Did you think Mel Gibson had a chance this past weekend? Probably not. By now, we're all used to seeing News Corp.s (NWS) Avatar take the top spot. And for those keeping score, this is the seventh victory in a row for James Cameron (who, by the way, may offer lessons for entrepreneurs, according to Tom Taulli).

According to early estimates from Box Office Mojo, Avatar made another $30 million at domestic theaters over the past three days. At the time of this writing, the worldwide gross was just under $2 billion (it will definitely go over $2 billion, don't worry). Time Warner's (TWX) Edge of Darkness, starring the aforementioned Gibson, wasn't even close to a challenge for the 3-D aliens. Give it some credit, though: It came in second with $17 million.

Continue reading News Corp.'s 'Avatar' Isn't Ready to Step Down

News Corp.'s 'Avatar' Isn't Ready to Step Down originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 01 Feb 2010 08:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Some of my all-time favorite movies are from James Cameron, such as the Terminator series and Aliens.

And this week, Cameron's latest creation, Avatar, has become the top-grossing movie worldwide (going beyond his 1997 blockbuster, Titanic). So far, it has taken in $1.6 billion.

In a way, Cameron is a New Age entrepreneur -- that is, combining creativity, unconventional wisdom, over-the-top optimism and good business sense (this is also the case with others in the entertainment industry, like George Lucas, Steven Spielberg and even Steve Jobs).

Continue reading Entrepreneur's Journal: Business Lessons from Avatar's James Cameron

Entrepreneur's Journal: Business Lessons from Avatar's James Cameron originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sun, 31 Jan 2010 17:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

You just can't stop News Corp.'s (NWS) Avatar. James Cameron's epic 3D picture grossed $48 million at domestic theaters over the weekend, as of early estimates from Box Office Mojo. This puts the grand total at almost $430 million (worldwide, Avatar has made well over a billion bucks). Amazing for this time of year.

News Corp. is also counting its money from Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel, which is ranked in third place at the time of this writing; its total gross now stands at roughly $178 million. Coming in second is Time Warner's (TWX) Sherlock Holmes action adventure. It's possible Holmes and Squeakquel could change places once final numbers are released, since both are credited with similar weekend amounts. Nevertheless, Holmes has now raked in about $165 million.

Continue reading News Corp.'s Avatar Refuses to Yield Top Spot

News Corp.'s Avatar Refuses to Yield Top Spot originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 11 Jan 2010 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

News Corp.'s (NWS) Avatar is exploding like a blinding supernova at the box office. Although I have no interest in seeing it, I undoubtedly must be one of the only people on the planet who lacks the need to become immersed in the 3-D adventure. According to early estimates at Box Office Mojo, James Cameron's "titanic" cinematic beast scored another $68 million at domestic theaters over the New Year's weekend. Total so far: better than $350 million.

Time Warner's (TWX) take on a famous literary detective had to settle for second place yet again. Sherlock Holmes pulled in $38 million. Coming in third was the Alvin and the Chipmunks sequel, also released by News Corp. Indeed, there's no shortage of excitement at the multiplex.

Continue reading Should Studios Adopt the James Cameron Model of Moviemaking?

Should Studios Adopt the James Cameron Model of Moviemaking? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 04 Jan 2010 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Shareholders of News Corp. (NWS) are probably happy this Monday as two of the company's films -- Avatar and Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel -- did very well over the three-day holiday weekend.

James Cameron's Avatar topped the charts at domestic theaters, pulling in an estimated $75 million, according to Box Office Mojo. If the project can continue to attract moviegoers in large droves, as well as propagate a lot of repeat business, then it should break even before it hits other distribution channels.

Continue reading News Corp.'s 'Avatar' and 'Alvin and the Chipmunks' Had a Great Weekend

News Corp.'s 'Avatar' and 'Alvin and the Chipmunks' Had a Great Weekend originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 28 Dec 2009 10:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

It was the weekend that everyone was waiting for. The debut of James Cameron's Avatar was an event approaching mythic dimension: Don't tell me you didn't know it was coming, because I wouldn't believe you for a nanosecond. The hype was out there, and it became a self-replicating, viral zeitgeist able to cross multiple mediums with ease. Its marketing message dominated the collective cinematic discussion, and even though it didn't possess the brand access of Time Warner's (TWX) The Lord of the Rings trilogy.

Which is why I found the domestic opening of the project quite puzzling. I thought Avatar, distributed by News Corp. (NWS), was worth a heck of a lot more than $77 million, which is what the film grossed, according to Box Office Mojo.

Continue reading 'Avatar' Makes $77 Million in First Weekend

'Avatar' Makes $77 Million in First Weekend originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 22 Dec 2009 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

This post is part of our feature on Money Winners of 2008. See all 20.

Johnny Depp is one quirky thespian. Whether he's playing a Gothic mutant with scissors for hands, a sadistic throat-slitting barber, or one wacked-out pirate who sounds a lot like a drunken guitarist from one of the greatest rock 'n roll bands of all time, Depp works overtime to extract as much weirdness from a part as he conceivably can so he can present a compelling performance to paying audiences at the local multiplex. And he gets paid pretty well for his services.

In fact, he's set to earn multiple millions of dollars to appear in a fourth Pirates of the Caribbean movie. That's right, if you thought Disney (NYSE: DIS) was thinking of stopping at the third one (like maybe it should), then you turned out to be wrong. It's difficult to say exactly how much Depp will make from the next Pirates adventure. The Movie Blog claims that the number is as high as $75 million. I've read other reports that confirm this figure, but I've also read speculation that the value relates more to the potential of his earnings power in terms of gross participation, merchandise, etc. In other words, it might be reasonable to assume that Depp will earn as high as $75 million if Pirates 4 is a huge box-office hit on the level of its predecessors. He may, however, receive a lesser amount upfront. I believe the latter to most likely be the case based on the way Hollywood works. We unfortunately will never know the specific details because the SEC does not require public media companies to report talent compensation (in my opinion, they should). No matter what, though, he'll be grossing a lot of bucks when he returns as Captain Jack Sparrow.

Continue reading Money winners of 2008: Johnny Depp, once and future pirate captain

Money winners of 2008: Johnny Depp, once and future pirate captain originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 13 Dec 2008 12:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

General Electric's (NYSE: GE) Universal Pictures asset received some good news the other day -- 75% of the studio's movie projects for the next few years will be funded, in part, by a financing entity known as Relativity Capital. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the deal calls for Relativity to help cover production costs, but not marketing programs; it could see about $500 million spread out over as many as 45 movies. Also, this is being described as a bona fide partnership -- not only will Relativity share in profits generated by ancillary channels, such as home video and television sales, but it will also have the power to co-greenlight a project, and it will be able to review the talent and budget attached to each project.

Financing by hedge funds and private equity is certainly not new in Hollywood; it's been around for a long time. So has the practice of selling off international rights and partnerships between studio competitors. Remember James Cameron's Titanic? It took the studio segments of both Viacom (NYSE: VIA) and News Corp. (NYSE: NWS) to shoulder that costly celluloid endeavor. But, although I recognize that filmmaking is extremely risky, and that a flop is very much in the cards whether or not big stars are in a film, I also have to wonder if it might be better for studios to simply lessen their risk by making much cheaper movies and foregoing the distribution of risk. What's my beef with distribution of risk? Well, I'm not the first to say this, and it's pretty obvious at any rate: hedge your bet, and you also limit your upside score in terms of a windfall.

Continue reading Should film studios always spread the risk?

Should film studios always spread the risk? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 29 Feb 2008 15:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

95 years later, The Titanic still commands attention and dollars originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 03 Jul 2007 13:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading James Cameron finds Jesus ... No, not like that

James Cameron finds Jesus ... No, not like that originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 27 Feb 2007 13:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.