Thompson on Hollywood

Box Office Update: Fox's Dawn Treader and Gulliver's Travels Recoup Overseas

The disconnect between foreign and domestic box office is highlighted by robust overseas holiday business on two stateside underperformers, Fox/Walden Media’s The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of Dawn Treader (pictured) and Fox's Gulliver's Travels.

By Anthony D'Alessandro
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February 4, 2011 8:35 AM
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Year-End Box Office Wrap 2010: Winners and Losers Chart, Warners Leads Domestic Market Share

It was feast or famine at the 2010 domestic box office. The studios spent too much on too many uber-flops, but thanks to holdover Avatar and premium 3-D ticket prices, they enjoyed their second-best year at the domestic box office with $10.46 billion, off less than 2% from 2009’s all-time haul of $10.6 billion. The theatrical buoyancy of 3-D inflated the average stub from $7.46 in 2009 to $7.85 in the third quarter (per the National Association of Theater Owners). But the real trend is worrisome: higher ticket prices plus static turnstiles equals fewer butts in seats. Admissions fell 6% from 1.42 billion in 2009 to 1.33 billion last year.

By Anne Thompson and Anthony D'Alessandro
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January 7, 2011 9:10 AM
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Holiday Wrap: Weak Box Office, True Grit Takes on Little Fockers, Black Swan, King's Speech Score

The box office continued tepid during what should have been a robust holiday period with North American families on vacation; it was down 26 percent from last year. For the year, the 2010 3-D-pumped domestic box office totaled $10.5 billion, down 0.3 percent from 2009's Avatar-inflated record of $10.6 billion. But the attendance stat provides a sobering reality check: attendance was down a whopping 5 percent: 1.34 billion against 1.41 billion in 2009.

By Anne Thompson
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January 2, 2011 6:22 AM
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Lousy Christmas Weekend Box Office: Little Fockers Beats True Grit, Best Coens Opening Ever

At a horrendous Christmas weekend---which saw a 44% three-day drop in grosses over last year (flush with Avatar)---sequel comedy Little Fockers beat out adult western True Grit, the best--and widest--opening ever for a Coen brothers movie. It's likely that the well-reviewed oater will have longer legs, however, as it settles in for the long Oscar haul.

By Anne Thompson
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December 26, 2010 7:03 AM
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Weekend Box Office: Narnia Sequel Voyage of Dawn Treader, Jolie/Depp's Tourist Disappoint

Two big-budget studio confections, The The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (the third installment of The Chronicles of Narnia) and retro romantic thriller The Tourist, stumbled at the domestic box office. Both will look overseas to recoup their costs, reports Anthony D'Alessandro:

By Anthony D'Alessandro
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December 12, 2010 5:17 AM
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Trailer Watch: Will Voyage of the Dawn Treader Be the Best Narnia?

I am not a fan of the Chronicles of Narnia movies. Walden Media's $180 million The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe was a huge global hit ($748 million) while the $225 million Prince Caspian, based on the weakest book in the series, was a relative disappointment that did well enough overseas ($419.5 million worldwide) to warrant a sequel. From age nine, I reread the C.S. Lewis Narnia books avidly, none more often than The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, which is the best page-turning adventure tale of the lot, complete with seafaring travels, dragon, flamboyant talking mouse Reepicheep, the spirituality of the godly lion Aslan and of course a voyage to the end of the world. So there's faint hope that this one might turn out better than the past two. Faint.

By Anne Thompson
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October 7, 2010 6:55 AM
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PBC: Top Producers Dish on Lousy Filmmaking Present, Death of Drama and Cable Future

Amid the general doom and gloom for studios and indies alike, at this weekend's Produced By Conference, producers Mark Gordon, Marshall Herskovitz, Richard Zanuck, Larry Gordon, and Mark Johnson marked some cautious upbeat notes, reports Amy Dawes: