Unlike last year, when every summer weekend seemed to bring one or more mega-budget films, this year studios have spread out their most expensive entries for the warm weather months that traditionally make up roughly 40 percent of annual ticket sales.
This year, the parade of super heroes, animated films and big-budget sequels started two months earlier, in March instead of May.
So far, moviegoers are lining up. Six films released since March 7 have passed or are nearing $100 million in U.S. and Canadian ticket sales, according to tracking firm Rentrak. Walt Disney Co’s ‘Captain America: The Winter Soldier‘ has collected $225 million so far. ‘Divergent‘ from Lions Gate Entertainment Corp has earned $139 million, and Fox’s ‘Rio 2‘ has grossed $96 million.
In the same period last year, only three releases had reached that mark. This year’s early start to summer has pushed the 2014 box office to $3.1 billion, a 9.4 percent hike from last year, according to Rentrak.
“I’d rather have us in April with relatively no competition than in July with a huge movie ahead of us and a huge movie behind us,” Alan Horn, chairman of Walt Disney Studios, said of the release strategy for ‘Captain America’. “It’s hard to find dates.” Read More On MSN
'Captain America,' 'Rio' bring early summer heat to Hollywood
No comments:
Post a Comment