On the movie side, it's been a dream year for DreamWorks. Propelled by nearly a full slate of solid performers, the studio wound up with $769.6 million total take, up a whopping 128% over 1999, by far the highest in the company's six-year history.
"In some ways this has been a defining year for us," said Walter Parkes, co-head of the movie division. "You are not a company until you are depending on the output deals you support."
The exec noted that for the first time deals with talent have started to bear fruit -- including Ivan Reitman's Montecito Pictures' "Road Trip" and Robert Zemeckis' ImageMovers' "What Lies Beneath."
The year 2000 started out sweet, as DreamWorks' practically swept the Oscars with "American Beauty."
The trajectory continued for the upstart studio with home runs for the Ridley Scott-helmed "Gladiator" and "Chicken Run" -- the latter succeeding in animation where Fox and Warner Bros. have failed.
DreamWorks
Domestic box office
|
| Film |
Release Date
|
2000 gross*
|
| American Beauty |
1999
|
59.1
|
| Galaxy Quest |
1999
|
44.3
|
| The Road to El Dorado |
March 31
|
50.9
|
| Gladiator |
May 5
|
186.7
|
| Road Trip |
May 19
|
68.5
|
| Small Time Crooks |
May 19
|
17.3
|
| Chicken Run |
June 21
|
106.8
|
| What Lies Beneath |
July 21
|
155.4
|
| Almost Famous |
Sept. 13
|
32.0
|
| The Contender |
Oct. 13
|
17.8
|
| The Legend of Bagger Vance |
Nov. 3
|
30.7
|
| An Everlasting Piece |
Dec. 25
|
0.06
|
| Total |
|
769.6
|
** reissue
* - figures in millions |
|
2001 slate
|
Film |
Release date
|
| The Mexican |
March 2
|
| Shrek |
May 18
|
| The Curse of the Jade Scorpion |
May/June
|
| Evolution |
July 13
|
| The Time Machine |
December
|
| Collateral |
4th quarter
|
| Catch Me If You Can |
tba
|
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