The first fiscal quarter of 2017-2018 has just ended and the summer did not look good for a number of production houses. The first three months witnessed some big budget movies bomb at the box office, resulting in lesser earnings than last year. One of the biggest loss was noted from the house of Sony Pictures, The Hollywood Reporter notes.
The studio has been in a tight spot financially for some time now. Last year, the production house had noted a $103 million loss during April to June. This year, Sony has noted a loss of $86 million for the first fiscal quarter. Though the amount is lesser as compared to last year, the losses are still keeping Sony far behind its competitors like Disney and Universal.
Disney has had an amazing summer with Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 minting a jaw dropping box office collection of $860 million. Warner Bros had a stunning success with Wonder Woman at $786 million. As compared to this, Sony did not hit the piñata for recording breaking collections.
The production house released four movies this summer – Smurfs: The Lost Village, Rough Night, Baby Driver and Spider-Man: Homecoming. The first two from the list fared badly at the box office. Smurfs earned a menial $45 million domestically and Rough Night made $21.9 million domestically.
While they tasted success with Baby Driver and Spider-Man: Homecoming but their box office collections will be registered for the month of July. Given that Spider-Man is a partner project with Marvel, the numbers will be divided between the two production houses.
There are a number of anticipated releases lined up for Sony this year. Sony has forecasted a full-year revenue of ￥1,020 billion for the film division and operating profit of ￥39 billion, THR reports.
Sony has a number of crucial releases lined up for the year. The Dark Tower releases this weekend and the Stephen King novel-based movie may dethrone Dunkirk's strong number one position at the box office, predictions reveal. Sony also has Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle releasing this December. The film is up against Star Wars: The Last Jedi so it will be a tough competition for the studio this Christmas.
