It was a year with a Sony disposition and a "Titanic" appetite.
The log for 1997 set new records as box office climbed to $6.24 billion domestically and admissions hit a three-decade peak of 1.31 billion. That added up to a potent 8.3% increase in B.O. and 4% expansion in the number of tickets sold over '96.
The year ended on a high note with Paramount's "Titanic" cruising to $112.4 million and MGM's "Tomorrow Never Dies" gunning down $73.3 million as of Dec. 31. Through the weekend, James Cameron's epic romantic tragedy bobbed to $156.4 million, on track to rival "Men in Black" and "The Lost World," which had respective grosses of $172.1 million and $171.1 million through their third weekends.
For the year, Sony was the clear winner in market share, taking a hearty 20.4% share on a gross of $1.27 billion. Its B.O. comprised three $100 million-plus champions, including 1997's top-grossing "Men in Black" with $250 million to date.
"It's great to have a winning streak, especially when you've been on the other side," said Sony distribution exec VP Mark Zucker. "I think the news overall is upbeat. The industry is changing for the better and some companies have just adapted faster. Some have had very bad years but you can't count anyone out."
Hit-or-miss year
It was a year of extremes. A hit-or-miss mentality seemed to seize the film biz and was reflected by mammoth winners and colossal losers. The teeter-totter leaned toward the positive thanks to the likes of "Liar Liar," "Air Force One" and the reissue of the "Star Wars" trilogy, and despite "Speed 2: Cruise Control," "Fathers' Day" and "Starship Troopers."
The emerging winners were Sony, Buena Vista, Universal and New Line, while Warner Bros. took it on the jaw and Paramount inhabited a financially nebulous middle ground among the major players.
Sony seized the market share lead from Buena Vista in mid-February and never let it go. It went from the basement to the attic, experiencing a 112.5% boost at the box office from 1996 on a comparable number of film releases. The company posted one of the best average B.O. returns per title with $50.4 million.
Buena Vista -- the market share leader for the prior three years -- slipped into second spot with $890.7 million and a 14.3% market share. Though its box office declined by close to 26%, the company released fewer films and enjoyed a healthy return of $40.2 million per title.
The top-performing companies all had average returns that bettered their average production cost. In Buena Vista's case the average negative cost was $36 million while Sony's was $42 million. Conversely, Warner Bros.' slate generated $32.2 million per wide release while its average production budget clocked in at $46 million -- the highest in the industry.
On a corporate level, Disney companies led the field with Buena Vista and Miramax movies combining to nose out Sony by .1% with a 21% market share (Sony Classics boosted the overall Sony total to 20.9%). Combined grosses from Warner Bros. and New Line ranked the Time Warner umbrella third with 17.1% of the overall picture. The seven majors (and their specialized labels) and newcomer DreamWorks accounted for 95.3% of the year's B.O.
Warner Bros. fades
While Sony and BV made most of the right moves, Warner Bros. saw its decadelong winning formula evaporate. Star vehicles such as "Mad City" and "The Postman" sank, and others including "Conspiracy Theory" and "The Devil's Advocate" underperformed. The studio also failed to convert the glowing critical success of "L.A. Confidential" into better box office.
Even "Batman & Robin," WB's best performer, was a disappointment and brought a rethink to the industry perception of a $100 million gross as a gauge of success and profit.
The 1997 release schedule was rife with event titles such as "Volcano," "Contact" and "The Devil's Own" that had production and marketing costs well in excess of $100 million. A record number of films took writedowns of at least $25 million in red ink from their megabudgets.
Restraint and cost-cutting were priorities in the closing months of the year, highlighted by decisions from Warner Bros. and Universal to pull the plug on the bronto-budgeted "I Am Legend" with Arnold Schwarzenegger and "The Age of Aquarius" starring Harrison Ford, respectively. However, the year-end finish of "Titanic" could well reverse the policy.
"This picture ("Titanic") has to do something like $500 million just to break even," said a senior production exec. "The good news is that, despite its three hours, it might actually happen. The bad news is that all the delays and budget overruns will be forgotten and we will be doomed to repeat the mistake. This is like 'Heaven's Gate' and 'Cleopatra' -- only the next one could happen in a couple of years."
Sailing into 1998, there's a sense that the majors are cutting back, at least in the volume of releases. In 1997, 161 films went out into wide release, up from 156 a year earlier. The average B.O. per title declined to $29 million from $32 million in 1996.
Disney has declared on record it will produce fewer pictures, and other studios may wind up with abbreviated slates as changes in senior management make securing a greenlight more difficult and infrequent. Even factoring in new entities like DreamWorks and Polygram, and smaller companies Trimark and Live delivering more mainstream fare, national releases could conceivably decline to 130 annually within two years.
"Individually movies aren't going to be any less expensive to produce and market. So, the only way to rein in costs is to make fewer movies," said Fox Film Group chairman Tom Sherak.
"Ideally, that should translate into less competition and longer theatrical runs," Sherak added. "But what will it mean to a 30-screen operation that depends on the current volume? Are we going to see films open on 12 screens at a megaplex, and will the studios become less adventurous about opening event pictures outside summer and holidays?"
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