Warner Bros. Pictures Has Its Best Year Ever At The Box Office Internationally In 2002
(January 2, 2003 - Burbank, CA) - Warner Bros. Pictures had its most successful year ever at the international box office, with an estimated $1.6 billion in international box office receipts. Veronika Kwan-Rubinek, President of Distribution and Sue Kroll, President of Marketing, who jointly run the division made this announcement today.
(Note: Warner Bros. Pictures’ international financial results are reported on a November fiscal year basis. The box office figures are estimated for calendar year 2002, and include box office of $31.8 million generated by Warner Bros. Pictures films, distributed internationally by Village Roadshow and Bel-Air.)
This $1.6 billion in international box office marks the fifth time Warner Bros. Pictures has passed $1 billion in box office receipts internationally (previous years include ’01, ’99, ’95, ’93) and surpasses last year’s record of $1.34 billion by 19%. Industry wide, this is the second biggest year for an MPA company, behind Fox in 1998, the year of its international release of “Titanic”(pending confirmation of the 2002 results for the industry).
“It’s extremely gratifying to see the efforts of our team rewarded in such a big way,” said Kwan-Rubinek. “The fact that we are up almost 20 percent over last year, which was our biggest year ever to date, speaks volumes to the quality of our films, as well as the dedication and hard work of our worldwide staff.”
“With the international film marketplace more competitive than ever, marketing is more important than ever,” said Kroll. “We had a great slate of films to work with this year and were able to stand out from the crowd, bringing awareness and audiences to our releases.”
Top Five Titles Distributed Internationally by Warner Bros. Pictures - Calendar 2002 (Note: not cumulative totals)
“Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets” $476.1 million
“Ocean’s Eleven” $256.1
“Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone” $195.0
“Scooby-Doo” $122.1
“Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Rings” $ 91.2 Top Three Local Productions and Acquisitions Among Warner Bros. Pictures’ local productions and acquisitions, the top three grossing titles in 2002: “Le Boulet” (France) $15.6 million
“Hable Con Ella” (WBP handled Italian release) $ 6.0
“Febbre da Cavallo” (Italy) $ 4.8# # #
“Ocean’s Eleven” $256.1
“Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone” $195.0
“Scooby-Doo” $122.1
“Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Rings” $ 91.2 Top Three Local Productions and Acquisitions Among Warner Bros. Pictures’ local productions and acquisitions, the top three grossing titles in 2002: “Le Boulet” (France) $15.6 million
“Hable Con Ella” (WBP handled Italian release) $ 6.0
“Febbre da Cavallo” (Italy) $ 4.8