SONY RULES THE WORLD.

Byline: GREG HERNANDEZ Staff Writer

CULVER CITY - Despite losing the multiplex battle over the weekend with ``The Holiday'' finishing just behind Mel Gibson's ``Apocalypto,'' Sony Pictures Entertainment is unquestionably winning the 2006 box-office war.

For the first time in studio history, Sony's worldwide box-office take exceeded $3 billion on the strength of hits including ``The Da Vinci Code,'' ``Casino Royale'' and ``Click,'' which connected with audiences in both the U.S. and foreign markets.

The studio has had 12 of its movies open in first domestically so far this year and has a shot to make it 13 with next weekend's Will Smith vehicle, ``Happyness.'' The studio has already surpassed the $1.5 billion mark in domestic grosses and is on pace to surpass its record -- and industry best -- $1.573 billion achieved in 2002.

``This is the kind of year that is pretty hard to top,'' said Vice Chairman Jeff Blake. ``The fact that we are reaching this peak by potentially passing the domestic industry box-office record, while at the same time enjoying our best year ever internationally, is just a staggering achievement that makes us all very proud.''

Box office analyst Paul Dergarabedian, president of Media by Numbers, said the studio is having a record year by ``doing everything right.''

``The fact is, they've aligned themselves with great talent and great filmmakers as an insurance policy for long-term success,'' Dergarabedian said. ``On top of that, you have a marketing and distribution team that is perfectly in sync with what the marketplace wants. It's held them in good stead this year.''

In the U.S. and Canada, Sony has sold 18 percent of all movie tickets with ``Da Vinci,'' ``Royale,'' ``Click'' and ``Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby'' -- all crossing the $100 million line in ticket sales.

Among the movies that grossed more than $100 million when domestic and foreign grosses are combined were ``The Pink Panther,'' ``Underworld: Evolution'' and the animated films ``Open Season'' and ``Monster House.''

``It speaks to a larger thing, which is creating a genuine synergy between marketing and production,'' said Matt Tolmach, who with Doug Belgrad oversees Sony's movie slate as president of production.

``When we fall in love with a script, we have to consider if it's marketable or releasable and if they have a slot and if we feel confident about packaging the right stars in the right movie at the right time,'' Tolmach added.

The studio's commercial highlight was ``Da Vinci,'' which had an astounding worldwide total of more than $750 million.

``It certainly exceeded what we had projected internationally,'' Belgrad said. ``Obviously, a huge selling piece of source material with built-in awareness. It sets us up nicely for the next installment in 2008.''

``Royale'' is on pace to become the highest-grossing movie in the long- running James Bond franchise, with worldwide grosses expected to reach $500 million.

A surprise international hit was Adam Sandler's ``Click,'' which had a typically strong Sandler-like performance of $137.3 million domestically but also added on $94.8 million from foreign markets for an overall total of $232.1 million.

The studio's banner year was a dramatic turnaround from 2005, when its overall box-office performance was so dismal that it finished in eighth place among major distributors. Its biggest hit was the February Will Smith romantic comedy ``Hitch,'' and it scored late in the year with Jim Carrey's ``Fun With Dick and Jane.'' But in-between were the bombs ``Stealth,'' ``XXX: State of the Union,'' ``Zathura'' and ``Rent,'' among others.

``We've also been fortunate and the movie gods have been on our side this year,'' Belgrad said. ``Last year was not our finest year. But we kept our nose to the grindstone and everyone in the company worked our asses off this year and focused on getting it right.''

But 2006 has not been without its disappointments, particularly two movies that the studio had high commercial and Oscar hopes for: ``All the King's Men'' and ``Marie Antoinette.''

``They were movies we were proud of artistically and creatively that never connected with audiences,'' Belgrad said. ``That was a big disappointment.''

``Antoinette'' took in a paltry $30.7 million in combined domestic and foreign grosses, while ``King's Men'' grossed a measly $8 million worldwide, with $7.2 million of that from domestic ticket sales.

With such robust overall business though, Sony becomes just the third studio ever to reach the $3 billion mark worldwide. In 2003, Disney was the first to achieve this feat, followed by Warner Bros. in both 2004 and 2005.

Sony is looking to Smith to finish 2006 on a high note with Friday's release of ``Happyness.''

``We are so proud of it, Tolmach said. ``For us, it is honestly a great way to enjoy a truly fantastic year. We think it will do very, very well at the box office.''

greg.hernandez(at)dailynews.com

[phone]

CAPTION(S):

3 photos, box

Photo:

(1 -- color) ``Open Season''

(2 -- color) ``Talladega Nights''

(3 -- color) ``Casino Royale''

Box:

Top 2006 Earners

Source: Media by Numbers