Fox Home Entertainment Q3 Results Fail to Land Another 'Martian'

10 May, 2017 By: Erik Gruenwedel

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Twentieth Century Fox Studios May 10 revealed fiscal challenges replicating the 2016 third-quarter box office successes of Deadpool and Kung Fu Panda 3 and retail sales from The Martian in 2017.

The studio, which includes 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment, said quarterly (ended March 31) operating income fell 21% to $373 million, compared with $470 million during the previous-year period. Revenue decreased $65 million to $2.26 billion.

Through the first nine months of the fiscal year, however, operating income surpassed $1 billion, compared with $921 million a year ago. Revenue was unchanged at more than $6.4 billion.

Notable operating income drivers over the nine-month period included theatrical and home entertainment results of Trolls and Ice Age: Collision Course. Trolls Blu-ray Disc and DVD titles were released Feb. 7 and Ice Age: Collision Course has generated about $15 million in disc sales since its retail release last October.

By comparison, The Martian generated more than $45 million from the sale of 2.5 million combined Blu-rays and DVDs, according to The-Numbers.com. The Oscar-nominated title starring Matt Damon was the 11th best-selling disc in 2016.

Separately, the studio offset in part lower theatrical/home entertainment via higher network and syndication revenue from television productions, led by a number of new series licensed for distribution, and higher SVOD revenue from television productions, led by the licensing of “The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story.”

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