Warner Bros. Pictures Hits $1 Billion At International Box Office

(November 6, 2002 - Burbank, CA) - Fueled by hits such as “Scooby-Doo,” “Ocean’s Eleven” and “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s (Philosopher’s) Stone,” Warner Bros. Pictures has surpassed the billion dollar mark with a year-to-date international box office of $1.006 billion (see editor’s note below), marking the fifth time the division has crossed the billion dollar mark (’02, ’01, ’99, ’95, ’93) and the third time in the last four years. The division is jointly run by Veronika Kwan-Rubinek, President, International Distribution and Sue Kroll, President, International Marketing, Warner Bros. Pictures. “We’ve had an incredible year so far, with two of the top four highest grossing films of all time from Warner Bros. Pictures being released in the last 12 months (“Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” and “Ocean’s Eleven”). And we’ve still got a number of other important films opening internationally before the year’s end, most notably 'Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets,'” said Kwan-Rubinek. “Working closely with our local territory managers, we’ve been able to formulate a distribution strategy that has really maximized the box office window for each of our films.” “As we continue to stretch our marketing muscle to create comprehensive and diversified campaigns for each film we release overseas, it makes us tremendously proud to reach this box office high water mark at this point in the year,” Kroll said. “It speaks to the commitment and creativity of our teams here and abroad and to the value of our partnerships with filmmakers and talent in helping to make our campaigns work.” Warner Bros Pictures’ all-time top-grossing films in the international marketplace to date are “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” ($651.2 million), “The Bodyguard” ($296.5 million), “Matrix” ($287.5 million) “Ocean’s Eleven” ($263.3 million) and “The Fugitive” ($192.8 million). # # #