Box Office posts
FeedPosted Feb 14th 2011 9:00AM by Steven Mallas (RSS feed)
Filed under: General Electric (GE), Walt Disney (DIS), Viacom (VIA), Sony Corp ADR (SNE), Comcast Cl'A' (CMCSA), Film
Based on what I was reading going into the weekend, I thought the multiplex was going to be an unexciting place. I was therefore rather surprised to see what I thought were relatively impressive numbers attached to the top films.
According to early estimates for domestic grosses at Box Office Mojo, Sony's (SNE) Just Go With It, starring Adam Sandler, is so far credited with a first-place showing; the movie is believed to have made about $31 million for the Friday-through-Sunday period. But Viacom's (VIA.B) Justin Bieber: Never Say Never product isn't giving up without a fight. At the time of writing, it was in second place with $30.3 million. Essentially, it's a tie.
Continue reading Viacom's Bieber Film Gives Sony's Sandler Project a Fight
Posted Feb 12th 2011 9:20AM by Steven Mallas (RSS feed)
Filed under: Earnings Reports, Lions Gate Entertainment (LGF)
Lionsgate Entertainment (LGF) posted results for the fiscal third quarter earlier in the week. I would like to be bullish on the numbers, but I realize such emotion isn't in the cards after reading through the press release.
Maybe I should be at least a little considerate about the Q3 loss of 4 cents per share; last year at this time, the loss was 55 cents per share. Problem is, the loss for the nine-month period is 77 cents per share versus a profit of 2 cents per share in the comparable frame. Perhaps I should just focus on the quarter, but I couldn't help noticing what was going on over the longer term. Besides, who wants to see red ink, especially when, according to TheFly, execs couldn't beat Wall Street's expectations?
Continue reading Lionsgate Entertainment's Q3: Hollywood Is a Challenging Game
Posted Dec 27th 2010 9:30AM by Steven Mallas (RSS feed)
Filed under: General Electric (GE), Walt Disney (DIS), Viacom (VIA), Film
Little Fockers, the comedy sequel starring Ben Stiller and Robert DeNiro, distributed by General Electric's (
GE) Universal Pictures, came in first this past weekend. According to early estimates over at
Box Office Mojo, the film made $34 million for the Friday-through-Sunday frame (it opened last Wednesday, so its total is now approaching $50 million).
That easily beat the other new movie in the marketplace, Viacom's (
VIA.B)
True Grit. This one stars Jeff Bridges and was directed by Joel and Ethan Coen.
Grit was second with roughly $25 million. It also opened last Wednesday; it has so far captured over $36 million.
Continue reading GE's 'Little Fockers' Beats Viacom's 'True Grit'
Posted Dec 21st 2010 11:00AM by Steven Mallas (RSS feed)
Filed under: Walt Disney (DIS), Film
Disney (DIS) released Tron: Legacy this past weekend. I wrote down some of my thoughts about the project ahead of the results. Well, the results are now in -- I dare any shareholder to say they weren't disappointing.
Actually, I'm sure there are some shareholders out there who possess the ability to skillfully spin the opening statistic to a more golden hue. I'm not one of them; in fact, I have no desire to do so. According to Box Office Mojo, the Tron sequel made $44 million. You know what? A $44 million take from domestic theaters for the first three days is lousy when one juxtaposes the significant marketing investment put in place to support the film. Indeed, there was no way for anyone not to know that the picture was hitting theaters in the middle of December.
Continue reading Disney's 'Tron': Did the Mouse Win or Lose?
Posted Dec 17th 2010 5:30PM by Steven Mallas (RSS feed)
Filed under: Walt Disney (DIS), Film
Here we go again. It's another big movie weekend for The Walt Disney Company (DIS). The sequel to a science-fiction classic from the early '80s hits theaters today. The marketing for Tron: Legacy is everywhere right now (or it appears that way, at least). There are many news pieces musing about the importance of the flick to the studio. Question is, what does Wall Street think?
At the moment (about ninety minutes away from the closing bell), shares of Disney are down a penny to $37. That's exactly one dollar away from the 52-week high. The market as a whole isn't too exciting this afternoon anyway, but still, I would have liked to have seen a little more buying interest in the stock ahead of the movie (I'm a shareholder of the company).
Continue reading Disney and the New 'Tron': Are Investors Excited?
Posted Nov 29th 2010 5:00PM by Steven Mallas (RSS feed)
Filed under: Walt Disney (DIS), Film

As a The Walt Disney Company (
DIS) shareholder, I've been disappointed by the long-term price action of the stock (I've had the company in my portfolio since 1998). These days, I want every movie to hit it out of the park.
Tangled, the latest cartoon from the Mouse, grossed a decent amount of money during the Thanksgiving frame. But, I have to ask: did it gross enough money for shareholders?
Maybe not. And I know, I'm sounding greedy. After all, according to estimates at
Box Office Mojo,
Tangled made almost $70 million at domestic locations for the Wednesday-through-Sunday period. That's not so bad, is it?
Continue reading Disney's 'Tangled' Did Well -- But Is It Enough?
Posted Nov 25th 2010 10:00AM by Steven Mallas (RSS feed)
Filed under: Time Warner (TWX), Walt Disney (DIS), Film
Shares of Disney (DIS) haven't strayed too far from where they were when the latest earnings report was released. It would have been nice if the numbers had acted as a catalyst for the stock (which I own), pushing it above the $40 mark. Didn't happen. Hey, we move on, right?
But Disney has another chance to prove to its investors that it's a great long-term holding. The Mouse's latest cartoon, Tangled, opened on Wednesday. The idea is to capture some value from the crowds that will be out at the multiplex during the Thanksgiving weekend. I sort of have a good feeling about this film.
Continue reading Disney Looking to Triumph with 'Tangled'
Posted Nov 22nd 2010 5:30PM by Steven Mallas (RSS feed)
Filed under: Time Warner (TWX), Film, DreamWorks Animation (DWA)

I don't think anyone can be shocked by the latest results from the movie world. The fact that Time Warner Inc.'s (
TWX)
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 captured the top spot was a predestined event. And the fact that it made the most money of any
Potter film in its debut, as many news reports have mentioned, is also, frankly, not a surprise.
According to
Box Office Mojo,
Hallows Part 1 grossed $125 million at domestic theaters. This
data set shows how that figure compares to the opening performance of the other entries in the series. It's impressive, certainly, but again, considering that the
Potter projects have almost reached a conclusion (presumably, anyway), it seems fitting that there's a lot of excitement surrounding the release.
Continue reading Time Warner's Latest 'Potter' Doesn't Surprise
Posted Nov 1st 2010 10:00AM by Steven Mallas (RSS feed)
Filed under: Viacom (VIA), Film, Lions Gate Entertainment (LGF)
A year ago, a fierce battle was being waged between two Hollywood studios for the dominance of the Halloween movie marketplace. Lions Gate Entertainment (LGF) was high on its latest gory sequel, Saw VI, while Viacom (VIA.B) was pinning its hopes on a low-budget film entitled Paranormal Activity. It was something of a David-and-Goliath situation; certainly the bloody brand equity of the Saw franchise could not be bested by some goofy found-footage-themed piece of celluloid?
Haven't the Goliaths of this world learned anything? Saw VI ended up the loser of the competition. I was amazed. Lions Gate, however, wanted to give it another shot. So, Saw 3D, which supposedly may be the final one of the series (yeah, we'll see), declared war on the sequel to Viacom's demon tale, Paranormal Activity 2, this past weekend; Jigsaw apparently is out for a little revenge.
Continue reading Saw 3D: Final Attempt Does the Trick for Lions Gate
Posted Oct 30th 2010 11:40AM by Steven Mallas (RSS feed)
Filed under: Earnings Reports, Time Warner (TWX), Film
IMAX (IMAX) has been a wonderful stock to own. Admit it, you wish you had this one displayed on your broker's positions page (I know I do). On Friday, it closed at $21.65, not far from the new 52-week high of $21.95, which was reached during the intraday session. The one-year chart is an amazing image to behold for a couple reasons. First, there is the simple matter of the uptrend. Second, the stock already experienced a pullback before breaking through to fresh heights.
However, this brings to mind a valid concern: is the stock now a sell? Has it gone too far? You can't help but ask such questions. In fact, Theflyonthewall reported Friday that Craig-Hallum issued a downgrade on the shares. On the other hand, Theflyonthewall also mentioned some good news from Wedbush: that firm raised its rating for the theater entity.
Continue reading IMAX: Is It Too High to Buy?
Posted Oct 29th 2010 3:15PM by Steven Mallas (RSS feed)
Filed under: Earnings Reports, Walt Disney (DIS), Film, DreamWorks Animation (DWA)

DreamWorks Animation (
DWA) reported third-quarter earnings earlier in the week. It's one of those fun stocks that investors like to check out (I like checking it out, at least). I'm sure a lot of market participants would love to find an excuse to add the stock to a trading portfolio, mostly because the idea that it will be purchased by some bigger entity is perhaps too big to ignore.
At the time of this writing, shares were exchanging hands at a quote of $35.23, which meant that they were down less than 1%. The 52-week low is $26.61 while the 52-week high is $44.77. As the
one-year chart shows, the technical story is not as attractive as the computer-generated images produced by the company.
Continue reading DreamWorks Animation's Q3: Buy on the Numbers?
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