Category: Theaters

I was reading a report about this summer’s box office busts and a surprising title was listed: Pacific Rim.  True Pacific Rim did not light up the North American box office, but it made over $400 Million world wide in box office receipts, so I have decided to dig in to this number a little more and see what it means to truly decide if Pacific Rim was a bust or not.

First off lets break apart that $400 million.  Just over $100 million came from North America, and about $110 million came from China.  The remaining $190 million from the rest of the world.  In most parts of the world the studios take 60% of the receipt price with the remaining 40% going to the theater, but in China the studios only take in 25%.  This is because piracy is rampant in China, so the ticket price has to be low for people to go to the movies.  Over all Legendary/Warner Bros took in $174 million from most of the world, and only $27.5 million from China, but still that is $201.5 million, not bad for a box office bust, but there is still more to dig in too.

The budget for the movie is estimated at $190 million.  That means the studio has only cleared $11.5 million, and of that they are still probably paying for the advertising costs which are usually about a quarter the budget of the film, so in this case it would be about $50 million, so the studios are still in the hole about $38.5 million dollars.  That sounds bad, but there is still money on the table.

The movie has yet to come out on home video.  This used to be a major earner for films, but as streaming video and the internet has taken off, fewer people are ponying up for the price of a DVD or Blu-Ray.  Still, $38.5 is well within reach, and they still get to sell the TV rights to various TV stations around the world, plus random merchandising like comic books, t-shirts, and toys.  This movie will make a small amount of money, and considering the make or break nature of the film business, I bet a lot of executives are happy about that.

But the major money maker is still to come: the sequel.  Very rarely does the first movie in a franchise make tons of money.  Batman Begins only took in $375 million world wide, and sure that was eight years ago, and it didn’t have the China tax, but still had they stopped there Warner Bros would have walked away from billions.  The reason is, as much as people complain about sequels and the lack of creativity, they like a sure thing.  Once a movie has proven it is good and worth their money usually the second and third movies make bank.

In the end I think Pacific Rim was a success, critically and financially, and it makes sense why Guillermo del Toro is talking sequel, so if anyone else wants to call Pacific Rim a bust they should look at the numbers first.

With the Summer movie season winding down, I thought I would give my take on the most important season for film distributors.  It was a crazy year, and there were a lot of surprises.

Super heroes are still the kings of Summer:

Iron Man 3 is the unquestioned winner of the Summer taking in an amazing $1.2 Billion worldwide, and Superman finally had a hit with Man of Steel this Summer with a still pretty impressive $650 Million.  The Wolverine is going strong and making money, and it is already up to $308 Million dollars   With the three combined taking in over $2 Billion dollars, you bet the studios are busy getting more super heroes ready for a theater near you.

Families still go to the movies:

Despicable Me 2 came in number two (probably a minion poop joke in there) in the domestic summer box office with a staggering $350 Million dollars and $750 total worldwide, the Croods barely in the summer area in March taking in a healthy $530 Million world, and Monsters University taking a great $640 Million worldwide.  Proving that if you create a family movie worth watching, the family market will show up.

The ‘R’ rated comedy is not going away:

We’re the Millers ($45 Million) is starting strong, The Hangover Part III did not do as well as its predecessors but it still did $350 Million over all, and The Heat did $200 Million which is great for such a low budget movie, so if you like raunchy ‘R’ rated movies they are not going away any time soon.

The international market flexes it muscles:

The international market is proving to be the real focus now for Hollywood, with movies like Pacific Rim making less then $100 Million in North America, but over $245 Million in internation markets for $345 Million over all, and if it can get to about $380 Million we may get a sequel even though it was a “failure” in the US.  This has also been true for World War Z, while not a failure in the US its global total of over $500 Million is making Paramount very happy.  Fast & Furious 6 has made an incredible $544 Million in overseas box office alone for a crazy total of over $782 Million.

Stars don’t guarantee success anymore:

Tatum Channing and Jamie Foxx could not save White House Down ($127 Million), Bruce Willis took a bullet with Red 2 ($93 Million), Ryan Reynolds and Jeff Bridges wish they hadn’t done R.I.P.D ($56 Million), Will Smith and son suffer together in After Earth ($240 Million), and most startlingly Johnny Depp crashed and burned with The Lone Ranger ($196 Million).  Sure Robert Downey Jr. helped Iron Man 3, and Brad Pitt added to the appeal of World War Z, but you can no longer bank on a movie due to star power alone.

Sony is going to loose a lot of money this year:

Sony had a historically bad year with the Smurfs 2 ($160 Million), Red 2, After Earth, and White House Down all loosing a lot of cash for the studio.  I hope they have good insurance, and a great accounting team to try and write off all that damage.

I hope you enjoyed this little wrap up!  It has been a crazy Summer at the movies, and I cannot wait for this Fall and Winter to see how the box office fares.