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Warner Bros. Joins Billion-Dollar Club

Warner Bros. Pictures became the first Hollywood studio in history to reach $1 billion in domestic box office for 15 straight years, the company announced Friday. The Burbank studio reached that milestone on the strength of summer releases “Mad Max: Fury Road” and “San Andreas” as well as carryovers from late 2014, “American Sniper” and “The Hobbit: Battle of the Five Armies.” Warner Bros. joins Walt Disney Co. in Burbank, and Universal Pictures, in Universal City, in reaching the $1 billion domestic box office mark this year. The studio said June 26 was the fastest it has ever reached that threshold. “We are all very proud of this record-breaking achievement,” said Domestic Distribution President Dan Fellman in a prepared statement. “With a wide range of exciting films upcoming, we look forward to building on this number over the rest of the year.” This summer Warner Bros. scored hits with the fourth installment of the Mad Max franchise that brought in $145 million while earthquake thriller “San Andreas” brought in $137 million. “The Hobbit: Battle of the Five Armies,” released in mid-December, earned about $65 million this calendar year. “American Sniper” was released to select theaters on Christmas but brought in the bulk of its $350 million take this year. Disney reached $1 billion in domestic box office on the strength of three films: “The Avengers: Age of Ultron,” with $450 million; “Cinderella” with $200 million; and the latest Pixar animated film “Inside Out” with more than $132 after a week in theaters. Universal was the first studio to hit the $1 billion primarily due to “Jurassic World” which has brought in $445 million in two weeks of release. Also contributing to Universal’s total are “Fifty Shades of Grey,” which was released in February and grossed $166 million; “Pitch Perfect 2,” in May raised $180 million; and the April release “Furious 7” grossed $351 million.

Mark Madler
Mark Madler
Mark R. Madler covers aviation & aerospace, manufacturing, technology, automotive & transportation, media & entertainment and the Antelope Valley. He joined the company in February 2006. Madler previously worked as a reporter for the Burbank Leader. Before that, he was a reporter for the City News Bureau of Chicago and several daily newspapers in the suburban Chicago area. He has a bachelor’s of science degree in journalism from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.

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