SHOWBIZ STOCK WATCH: Paramount Set to Become Fastest Studio to $1 Billion Again!
by Steve Mason
Last year was a remarkable year for Paramount Pictures. Fueled by lucrative titles, many from the pipeline of Dreamworks, the studio reached $1 billion in domestic box office for the calendar year on July 9, earlier than any distributor ever surpassed that threshold. That amazing run was led by Shrek the Third, Transformers, Blades of Glory, Norbit, Disturbia and Dreamgirls, which were all products of the Spielberg-Katzenberg-Geffen triumvirate. This year, Paramount is flying even higher, and the Melrose Avenue gang will likely crack $1 billion domestic about 19 days earlier than in 2007.
With the spectacular opening for Dreamworks's Kung Fu Panda this weekend, Paramount is assured of its third consecutive $200 million grossing film, a record in itself, and I am estimating that the studio will top $1 billion sometime on June 20. That is the day that the distrib's next film, Mike Myers's The Love Guru, will hit theatres. It is quite possible that Paramount will technically pass a billion in sales earlier in the week of June 16, but opening day of The Love Guru will certainly put them over the top.
Last year, Paramount led all Hollywood studios with $1.49 billion in domestic box office, but their second half was riddled with underperforming titles like Stardust ($38.6 million cume), Hot Rod ($13.9 million cume), The Heartbreak Kid ($36.7 million), Things We Lost in the Fire ($3.2 million cume) and Beowulf ($82.2 million cume).
Still set for release in 2008 for Paramount are the much buzzed-about Tropic Thunder in August, Disturbia director D.J. Caruso's reteaming with Shia LeBeouf in Eagle Eye in September, Dreamworks's Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa in November and David Fincher's The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, starring Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett, in December. With a lineup like that, Paramount could become the first studio in history with $2 billion in total domestic sales in a calendar year.
Way to go Panda!
Best Dreamworks Animation ever.
Thanks for the updates. Keep them
comming.
Posted by: Techno | June 07, 2008 at 07:37 PM