BOX OFFICE BOOM! HOLLYWOOD ENDS YEAR WITH MORE $100 MILLION MOVIES THAN EVER.Byline: Dave McNary McNary may refer to:
Hollywood's penultimate pe·nul·ti·mate adj. 1. Next to last. 2. Linguistics Of or relating to the penult of a word: penultimate stress. n. The next to the last. year before the end of the millennium was supposed to be dominated by ``Star Wars: Episode 1 - The Phantom Menace MENACE. A threat; a declaration of an intention to cause evil to happen to another. 2. When menaces to do an injury to another have been made, the party making them may, in general, be held to bail to keep the peace; and, when followed by any inconvenience or ,'' but the box office has instead sizzled due to a wide array of unexpected hits. On Monday Monday: see week. , ``The World Is Not Enough'' became the 17th movie to hit $100 million in domestic ticket sales this year, underscoring an unexpectedly powerful performance at the nation's multiplexes. As many as five more 1999 movies could join the $100 million club, easily beating last year's record of 18. And final 1999 grosses should hit a record $7.5 billion, up an impressive 8 percent over 1998 and 18 percent over 1997, according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. Paul Dergarabedian, president of the Exhibitor Relations Co. tracking service. This year's receipts have already surpassed last year's $6.95 billion even before the heavy moviegoing periods surrounding sur·round tr.v. sur·round·ed, sur·round·ing, sur·rounds 1. To extend on all sides of simultaneously; encircle. 2. To enclose or confine on all sides so as to bar escape or outside communication. n. Christmas have started. ``After last year, I never thought we'd top the record so easily, but now I'm no longer surprised,'' Dergarabedian said Monday. ``The key has been the momentum that was created last spring from `The Matrix,' `The Mummy' and `Phantom Menace.' People have gotten increasingly interested and excited about moviegoing.'' ``Phantom Menace'' grossed nearly $430 million, or less than $50 million short of what ``Titanic'' took in during 1998. The prequel pre·quel n. A literary, dramatic, or cinematic work whose narrative takes place before that of a preexisting work or a sequel. [pre- + (se)quel.] had been expected to obliterate o·blit·er·ate v. 1. To remove an organ or another body part completely, as by surgery, disease, or radiation. 2. To blot out, especially through filling of a natural space by fibrosis or inflammation. the competition, but it instead served as a launching pad for Hollywood's most powerful summer ever, generating $3.2 billion in ticket sales. After ``Phantom'' won three consecutive weekends, eight different movies won the next eight weekends before ``The Sixth Sense'' opened and posted spectacular results in the late summer and early fall. A pair of summer releases - ``The Blair Witch Project'' and ``The General's Daughter'' - both topped the $100 million mark despite never finishing in first during a single weekend. Fall business also topped expectations with ``Sixth Sense'' becoming the 12th overall highest grosser to date, ``Double Jeopardy'' becoming an unexpected hit and ``Toy Story 2'' headed for $200 million. Media analyst Barry Hyman of Ehrenkrantz King Nussbaum said, ``1999 has turned out to be a fantastic year. There have been major turnarounds for MGM MGM in full Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Inc. U.S. corporation and film studio. It was formed when the film distributor Marcus Loew, who bought Metro Pictures in 1920, merged it with the Goldwyn production company in 1924 and with Louis B. Mayer Pictures in 1925. and Universal after coming off horrendous hor·ren·dous adj. Hideous; dreadful: "Horrendous explosions shook the whole city" Howard Kaplan. years; animation has done well, and consumers are spending.'' With ``The World Is Not Enough'' becoming the 199th film to pass the $100 million milestone, Dergarabedian said the strongest remaining possibilities for joining the club are Warner Bros BROS Brothers BROS Benefits and Retirement Operations Section (King County, Washington) BROS Barnes and Richmond Operatic Society (London, UK) .' ``The Green Mile,'' Disney's ``Bicentennial bi·cen·ten·ni·al adj. 1. Happening once every 200 years. 2. Lasting for 200 years. 3. Relating to a 200th anniversary. n. A 200th anniversary or its celebration. Also called bicentenary. Man,'' Sony's ``Stuart Little,'' DreamWorks' ``Galaxy Quest'' and Paramount's ``The Talented Mr. Ripley.'' ``Green Mile,'' which opened last weekend to $18 million, and ``Ripley'' are contenders for Academy Awards recognition, so much of their total grosses will likely come during 2000. ``American Beauty American Beauty n. A type of rose bearing large, long-stemmed purplish-red flowers. ,'' which has nearly $70 million, could also benefit from an Oscar push in coming months and take in enough to top $100 million. Dergarabedian noted that at this point last year, only 11 films had topped the $100 million mark. ``That shows how strong this year is,'' he added. ``I expect there will be another three or four from this year.'' Hyman said the booming popularity of state-of-the-art megaplexes - with stadium seating, clear sight lines, bigger screens, staggered start times and massive snack bars - has enabled the industry to continue increasing revenues and should continue to do so in 2000. Exhibitors' profits have suffered because of the expense of building new facilities, costing $1 million per screen, in order to remain viable in terms of continuing to attract customers who now carry much higher expectations. ``You're getting a metamorphosis metamorphosis (mĕt'əmôr`fəsĭs) [Gr.,=transformation], in zoology, term used to describe a form of development from egg to adult in which there is a series of distinct stages. of what theaters look like, and that's enabled entertainment to fight off the attraction of the Internet Internet Publicly accessible computer network connecting many smaller networks from around the world. It grew out of a U.S. Defense Department program called ARPANET (Advanced Research Projects Agency Network), established in 1969 with connections between computers at the ,'' Hyman said. ``So long as that trend continues and the economy stays strong, all Hollywood needs to do is keep releasing quality films.'' Increases in ticket prices do not appear to be deterring moviegoing, Hyman said. Exhibitors raised the average price 2.4 percent last year to $4.70 and that figure is likely to have increased this year. ``Several New York City New York City: see New York, city. New York City City (pop., 2000: 8,008,278), southeastern New York, at the mouth of the Hudson River. The largest city in the U.S. theaters are now charging $9.50, and the $10 ticket is just a matter of time,'' Hyman said. Dergarabedian said he believes overall business can increase again next year and noted that trailers now playing for several year 2000 films, including ``Mission: Impossible 2,'' ``Dinosaur'' and ``Gone in 60 Seconds,'' have already generated significant excitement among customers. HEADING FOR A RECORD A total of 17 films have topped the $100 million mark in domestic grosses this year, compared with 11 1998 releases at the same time last year. Rank Title Studio Domestic gross as of Dec. 12 1. ``Star Wars: Episode 1 - The Phantom Menace'' Fox $429.9 million 2. ``The Sixth Sense'' Disney $274.5 million 3. ``Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged shag 1 n. 1. A tangle or mass, especially of rough matted hair. 2. a. A coarse long nap, as on a woolen cloth. b. Cloth having such a nap. 3. A rug with a thick rough pile. Me'' New Line $205.4 million 4. ``The Matrix'' Warner Bros. $171.4 million 5. ``Tarzan'' Disney $170.8 million 6. ``Big Daddy'' Sony $163.5 million 7. ``The Mummy'' Universal $155.3 million 8. ``Runaway Bride'' Paramount $151.7 million 9. ``The Blair Witch Project'' Artisan $140.5 million 10. ``Toy Story 2'' Disney $140.4 million 11. ``Notting Hill Universal $116.1 million 12. ``Wild Wild West'' Warner Bros. $113.7 million 13. ``Double Jeopardy'' Paramount $113.5 million 14. ``Analyze This'' Warner Bros. $106.7 million 15. ``The General's Daughter'' Paramount $102.7 million 16. ``American Pie'' Universal $101.7 million 17. ``The World Is Not Enough'' MGM $99.4 million (Expected to reach $100 million on Monday) Source: Exhibitor Relations Co. CAPTION(S): box Box: Heading for a record (see text) |
|
||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion