Australian Distributor Wrap Up 2005

By Chris Cappola

TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX




Fox released films from Twentieth Century Fox, Fox Searchlight, MGM/United Artists, Regency Enterprises and Lucas Films.

You could say that Fox was fuelled by 'Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith', which kept them strong throughout the year but while that George Lucas prequel was expected, the distributor got a surprisingly strong response from Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie steaming up some chemistry in 'Mr and Mrs Smith', which at $20.1m was a huge smash. Add in some excellent returns from 'Fantastic Four', 'Robots' and better than expected results from 'In Her Shoes', 'Kingdom of Heaven' and 'Elektra', Fox really didn't have much to cry over in 2005. It was easy for them to lose interest in 'In Her Shoes' when it failed but they carried on and got a great result from it. All up, Fox had a very comfortable and consistent year and were devoid of any embarrassing flops or catastrophic losses.

The distributor released 28 titles in 2005. One over $30m, another over $20m, another two over $10m and two further over $5m equalling 6. That's down from the 11 recorded over $5m in 2004 but 2004 didn't have the top grosser of the year.

Fox recorded close to $140m in receipts in 2005 and may finish with about $143-145m depending on the final gross for 'Cheaper by the Dozen 2' their final 2005 release on the schedule. That's way up from the $96m approx from 2004. Even taking out 'Sith', which was a large contributor, Fox would still be at close to $110m overall and were very strong in 2005.
THE WINNERS: Fox earned themselves the 2005 title of the year with 'Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith' blitzing its way to a mammoth $35.2m. That made it the second highest in the series behind 'The Phantom Menace' ($38.8m) and #12 on the all-time leaderboard. For Fox, it's third highest behind 'Phantom' and kingpin 'Titanic' ($57.6m). Its $13.3m opening is second highest of all-time. Fox couldn't be happier with results this exceptional. However, depending on how well 'Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire' holds up, it may relinquish that title and settle for second spot. But, the luck didn't run out there. In one of the picture-perfect moments at the BO this year, 'Mr and Mrs Smith' ran away with a sizzling $20.1m capitalising on the chemistry between Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. All up, it was #7 for 2005 and proved to be more potent than an assortment of films that were supposed to beat it.

Fox scored terrific with 'Robots' ($13.7m, #12) and 'Fantastic Four' ($12m, #13) both earning top dollar over school holiday periods. Despite some initial concern, both films hit their targets and remained highly consistent.

In the under $10m barriers were an assortment of hits. Despite a very disappointing US run, Ridley Scott's epic 'Kingdom of Heaven' did very well here with $8m. Fox flew Cameron Diaz and Toni Collette down here to promote 'In Her Shoes' and $7.8m later, it was a wise investment as the romantic comedy was a major hit here and was a major flop in the US. The final result of Steve Martin's comedy 'Cheaper by the Dozen 2' is still undetermined but with $5.7m and counting, it should finish out with $8-9m, which would make it a strong hit.

Surprising everyone was a $4.8m performance for Jennifer Garner's US bomb 'Elektra', which did quite well in a weak climate proving some good advertising from Fox who released it with its US release and by doing that hid any bad buzz coming from its US collapse. Fox could have done better with Robert De Niro's 'Hide and Seek' ($4.4m), but considering the genre is an iffy sell here, it was one of the better performers of the year and did well nevertheless. Critic's darling 'Sideways' ($4.2m) also did very well basking in the Oscar season and the distributor did well with its release strategy fuelling off the acclaim as the most critical acclaimed movie of 2004.
THE MIDDLE OF THE GROUND: John Travolta's much anticipated sequel 'Be Cool' ($4.2m) did average business in March but also was close to its equally disappointing US run. The sequel though was the strongest of MGM's output with Fox in 2005.

Considering its strong US performance and some great advertising, Fox couldn't keep 'The Amityville Horror' remake afloat too long during April and its $3.9m performance is adequate but disappointing. Similarly, Fox also lost steam with 'Guess Who' ($3.8m), which too was a strong US hit and opened here in April. The Ashton Kutcher comedy just ran out of gas too quickly. The problem with both performers may be entering a marketplace too crowded. Similarly, Paul Walker/Jessica Alba's thriller 'Into the Blue' ($2.8m) could have been a better performer but considering its US tanking, its result wasn't too bad.

On the indie radars, Fox released some OK performers. Liam Neeson's 'Kinsey' ($639,028k) had some interest while Steve Martin's 'Shopgirl' ($755,385k) was a decent December performer though none performed too ambitiously. The results on Danny Boyle's 'Millions' ($410,598k) and Woody Allen's 'Melinda and Melinda' ($369,313k) certainly could have been better but were still decent nevertheless.

THE LOSERS: It's the price of the game and Fox had a few clunkers most of which were buried without any support from equally dismal US performances. Despite a #1 US performance, action-sequel 'Transporter 2' ($1.7m) just didn't work here but Fox foolishly went up against 'Serenity' on opening weekend and that cost them. Delaying Drew Barrymore's romantic comedy 'The Perfect Catch' ($1.3m) and retitling it from its US name 'Fever Pitch' was unsurprisingly a failure, which is a surprise considering the actress does well here. Fox waited nearly seven months to release 'Flight of the Phoenix' ($1m) and it bombed accordingly.

On the lower end of the spectrum were: Russian horror pic 'Night Watch' ($800,740k), TV comedy 'Fat Albert' ($333,598k) and Naomi Watt's thriller 'Stay' ($321,653k). Even worse were: Dog pic 'Because of Winn-Dixie' ($48,921k), Katie Holmes' comedy 'First Daughter' ($41,611k), ill-fated Richard Gere drama 'Bee Season' ($30,938k) and urban comedy 'Roll Bounce' ($16,186), which was the distributor's lowest film of the year. Only 'Bee Season' was a total loss as there was some critical interest in the film.

SURPRISES OF THE YEAR: 'Mr and Mrs Smith' was just a perfect box-office hit and was a surprise too performing very well in Oz. Fox too should be proud with 'In Her Shoes', which really did well here despite a tanking in the US while 'Elektra' too was a major surprise to practically everyone.

MOST DISAPPOINTING: Fox really could have done better positioning 'The Amityville Horror' and 'Guess Who' but to their credit both had constraints to perform here (horror genre and urban comedy theme respectively). 'The Perfect Catch' too was handled badly and its delay and name change were unnecessary.

LESSONS LEARNT: Fox know their game well in Oz and credit must be applauded for some great campaigns. By opening such US duds as 'Elektra', 'In Her Shoes' and 'Into the Blue' so closely to their US release, they hid whatever bad buzz could circulate. That same ploy could have been used for 'The Perfect Catch' or 'Flight of the Phoenix' but as 'Stay' proved, it doesn't always work.

ON THE 2006 DOCKET: Fox have started the year a little shaky with a semi-disappointing run for 'The Family Stone', which will struggle a little overall. The next few months may be brutal too with clunkers like Martin Lawrence's 'Rebound', 'Tristan and Isolde' and 'Separate Lies' and unproven commodities like 'Big Momma's House 2' and 'Date Movie'. In fact, only Oscar hopeful 'Walk the Line' will draw any remote interest until 'Ice Age 2' hits in April. Then over winter look for 'X Men 3', remake 'Omen 666', 'Just My Luck' with Lindsay Lohan, 'Super Ex Girlfriend' with Luke Wilson and Uma Thurman; 'Garfield 2' (yes, that's right) and at the end of the year Russell Crowe in 'A Good Year'.
DISTRIBUTOR ANALYSIS:
- Analysis of 2005
- Analysis of United International Pictures
- Analysis of Sony Pictures Releasing
- Analysis of WB
- Analysis of Buena Vista International
- Analysis of Village Roadshow Distributors
- Analysis of Hoyts Distribution
- Analysis of Hopscotch
- Analysis of Icon Productions
- Analysis of the Independents
- The 2005 Chart

 

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