Disney (NYSE: DIS) had something of a magical weekend at the domestic box office. The company's new film, G-Force, a 3D-powered property, grossed an estimated $32 million according to Boxofficemojo, good for first place. Believe it or not, that was enough to take out Time Warner's (NYSE: TWX) Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, which dropped to second place (last weekend it debuted at number one, of course) with about $30 million.
These are estimated numbers at the time of this writing. When the final stats come out, it is conceivable that the rankings could change since we're talking about a difference of a mere $2 million. But I think they stand a good chance of staying the same.
It's too bad that G-Force didn't have a little more force to it. A $30 million opening for this kind of project isn't necessarily bad at this time of year I suppose, but I honestly thought the film was going to be stronger judging by what I was hearing in my area. From what I understand, many showings were sold out, and I came to the conclusion that the Force was strong with Disney. I thought north of $40 million was more than possible.
However, shareholders of Disney will have to remain patient. The second weekend will definitely be the deciding factor here. The Mouse should do all it can to give the superhero guinea pigs a big push. A high box office now will mean a nice home-video release later. Time Warner, on the other hand, should stop most marketing investments on Prince. I think the studio can now sit back and let the momentum of its blockbuster hit, which has grossed well over $200 million, do its thing.
By the way, I have to mention Bruno and how it continues to disappoint. After three weekends in the marketplace, the comedy, distributed by General Electric's (NYSE: GE) Universal, has grossed only $56 million to date. This past weekend, it experienced a huge drop in the charts, coming in at number ten. I would love to know what the ultimate profitability of Bruno turns out to be. Hollywood was so in awe of Sacha Baron Cohen after Borat. But is he turning out to be a bad trade? Should Universal have waited until Cohen's stock corrected a little before doing business with his brand?
Probably. As for the stocks mentioned here, it should be an interesting week for two of them as Disney and Time Warner are both scheduled to report quarterly earnings. I'll be watching to see what comments are made regarding the studio divisions, especially where it concerns home video and digital distribution. The DVD marketplace, as we all know, hasn't been great, and I want to know what this summer's box-office performance might mean for the fall releases.
Disclosure: I own Disney, GE; positions can change without notice.
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