ticket sales. Through Sunday, foreign receipts totaled $2.28 billion, setting an industry record.
If those numbers hold, Fox's 2009 grosses will reach $4.07 billion. Warners could easily jump the $4 billion mark as well.
Warners said it is safe in claiming the $3.99 billion record, saying Fox numbers aren't comparable since they include grosses from Searchlight titles that are distributed by big Fox.
Whichever studio comes out on top for the year, the fact that two majors are so close to the $4 billion mark for the first time ever underscores what a tremendous year it has been for the global box office, even though other sectors (such as home entertainment) have not been so prosperou...
Adam Markovitz of EW:
James Cameron epic dipped an incredibly slim 2 percent in second weekend; ''Sherlock Holmes'' a strong No. 2
No comments:
Post a Comment