Hollywood approaches record pace this summer

By RUSS BRITT

Ticket sales jumped 1.6 percent from this time last year.

LOS ANGELES — Hollywood is living up to the adage that when the going gets tough, the tough go to the movies.

Even though the industry set a record pace with its first $4 billion summer last year, the results are showing signs that 2008 could beat that record.

Figures from box-office tracker Media By Numbers through June 15 show that the business raked in $1.46 billion in U.S. receipts for the first six weeks of what is considered the summer season, nearly 5 percent ahead of last year’s $1.4 billion. Hollywood’s summer season begins the first weekend in May and runs through Labor Day.

While a broader mix of films is in the offing for viewers, the sentiment also is that it’s yet another sign that the recession is here. To some, high gas prices are making a trip to the local cineplex more inviting than a long-distance driving vacation.

Going to the movies is “the least expensive way to get that entertainment fix,” said Paul Dergarabedian, president of Media By Numbers.

What’s even more remarkable about the 2008 season is that attendance is ahead of last year’s pace. Often, the industry sees an uptick in revenue due to higher ticket prices but attendance is either flat or down.

So far this year, 206.2 million tickets have been sold, compared with 202.8 million at the same time last year, an increase of 1.6 percent, according to Dergarabedian. The average ticket price is up 20 cents to $7.08.

What’s helped Hollywood this year is that there are few clunkers in the mix. The only real underachiever has been “Speed Racer,” an adaptation of the Japanese cartoon series from the 1960s from Time Warner Inc.’s Warner Bros. unit. On a $120 million production budget, the film has made only $42.5 million in the United States and $95.6 million worldwide.

Walt Disney Co.’s “The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian” has scored $131.9 million in the States thus far, a healthy return for most pictures. But the film cost $200 million to make, so it will have to rely on foreign sales and perhaps home video to turn a profit.

Some of the surprise hits of the year include two entries from Viacom Inc.’s Paramount Pictures, which is reaping the benefits of the strong season more than any other studio. Paramount released “Iron Man” and “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” — both of which are expected to exceed the $300 million mark in domestic take alone.

That has helped the industry offset the three big movies released in May 2007: “Spider-Man 3,” “Shrek the Third” and “Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End.” All three went on to make $300 million each in U.S. revenue and a collective $2.6 billion in worldwide receipts.

Last year’s film season went through a lull during June, while a lineup of surprise hits have helped keep this June in better shape.

DreamWorks Animation helped its distribution partner, Paramount, score another hit earlier this month with “Kung Fu Panda,” with $117 million after two weeks in theaters. The film showed some signs of resilience by placing second after a new release, “The Incredible Hulk,” this past weekend.

For the last three weekends, overall business was up in the 25 percent-30 percent range.

Speaking of “Hulk,” the release from General Electric Co.’s Universal Pictures scored well this past weekend despite skepticism in the film community. Universal put out another version of the same film five years ago, and it tanked at the box office. This new “Hulk” was made with greater participation from the character’s creator, Marvel Entertainment Inc.

Those two films, plus others such as New Line Cinema’s “Sex and the City,” Sony Corp.’s “You Don’t Mess With the Zohan” and a release from News Corp.’s Twentieth-Century Fox unit, “The Happening,” have helped push revenue ahead. (News Corp. is the parent of MarketWatch, publisher of this report.)

Dergarabedian said there is a greater mix of original material this year, while last year’s summer was loaded with sequels.

One of the biggest surprises this year has been “Iron Man,” which came close to setting opening weekend box-office records and has shown some staying power. “Iron Man” placed seventh this past weekend after seven weeks in release. To put that in context, “Speed Racer,” which came out a week after “Iron Man,” landed in 16th place.