Funny People, distributed by General Electric's (NYSE: GE) Universal Studios, was the number one film this weekend. I don't know whether or not the critics liked it but, from a financial viewpoint, it failed.

According to Boxofficemojo, People grossed $23 million as of early estimates. Cool; that's enough money to beat Time Warner's (NYSE: TWX) incredibly competitive Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, which came in second with $17 million. Disney's (NYSE: DIS) G-Force is also credited with roughly $17 million, and has been given third place for now (final numbers will solidify the rankings when they are made available).

Continue reading GE's NBC Universal probably not laughing over opening of 'Funny People'

GE's NBC Universal probably not laughing over opening of 'Funny People' originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 03 Aug 2009 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Well, I didn't necessarily think it was possible, but it was. Disney's (NYSE: DIS) Hannah Montana: The Movie rose to the top of the domestic box office charts over the Easter holiday weekend.

As of early estimates at Boxofficemojo, the Miley Cyrus flick took in $34 million. Yes, I was bearish on her prospects, as you'll see in this preview article. I agreed with industry experts when they said Fast and Furious, distributed by General Electric's (NYSE: GE) Universal, would retain its number-one status.

I was wrong. Furious came in second with over $28 million. DreamWorks Animation's (NYSE: DWA) Monsters vs. Aliens was third with over $22 million, and its total tally has now gone beyond $140 million. It's doing decent business, and it looks like it has a chance to beat the $180 million that Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa captured. Not bad.

Continue reading Hannah Montana is still hot, but is the fad close to an end?

Hannah Montana is still hot, but is the fad close to an end? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 13 Apr 2009 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Well, I have to admit, I thought Disney's (NYSE: DIS) High School Musical 3: Senior Year was going to drop quite a bit in rank this past weekend at domestic theaters even as early estimates from Boxofficemojo had indicated, putting Lions Gate Entertainment's (NYSE: LGF) Saw V in first place with $3.1 million for that day, while Senior Year dropped all the way down at spot number five with about $1.7 million. I was somewhat blown away by the expected decline. It was going to be Jigsaw's day, of course, but even so I didn't think Halloween would have that much of an effect on Disney's musical juggernaut.

But then, once the weekend estimates were actually in, the story changed. Senior Year was back on top! I guess moviegoers took a break from singing in the aisles to pay Jigsaw some respect on the dark holiday (maybe Lions Gate should put out a Saw musical in the future).

After that, it was back to the stories that populate the corridors of East High. Senior Year took in around $15 million, while the Saw sequel came in third with a haul of $10.1 million. Kevin Smith's Zack and Miri Make a Porno, distributed by the Weinstein Co. and featuring comedy superstar Seth Rogen, was second with $10.7 million. General Electric's (NYSE: GE) Universal captured the fourth slot with Changeling, earning $9.4 million. The Haunting of Molly Hartley, from Freestyle Releasing, was fifth, grossing $6 million.

Continue reading 'High School Musical 3' avoids Jigsaw's Halloween trap

'High School Musical 3' avoids Jigsaw's Halloween trap originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 03 Nov 2008 10:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Time Warner's (NYSE: TWX) The Dark Knight will not rest. According to Boxofficemojo, the superhero flick finished in first place yet again over the weekend. It grossed an estimated $26 million at domestic theaters. Sony's (NYSE: SNE) Pineapple Express put forth a valiant effort to beat the Bat, but it came up a little short. That film came in second with roughly $22 million for the three-day weekend. It debuted on Wednesday, and its total gross to date is around $40 million. Sony was smart in opening it early so that it might gain some positive word of mouth for the weekend. Any movie going up against Dark Knight needs whatever assist it can get. Seth Rogen and Judd Apatow are becoming quite the Hollywood kings of R-rated youth-targeted comedies, and Pineapple Express will only serve to further cement their dominion in Tinsel Town.

Coming in third was The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, distributed by General Electric's (NYSE: GE) Universal. The fantasy flick took in $16 million and its total tally stands at $70 million. An okay performance, but nothing special. The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 from Time Warner was in fourth place with a $10.7 million take. That wasn't too good for a film that I thought had a lot of buzz, but the budget on the project isn't too steep at under $30 million, so maybe this one will do all right. Sony's Step Brothers took hold of fifth position. Disney (NYSE: DIS) continues to do horribly with its bomb Swing Vote. It dropped to ninth place.

So Time Warner's studio division will have the success of The Dark Knight to look forward to in future quarters as the movie, which now has over $440 million to its credit, progresses through home video and other ancillary channels. Disney will not have anything to look forward to from Swing Vote. And here's something else for Time Warner: Star Wars: The Clone Wars opens August 15. Time Warner will bring the cartoon to the silver screen ahead of the animated TV series that is set to debut later on. I think Clone Wars will surprise everyone by doing better than expected. The merchandise from Hasbro (NYSE: HAS) is out in the marketplace now pushing George Lucas' new chapter in his famous franchise. May the Force be with the multiplex.

Disclosure: I own Disney and GE; positions can change at any time.

'The Dark Knight' continues its heroic box-office performance originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 11 Aug 2008 11:11:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The weekend is here, and that means a lot of people are heading to the multiplexes in search of entertainment. And it isn't just any weekend -- it's Easter weekend, so studios are hoping that they can capture some revenue magic during the three-day frame. The new movies up for competition include Viacom's (NYSE: VIA) Drillbit Taylor, a comedy featuring Owen Wilson, and News Corp.'s (NYSE: NWS) Shutter, a spooky horror flick centered around photography.

The film I'm most curious about is Tyler Perry's Meet the Browns, which is being released by Lions Gate Entertainment (NYSE: LGF). That's because Tyler Perry has become a successful brand for Lions Gate. His films seem to have a good chance of opening relatively strongly, and Perry's last flick, Tyler Perry's Why Did I Get Married, did well last fall, taking in over $55 million at the domestic box office, according to Boxofficemojo.com. The Tyler Perry franchise offers a nice contrast to Lions Gate's other big-name series -- this would be, of course, the bloody and vicious Saw series.

I think Meet the Browns will do very well this weekend, but I'm not certain it will be able to jump ahead of Drillbit Taylor. I'm hoping I get a chance to see the latter, as it looks like a nice vehicle for Wilson; plus, John Hughes and Seth Rogen had a hand in the writing of the movie, along with Kristofor Brown. Lions Gate shareholders should welcome Tyler Perry's latest release, and cheer it on during this holiday box-office period.

Disclosure: I don't currently own any of these companies in my portfolio; positions can change at any time.

Lions Gate and Tyler Perry: A great combo originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 22 Mar 2008 16:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

News Corp.'s (NYSE: NWS) Dr. Seuss' Horton Hears a Who! came in at number one over the weekend, according to early estimates at Boxofficemojo. The movie grossed about $45 million at domestic theaters. Even if that number changes a little, there's no chance that it will be knocked from the top spot, considering that Time Warner's (NYSE: TWX) caveman epic 10,000 B.C. is estimated to have grossed about $16 million, which was good for second position.

Seth Rogen, who is the new toast of Hollywood and who will probably try to weasel his way into a Tom-Hanks kind of career (i.e., steadily move away from goofy roles and get into some serious dramas), provided his voice to one of the characters, as did his "frat pack" buddies Steve Carell and Jonah Hill. Jim Carrey, of course, is the big name on the movie's credits, but believe it or not, I thought of Rogen first when thinking about this flick -- guess his brand equity is indeed on the rise. It's not a movie I'd necessarily see, but it had a pretty good marketing campaign behind it, so I can understand its success.

Continue reading Horton hears box office success!

Horton hears box office success! originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 17 Mar 2008 14:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The publicity machine is working overtime for General Electric Co.'s (NYSE:GE) Universal Studio's production Knocked Up.

The film, starring Katherine Heigl and Seth Rogen, opens today. As part of the fanfare, Universal has created a web site where you can create a mashup showing how the offspring of you and anyone you choose might appear.

Unfortunately, this feature doesn't work as well as one might wish. For example, check out this result, supposedly the visage of a child from a coupling of yours truly and Miss Universe Rita Mori (I can dream, can't I?) Even given that my gifts are not physical, the alien creature that resulted doesn't serve as a good advertisement for the film.

Nonetheless, early reviews for the film are good, and gives Universal hope that this summer will offer strong returns. In a couple of weeks they will premiere another potential hit, Evan Almighty, the sequel to Bruce Almighty starring Steve Carrell (of the 40-Year-Old-Virgin, another film by Knocked Up Director Judd Apatow).

Continue reading Knocked Up and uuuuugly!

Knocked Up and uuuuugly! originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 01 Jun 2007 12:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.