BVI, Sony top int'l
Duo go 1, 2 o'seas, push majors to $6.4 bil
While still at a three-year low, the final overseas take for the majors is not as bleak as had been expected, finishing just 4% behind last year's $6.6 billion.
If the returns from boutique production companies that handle foreign rights are counted, the total overseas number could well be more than $6.5 billion. But that's a hard number to pin down, given how reticent these companies are to offer up figures when their pics fall flat.
International distribs emphasized that if the B.O. from their 2000 slates were converted at 1999 exchange rates, final cumes would be 15%-20% higher.
Landing just 1% shy of last year's record, BVI finished first with $1.31 billion. (In the last seven years, BVI has won the foreign B.O. race five times.)
"If there's a story in how well we performed overseas this year," BVI prexy Mark Zoradi said, "it's consistency." BVI cites its solid combination of animated pics and high-profile, star-driven pics. As in 1999, 60% of BVI's grosses were derived from live-action films, 40% from animated pics.
BVI's volume biz
BVI also emphasized its volume of releases, with all 25 of its 2000 pics grossing more than $10 million and the top 10 surpassing $35 million. Distrib's top fare included "Toy Story 2" ($210 million), "Dinosaur" ($181 million), "Gone in 60 Seconds" ($129 million) and the crossover biz of 1999's "The Sixth Sense" ($112 million).
BVI's top market was the U.K., where "Toy Story 2" made Great Britain's all-time grossers list at No. 5 with $70 million. Japan and France tied for second.
The Japanese market has always been tough to crack; nothing less than a star-driven event pic survives. Both BVI and Sony succeeded here. Japan also was Sony's second best territory in 2000, with $115 million.
Seconds for Sony
"Charlie's Angels" answered Sony's call, lifting the studio past its $1 billion record by $77 million. Columbia TriStar's foreign B.O. is up 88% on five $100 grossers: "Stuart Little" ($154 million), "Erin Brockovich" ($131 million), "Hollow Man" ($117 million), "Charlie's Angels" ($113 million) and "The Patriot" ($102 million). Sony's top market was the U.K. ($123 million).
Fox finalized its B.O. numbers at $725 million for third place, down from its "Phantom Menace"-boosted 1999 by 29%. Regardless, 20th Century Fox Intl. prexy Scott Neeson is proud: "Our objective is to distribute a diverse amount of product, not just to pump out film after film."
Fox Intl.'s heavy hitters in 2000 included "X-Men" ($137 million), "What Lies Beneath" ($120 million) and "The Beach" ($103 million).
A little short
In the end, UIP wound up $50 million shy of its estimated $1.75 billion. Paramount and DreamWorks were the only UIP arms to post gains from 1999.
Despite its $1 billion-plus domestic results, Universal led the UIP pack with $711 million for fourth place. The figure encompasses the separate B.O. revenue U generates through its own international licensing arm. The studio's highest grossers were "Gladiator" ($284 million), "The Green Mile" ($129 million) and "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" ($66 million).In fifth place was Warner Bros. with a 2000 take of $635 million. Although the distrib is down 41% from 1999, when it surpassed $1 billion, it's not disappointed: $600 million-$700 million is the normal take for its overseas ops ($760 million in 1998, $675 million in '97).
Paramount ranked sixth and hit its target of $500 million, thanks to "Mission: Impossible 2" ($330 million). Overseas revs were up 61% from last year's $310 million.
DreamWorks followed Par, grabbing a total of $400 million from UIP and its own licensing deals. MGM's $150 million was buoyed by the crossover of 1999's James Bond pic "The World Is Not Enough" ($95 million for 2000).
The indies remained close to their estimates a few days ago, with Miramax ($360 million), Summit ($300 million) and New Line ($210 million) rounding out spots eight through 10.
