Many studios in the last year discovered the hard way that audiences will return to the well only so many times. Popular series such as “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles,” “Ghostbusters,” “Independence Day,” and “Divergent” saw new installments stumble, contributing to widespread fears of sequel-itis. Executives acknowledge that many follow-ups are greenlit as a reflex. Gone, it seems, are the days when simply tossing a roman numeral onto a familiar title was enough to mint money.
“The theme of this year is that nothing can be taken for granted,” says Megan Colligan, Paramount’s distribution and marketing head. “When you have sequels, there is a biorhythm to them. You have to force yourself to break that and do things differently.”
Other execs say it’s becoming harder to capture audiences’ attention. “Whatever the picture may be, it has to be something that becomes a call to action,” says Rory Bruer, Sony’s worldwide distribution chief. “You’ve got to get them really quickly, because people’s attention spans are much shorter.”
Disney may have established itself as a cinematic superpower, but many of its competitors still had something to celebrate in 2016. Following a period in the wilderness after popular series “The Hobbit” and “The Dark Knight” had reached their conclusions, Warner Bros. stepped up to second place in the 2016 domestic box office derby. But it was a quixotic journey for the studio, which ironically took heat because its biggest hits weren’t even bigger. Bested only by Disney’s record-breaking performance, WB captured more than 15% of North American receipts, led by “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice” and “Suicide Squad.” The two films landed solidly overseas, but their worldwide totals — $873 million and $746 million, respectively — did not match the $1 billion some had forecast.
Those numbers, and the films’ critical evisceration, left Warner in a defensive crouch. Jeff Goldstein, president of domestic distribution, calls the situation “a little bit of a head-scratcher,” given that “both of those movies were widely accepted and embraced by the public.”
The riches of 2016 were somewhat equitably distributed among major releases, following a year in which “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” and “Jurassic World” accounted for a disproportionate amount of domestic ticket sales, earning $936.7 million and $652.3 million, respectively. In 2016, no film passed the $500 million mark Stateside, but nine films topped $300 million — three more than hit the mark in 2015.
Studio executives may talk up the importance of new and fresh projects, but audiences continued to flock to superhero movies and animated fare. Of the 10 highest-grossing films, nine were comic-book adaptations or family-friendly offerings; the other was a “Star Wars” spinoff.
The entertainment industry threw in its lot with costumed vigilantes more than a decade ago, but it’s showing ever-greater interest in animated fare. Disney has long prospered from its library of cartoon classics, but now it has more competition. Universal is wading deeper into animated waters, fielding hits such as “The Secret Life of Pets” and “Sing” through its ownership of Illumination Entertainment and shelling out nearly $4 billion to buy DreamWorks Animation. In Illumination, which made its name with the “Despicable Me” series, Universal is banking on establishing an animation brand that may one day rank alongside Pixar.
“The quality that it stands for has become a trusted thing,” Nick Carpou, Universal’s domestic distribution head, says of Illumination.
The animation boom could have far-reaching benefits for the business. For years, concerns have mounted that the theatrical model is fatally out of step with a younger generation of consumers. To this way of thinking, big-screen entertainment cannot compete with myriad other options, from premium cable sensations such as “Game of Thrones” to Netflix and other streaming-service revolutionaries. The animation renaissance has left some executives hopeful that a rising group of moviegoers is being weaned on the pleasures of the cinema.
“The younger we get as an audience,” says Fox domestic distribution head Chris Aronson, “the stronger a foundation we build for the business going forward.”
Article Appeared @http://variety.com/2017/film/features/box-office-2016-studios-disney-warner-bros-1201951112/