STUDIO SCORECARD. Another very strong week for Universal (primarily overseas grosses for Despicable Me 2 which were understated in last week’s chart), enough to pass Warner Brothers and move into the #2 spot in terms of worldwide box office. The perennial also-ran Universal finds itself in an odd position: in the upper tier of the worldwide chart with visions of challenging for #1. Warner Brothers also added significantly to its total (courtesy the money pit Pacific Rim), but that film should peter out overseas and won’t be the international annuity WB was hoping for.
Further down the list with #4 Paramount, World War Z edged past Star Trek Into Darkness as the studio’s top worldwide performer so far this year.
TOTAL NORTH AMERICAN BOX OFFICE. Looking at wide-release films in North America (those that play on at least 400 screens at some point), 2013 now totals over $5.5 billion, a hair ahead of 2012 (after trailing last year badly for most of this year) and 4% above the prior four-year average 2009-2012. Each year-to-date period below is defined as the first Monday after New Year’s Day through the most recent Sunday. The past week generated a mediocre $298 million in wide-release North American box office, down 22% from the same week last year but very close (-1%) to the 2009-2012 average for the same week. (The most recent week’s numbers are based on weekend estimates, which are usually at worst a couple of percentage points off from the final weekend tallies.)
| North American Box Office YEAR TO DATE | ||
| (billions) | Weeks 1-27 | |
| 2013 | $5.520 | Jan 7-July 14 |
| 2012 | $5.510 | Jan 2-July 8 |
| 2010 | $5.372 | Jan 4-July 11 |
| 2009 | $5.337 | Jan 5-July 12 |
| 2011 | $4.968 | Jan 3-July 10 |
Over the past six weeks, 2013 is now 19% above the same six weeks in 2012 and up 16% from the four-year average in the same time frame.
| North American Box Office LAST SIX WEEKS | ||
| (billions) | Weeks 22-27 | |
| 2013 | $1.811 | June 3-July 14 |
| 2010 | $1.618 | May 31-July 11 |
| 2009 | $1.599 | June 1-July 12 |
| 2012 | $1.518 | May 28-July 8 |
| 2011 | $1.494 | May 30-July 10 |
About the Author
