Movie studios: 2008 by the numbers

[ALIASd]

Studios happy with Christmas presence

No new wide openers set this weekend

By Gregg Kilday
The Hollywood Reporter
Dec 30, 2008, 08:13 PM ET

The market share crown will go to Warner Bros., which early this week crossed the $1.7 billion mark to edge past the previous studio record set by Sony in 2006.

Warners, of course, got a boost from "The Dark Knight," the year's top-grossing film with nearly $531 million in domestic ticket sales. But the studio also benefited by absorbing New Line Cinema, which contributed such hit titles as "Sex and the City," "Four Christmases" and "Journey to the Center of the Earth."

Paramount, which led the field last year with $1.49 billion, will increase its total this year. It stands in second place among studios with nearly $1.6 billion heading into the last week. Paramount could boast of such top grossers as "Iron Man," "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" and "Kung Fu Panda."

Poised to capture the third spot is Sony with about $1.3 billion as "Hancock" ($228 million) led its hit parade.

Last weekend, Universal, where "Mamma Mia! ($144.1 million) was the top-grossing movie, achieved a studio personal best as it ran its yearly total to $1.107 billion.

The battle for the fifth position will probably turn into something of a photo finish. As of Sunday, less than $1 million separated Fox and Disney.

Fox's register had raked in $979 million, while Disney's rang up $978 million. The final result will probably depend on the relative holding power of Fox's "Marley," last weekend's top movie, and Disney's "Bedtime," the weekend's No. 2 film. Fox also will pick up some extra coin from "The Day the Earth Stood Still," heading into its fourth weekend, while Disney could wring a few more pennies out of "Bolt," now winding down in its seventh frame.

Studios happy with Christmas presence

[ALIASd]

Overseas b.o. breaks record with $9.9 bil

The six majors pass $1 bil each for second consecutive year

By Frank Segers
The Hollywood Reporter
Jan 1, 2009, 08:16 PM ET

Disney, which ranked third among the big six last year, finished sixth in 2008, grossing $1.37 billion, down 19% from 2007. The company had an unusually strong 2007 on the strength of third title in the "Pirates of the Caribbean" series (which grossed $653 million, the third largest international gross in history) and the animation title, "Ratatouille" ($406 million).

This year, Disney capitalized overseas on "WALL-E" ($289.4 million); "The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian" ($278.3 million); "National Tresure: Book of Secrets," $173.9 million in 2008, $237.1 million total); "High School Musical 3: Senior Year" ($151 million versus $89.4 million domestic); and "Enchanted" ($100.7 million in 2008, $213.4 total).

Overseas b.o. breaks record with $9.9 bil