Well, it looks like Disney (NYSE: DIS) redeemed itself after the awful Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert disappointment.
According to early estimates at Boxofficemojo, the Mouse's new movie, Race to Witch Mountain, was the number-one flick at domestic theaters this past weekend. The remake of the classic Disney film Escape to Witch Mountain took in roughly $25 million.
That was more than enough to send Time Warner's (NYSE: TWX) Watchmen to second place. The superhero project made around $18 million. Coming in third was another remake, although this is no family movie, I can tell you that. Distributed by General Electric's (NYSE: GE) Universal Pictures, The Last House on the Left, a grim horror film full of terror and torture, took in $14 million.
But with the help of Dwayne Johnson, the actor who played The Rock character for World Wrestling Entertainment (NYSE: WWE) programming, and a decent marketing campaign, Race to Witch Mountain showed that the Disney brand can bounce back from adversity and bring the families into theaters.
And I'll tell you this, if the movie continues to make money and go beyond the $100 million level (we'll have to wait and see how the film holds up next weekend to see if it has the legs to go the distance), then there might be a nice little franchise here.
Now, what about Disney's stock? Unfortunately, it's been acting nothing like a hit. The shares closed at $17.13 on Friday, a couple dollars away from a 52-week low. Maybe Disney's declining growth prospects in light of the recession have already been priced in. Then again, maybe they haven't been. It's difficult to tell in this market. Shares of most stocks could easily head south after the recent rally (which I think might be a trap for the bulls).
If you've been thinking about starting a position in Disney, perhaps consider waiting. There may be more downside risk in terms of price action. This recession has been a bad one, and I don't think it's done wreaking havoc on beloved blue chips.
Disclosure: I own Disney, GE; positions can change without notice.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
3-16-2009 @ 8:09PM
Erin said...
I thought the movie was good, but not as good as the reviews made it out to be. And to be number one in the box office came as a surprise as well.