Tell me again that a female superhero movie is too financially risky a proposition. I dare you.
Last year two of Lionsgate’s films, The Hunger Games and Twilight: Breaking Dawn Part 2, made over $125 million apiece at the North American box office. That was the first time Lionsgate reached such a milestone, and it was also the first time the studio made over $1 billion domestically in a single year.
But it wasn’t the last time. The financial successes of Catching Fire and Louis Leterrier‘s magician-themed thriller Now You See Me pushed the studio over the one billion mark for the second consecutive year. To be exact, so far in 2013 Lionsgate has made $1.025 billion domestically and $2.225 billion worldwide. The biggest chunk of that belongs to Catching Fire, which has pulled in $372 million domestically after only five weeks.
Lionsgate is the only non-major studio (your Universals, Foxes, Warner Bros.) to hit the $1 billion goal, never mind hitting it twice. And with Mockingjay Parts 1 and 2 coming out in 2014 and 2015, respectively, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Katniss launch them into the stratosphere for a total of four consecutive years. In a statement, Chief Executive Officer Jon Feltheimer and Vice Chairman Michael Burns attributed their success in part to smart financial decision-making:
“We continue to do more with less, maintaining our commitment to a disciplined financial model that is focused on limiting production capital at risk.”
It’s almost like centering a franchise around a female character, if she’s beloved enough by a core fanbase and has enough name recognition among casual moviegoers, isn’t all that risky. It’s almost like, if you’re smart with your finances and make a good movie people want to see, people will see that movie and won’t stay home just because the lead is a woman.
Somebody call WB. I don’t think they’ve gotten the message yet.
(via: The Wrap)
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