Film Report Card: Universal
U's corporate parent, Seagram, has just been acquired by Vivendi, and the French conglom plans to dispatch film-savvy Pierre Lescure from affiliated Canal Plus to keep an eye on Hollywood operations. But Lescure has to be impressed with what he's witnessed from afar during the past few months.
The $55.8 million opening for "Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas" over the weekend of Nov. 17 marked an unprecedented fifth consecutive No. 1 wide release by the studio. It went on to gross $253 million by year's end and helped push U to a total gross of $1.09 billion.
Also this year, U branded its specialty unit as Universal Focus. The banner's first release, Brit drama "Billy Elliot" from Working Title, has built steady B.O. momentum.
Snider noted U's $1 billion-plus domestic gross is an all-time high for the studio.
"Not only did we work well as a team internally," the chairman said, "but we were the beneficiaries of superlative work by our major suppliers like Imagine, Jersey, Beacon and Working Title."
One certain highlight for U in 2000 was "Erin Brockovich," the Steven Soderbergh-helmed Julia Roberts starrer from Jersey Films that not only delighted at the box office but is a front-runner for Oscar noms, having already picked up kudos from the New York Critics Circle and the Los Angeles crix group.
U aims to release 16 to 18 pics a year, Snider says, including three to five from its Imagine Entertainment production partner and some additional number of Universal Focus releases. U reupped various production pacts during the year including key deals with Imagine and Jersey Films.
|
Universal Domestic box office
| ||
| Film |
Release date
|
2000 gross*
|
| The Best Man |
1999
|
0.5
|
| The Bone Collector |
1999
|
2.8
|
| End of Days |
1999
|
3.7
|
| Man on the Moon |
1999
|
10.1
|
| The Hurricane |
1999
|
50.2
|
| Snow Falling on Cedars |
1999
|
14.3
|
| Isn't She Great |
Jan. 28
|
3.0
|
| Erin Brockovich |
March 17
|
125.6
|
| The Skulls |
March 31
|
35.0
|
| U-571 |
April 21
|
77.1
|
| The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas |
April 28
|
35.3
|
| Screwed |
May 12
|
7.0
|
| The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle |
June 30
|
26.0
|
| Nutty Professor II: The Klumps |
July 28
|
123.3
|
| Bring It On |
Aug. 25
|
68.4
|
| The Watcher |
Sept. 8
|
28.9
|
| Meet the Parents |
Oct. 6
|
161.3
|
| Billy Elliot |
Oct. 13
|
17.1
|
| Loving Jezebel |
Oct. 27
|
0.1
|
| Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas |
Dec. 17
|
253.4
|
| Family Man |
Dec. 22
|
43.1
|
| Total |
|
1,086.2
|
| ** reissue * - figures in millions | ||
|
2001 slate
| |
| Film | Release date |
| Head Over Heels | Feb. 9 |
| The Fast and the Furious | March 23 |
| Josie and the Pussycats | April 6 |
| Captain Corelli's Mandolin | April |
| The Mummy Returns | May 11 |
| House of 1,000 Corpses | June |
| Jurassic Park III | July 18 |
| Spy Game | September |
| The Bourne Identity | November |
| K-PAX | November |
| A Beautiful Mind | November/December |
| Dragonfly | November/December |
| Eye See You | TBA |
| Summer Catch | 3rd quarter |
