Fox Q1 Results Less Than 'Fantastic'
4 Nov, 2015 By: Erik Gruenwedel
Sometimes success at the box office can be a double-edged sword.
Twentieth Century Fox Nov. 4 reported first-quarter (ended Sept. 30) operating income of $149 million, which was down 67.5% ($309 million) from operating income of $458 million during the previous-year period. Revenue fell nearly 28% ($691 million) to $1.79 billion.
The studio, which includes 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment, 20th Century Fox Television and 20th Century Fox Animation, among other properties, attributed the decline largely to the underperformance of Fantastic Four, which generated just $56.1 million at the domestic box office ($167.8 million globally).
Fox also cited marketing costs associated with The Martian (starring Matt Damon), which has generated $184.2 million domestically ($430 million globally) since its Oct. 2 theatrical debut, lower TV syndication revenue compared with last year’s sale of “How I Met Your Mother,” and foreign exchange rates.
Indeed, Fox, which led all studios in 2014 with $1.79 billion at the domestic box office, currently sits fourth with $1.04 billion. Top 2015 movies include Home with $177.3 million ($386 million globally), Kingsman: The Secret Service with $128.2 million ($414 million), and Spy with $110.8 million ($235.6 million), according to BoxOfficeMojo.com.
Fox home entertainment has sold 2.5 million discs of Home for $47.5 million; 1.6 million discs of Kingsman for $26.5 million, and 686,000 discs of Spy for $11.2 million, according to The-Numbers.com.
By comparison, last year’s Q1 results were driven by the theatrical successes of Dawn of the Planet of the Apes and X-Men: Days of Future Past, which generated a combined $441 million at the domestic box office ($1.45 billion globally).
Year-ago results also included home entertainment’s Rio 2, which sold 2.6 million combined DVD/Blu-ray Disc units for $50 million. Planet of the Apes and Days of Future Past sold a combined 4.7 million discs for $91.8 million.
Apes and Future Past have sold another 1.2 million combined discs in 2015 for $19.7 million in revenue.