Box Office Winners and Losers
Condé Nast Portfolio’s second annual awards for the best and worst financial performances of the year. Who will win best director? Best picture? Who cares? The prize that is most important to studio executives is at the box office. In a fiscal year dominated by The Dark Knight, the overall outlook for Hollywood was troubling.—Sophia Banay
Worst Bet by an Investment Group
In 2007, Morgan Stanley helped raise $150 million to finance Paramount’s indie studio, Vantage. Despite a modest hit with The Duchess, which took in $31.7 million (on a budget of about $12 million), Vantage was folded into Paramount.
Best Performance by a Studio
Warner Bros. hit it big this year, with a total gross of $2.4 billion worldwide, driven largely by The Dark Knight. Universal, with a worldwide gross of $2 billion, came in a close second.
Biggest Eddie Murphy Bomb
Eddie Murphy’s Meet Dave grossed $50 million on a budget of $60 million—a far cry from Murphy’s The Nutty Professor, which in 1996 raked in $274 million on a budget of $54 million.
Biggest Slide by the Weinsteins
The last hit for brothers Bob and Harvey Weinstein was 2006’s Scary Movie 4, which took in $178 million at the box office. Of the six films the Weinsteins distributed this year, only Zack and Miri Make a Porno broke $25 million ($35 million as of mid-December). Boy A, about a young ex-con, made just $275,000.
Best Bargain Buy
Overture Films paid about $1 million for the domestic distribution rights to The Visitor, an independent film about a depressed college professor. The movie has since brought in more than $9.4 million at box offices in the U.S.
Biggest Animated Budget
While Disney’s Wall-E beat out DreamWorks’ Kung Fu Panda at U.S. box offices, Panda smacked down Wall-E worldwide, taking in $631.4 million to Wall-E ’s $487 million.
No-Drama Osama
Morgan Spurlock’s documentary Where in the World Is Osama Bin Laden? took in just $621,831—a disappointing followup to Spurlock’s Super Size Me, which made $20.6 million in 2004.
Least Bang for the Budget
As a wipeout, it’s hard to beat Speed Racer, which didn’t come close to earning back its $150 million budget. Warner Bros.’ planned blockbuster fizzled when it opened on Mother’s Day weekend, ultimately drawing in $93.3 million.
Worst Performance by a Studio
MGM lost Paula Wagner of United Artists (see
Exit Interview) and made just $117 million for the first 11 films it released in 2008. Among the stinkers:
Deal, which grossed $78,731, and
How to Lose Friends and Alienate People, which earned $15.4 million.
South Korea's Best Returns
With a $52 million budget, an all-star cast, and Abba songs, Mamma Mia! has reaped $566.5 million since July. Almost 75 percent of tickets were sold overseas, and the film set a box office record in South Korea for the opening of a musical.
Worst Overall Box Office
Out of 175 films in wide release this year, Proud American, a tribute to everyday Americans, came in dead last. The movie, financed by Wal-Mart, Coca-Cola, and others, grossed just $131,357 on 750 screens in the U.S. and wasn’t released overseas.
