DISNEY - WARNER BROS. A BILLION-DOLLAR STUDIO AGAIN

WARNER BROS. A BILLION-DOLLAR STUDIO AGAIN

Warner Bros. said Monday that it just managed to squeeze past the $1-billion mark at the domestic box office for summer 2009. Thanks to the performance of its 3D horror flick The Final Destination, which took in slightly more than the studio expected, Warner Bros. wound up the summer with $1 billion plus $10,269. It was not as much as it earned last year, when it had The Dark Knight going for it, but it did manage to command 23 percent of the domestic box office. In an interview with the Hollywood Reporter, Warner Bros. distribution chief Dan Fellman observed that having two billion-dollar years in a row "is an exceptional feat, considering that in '08 we had one movie that grossed over $500 million. ... It should be noted that so far this year, we had eight movies that opened No. 1, and we were No. 1 for 10 weekends." Paramount was the second-biggest earner for the summer with $885 million, helped in large measure by the DreamWorks blockbuster, Transformers Revenge of the Fallen. Disney, which has cut back on the number of releases it turns out, placed third with $610 million.

The top ten films over the Labor Day weekend, according to final figures compiled by Box Office Mojo (figures in parentheses represent total gross to date) 1. The Final Destination , Warner Bros., $12,368,882/4 Days $15,295,069, 2 Wks. ($50,435,066); 2. Inglourious Basterds , Weinstein Co. $11,629,393/4 Days $14,950,486, 3 Wks. ($95,146,096); 3. All About Steve , 20th Century Fox, $11,241,214/4 Days $14058106, (New); 4. Gamer , Lionsgate, $9,156,057/4 Days $11,203,761, (New); 5. District 9 , Sony/Tri-star, $7,076,937/4 Days $9,114,591, 4 Wks. ($103,388,712); 6. Julie & Julia , Sony, $5,324,583/4 Days $7,077,574, 3 Wks. ($80,717,968); 7. Halloween II, Weinstein Co. $5,745,206/4 Days $6,872,800, 2 Wks. ($26,928,692); 8. G .I. Joe The Rise of Cobra , Paramount, $5,175,113/4 Days $6,705,288, 5 Wks. ($141,021,754); 9. Extract, Miramax, $4,340,108/4 Days $5,513,634, (New); 10. The Time Traveler's Wife , Warner Bros., $4,326,787/4 Days $5,465,925, 4 Wks. ($55,809,927).

09/09/2009