Time Warner's prehistoric romp wins big box office bucks

Posted Mar 10th 2008 11:11AM by Steven Mallas
Filed under: Time Warner (TWX), Walt Disney (DIS), Sony Corp ADR (SNE), Film

Mammoths and multiplexes go hand in hand, apparently, especially if said mammoths are of the CGI variety. According to Boxofficemojo, 10,000 B.C., Time Warner's (NYSE: TWX) prehistoric epic, pounded the rest of its competition like an angry caveman warrior clubbing a saber-toothed tiger (I didn't see the film, but I assume this happened at some point during the plot). The film is estimated to have taken in over $35 million (final numbers are due later today) at domestic theaters over the weekend. Disney (NYSE: DIS) couldn't even come close to Time Warner -- its family comedy, College Road Trip, right now stands at a gross of $14 million, which was at least good enough for second place. Erstwhile Disney Channel phenomenon Raven-Symone star in the flick, so at least there was a little bit of synergy in that respect -- Disney is nothing if not about synergy, as we all know.

Sony's (NYSE: SNE) Vantage Point came in third, and Time Warner's Semi-Pro, starring the hilarious Will Ferrell, came in fourth. Lions Gate's (NYSE: LGF) The Bank Job, which achieved fifth position, actually did pretty well, considering that its per-theater average of approximately $3500 was much higher than the per-theater average for the two films above it.

I guess it's not so surprising that 10,000 B.C. brought in the crowds -- Time Warner competently positioned the film to attract the youthful first-weekend demos. But, I have to say, the movie was written and directed by Roland Emmerich, who helmed a sci-fi flick I absolutely hated -- Independence Day. I have no idea how anyone could like that film, but hey, it doesn't matter what I think, since it was a monster hit back in 1996. (By the way, his take on Godzilla was no piece of cinematic genius, either -- Emmerich should study Cloverfield carefully to see what makes a great monster movie great).

Time Warner shareholders can be proud of their company considering the performance of 10,000 B.C., but with reports pegging the budget as being north of $100 million, the movie needs to keep the grosses going in subsequent weekends so that its profit potential doesn't become extinct.

Disclosure: Steven Mallas owns shares of Disney; positions can change at any time.

Tags: 10,000 B.C., 10,000B.c., box office business, BoxOfficeBusiness, Cloverfield, dis, inthenews, lgf, Lions Gate Entertainment, LionsGateEntertainment, Raven-Symone, Roland Emmerich, RolandEmmerich, sne, sony, time warner, TimeWarner, twx, Vantage Point, VantagePoint, walt-disney, Will Ferrell, WillFerrell