Company Town Film Profit Report

This report is based on projections of total U.S. box-office gross from a consensus of industry sources and studio financial models. The U.S. returns represent only 20% of a film’s final revenue, which includes income from video, TV and overseas theatrical release. Typical industry marketing costs are factored into this profit analysis, as are the relative strengths of specific film genres in foreign markets. Results for the weekend of May 19-21:

Highlights:

n Following the Disney animation formula, the approximately $200-million “Dinosaur” should ultimately be very profitable when ancillaries and merchandising are factored into the overall returns.

n “Road Trip” will be a major profit maker for DreamWorks SKG with only the producers as minor participants.

n DreamWorks SKG paid about $10 million for the domestic rights to “Small Time Crooks” and should be able to at least break even.

$$Mega-Moneymakers ($50 million or more in profit)

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Projected Box- Estimated U.S. box-office office cost, in receipts, Movie title Studio rank millions in millions Dinosaur Buena Vista 1 $200 $200 Gladiator DreamWorks/Univ. 2 107 170 Road Trip DreamWorks SKG 3 16 70

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$Moneymakers ($10 million or more in profit)

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Projected Box- Estimated U.S. box-office office cost, in receipts, Movie title Studio rank millions in millions U-571 Universal 4 $62 $75 Frequency New Line 5 31 40 Where the Heart Is Fox 9 15 30 Love and Basketball New Line 12 11 28

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?Tossups ($5 million in profit or loss)

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Projected Box- Estimated U.S. box-office office cost, in receipts, Movie title Studio rank millions in millions Center Stage Sony 8 $18 $16 Small Time Crooks DreamWorks SKG 7 18 16

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Losers (more than $5 million in loss)

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Projected Box- Estimated U.S. box-office office cost, in receipts, Movie title Studio rank millions in millions Viva Rock Vegas Universal 10 $60 $33 Battlefield Earth Warner Bros. 6 75 25 Screwed Universal 11 12

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Notes: Cost estimates are for production only. Only half of box-office receipts come back to the studio.

If you have information or comments about the chart, call (213) 237-2001 or send e-mail to company.town@latimes.com. Send faxes to (213) 237-7837.

For weekly box-office listings, see Calendar section Tuesdays.

Researched by RICHARD NATALE