The Number

Exactly a year ago, the Business Journal published a story covering the record-breaking box office for Valley film studios. By the beginning of Labor Day weekend in 2015, the four major movie-makers in the region had amassed more than $13 billion in combined ticket sales. Year-to-date box office of Valley studios, down 65 percent. It’s a different story this year. The Valley studios have combined ticket sales of only $4.5 billion. The top-grossing movie so far is Walt Disney Co.’s “Finding Dory” at $479 million, less than a third of last year’s top title “Jurassic World,” which at this point had a cumulative box office of $1.6 billion. Last year, studios jumped out strong with hits in the late winter and spring. Those titles included “Furious 7” from Universal Studios in Universal City with $.1.5 billion in ticket sales and “Avengers: Age of Ultron” from Disney in Burbank with $1.4 billion. Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst at ComScore in Van Nuys, said a negative critical reaction to movies has affected ticket sales, but even so, this summer is looking good for studios. “Summer 2015 benefited from presenting perhaps the best-reviewed crop of movies in years and thus the perception was that of positivity and robust box office,” he said. “2016 on the other hand suffered a bit of an identity crisis with much ink devoted to so-called ‘sequelitis.’” In addition to “Dory,” the year’s best performers include “Captain America: Civil War” from Disney at $408 million, “The Secret Life of Pets” from Universal at $349 million and “Suicide Squad” from Warner Bros. Entertainment in Burbank at $269 million. Dergarabedian sees strong box office performance for the rest of the year from releases such as Warner Bros.’ Harry Potter prequel “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them” and Disney’s Star Wars movie “Rogue One.” – Joel Russell