Sony to Set Domestic Box-Office Record

Sony Pictures Releasing announced Thursday that it expects to set a domestic box-office record today, as releases by Sony surpass $1.2 billion in the U.S. and Canada for the year.

The only other studio to pass $1 billion is Walt Disney Co.’s Buena Vista distribution unit, which did so in 1994, 1995 and 1996. Warner Bros. Inc. was No. 1 for the three years before that but never broke $1 billion. In 1993, Warner’s domestic box office was $913 million.

Sony previously had several dismal years theatrically, which makes the company’s success this year all the more remarkable. For 1996, Sony ranked fifth among the studios in domestic box office, with only $598 million.

The company changed top management last year, but all the films that brought success this year were set in motion by the previous regime.

Among the company’s triumphs are having the biggest R-rated opening ever ($37.1 million), with “Air Force One,” and the strongest-ever opening for a romantic comedy ($21.7 million), with “My Best Friend’s Wedding.” Sony has a 23% market share of domestic box office for the year so far, the largest share of any distributor since 1982. At 23%, Sony is more than 60% ahead of second-ranked Buena Vista for 1997.

Although Sony has released more movies than any of the other majors this year (36, versus Buena Vista’s 30), it was “Men in Black” that put the studio far ahead of the pack. At $245.5 million, “Men in Black” was the biggest movie of the year and contributed to Sony’s claim of having the highest-grossing summer ever for any studio ($569 million). The film made up more than 20% of Sony’s 1997 box-office grosses to date.

But Sony also benefited from strong pictures throughout the year that, while not taking in $100 million, were solidly profitable. These include “Anaconda” and the current “I Know What You Did Last Summer.”

Tom Adams, president of Adams Media Research, stressed that the box-office bonanza is just the beginning for Sony.

“They will have a dramatic jump in the after-markets, especially video, in the year ahead,” Adams said. “They’ll likely ship 15 million copies of ‘Men in Black’ [hitting stores Nov. 25], which means something like nearly $200 million to the studio.”

Adams added that domestic box office generally contributes less than 20% toward a film’s overall revenue.

One damper on these numbers for Sony: On “Air Force One” and “The Fifth Element,” Sony had only domestic distribution. They put in less money initially in exchange for partial rights. On the current hit “Starship Troopers,” Sony splits worldwide box office 50-50 with Disney; and on “Men in Black,” Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Entertainment gets a sizable chunk of Sony’s profit.

Sony Distribution President Jeff Blake hopes the studio stays at the top in 1998, when the movies green lighted by Sony’s new regime hit screens.

“Teaser trailers for ‘Godzilla’ and ‘Zorro’ are playing great,” Blake said. He added that Sony is now closing in on its first billion-dollar foreign box-office take.