Fox is First Studio to Reach $1 Billion in 2014
Thanks to a strong debut from Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, 20th Century Fox has became the first studio to pass $1 billion at the domestic box office this year.
The studio crossed the $1 billion mark on Sunday, which was the 194th day of the year. The last time it took this long for a studio to get there was in 2006, when Disney hit that level in 215 days.
Fox's biggest title of the year is also currently the highest-grossing movie of the Summer: through Sunday, X-Men: Days of Future Past has brought in $229.2 million at the domestic box office. While it will likely wind up below X-Men: The Last Stand ($234.4 million), it's still a hefty haul for the 14-year-old franchise.
Fox has also had a big year in animation, though none of the titles performed extraordinarily. DreamWorks Animation's How to Train Your Dragon 2 has brought in $152.3 million, but is on track to finish over $40 million lower than its predecessor. Meanwhile, fellow DreamWorks Animation movie Mr. Peabody & Sherman is wrapping up with just over $111 million, which is barely higher than notorious DreamWorks flop Rise of the Guardians ($103.4 million). Finally, Rio 2 has retained most of the first Rio's audience, though it's still down a bit to $129.6 million.
The studio has also had two female-skewing movies that have done strong business. Young-adult adaptation The Fault in our Stars has earned $119.6 million so far, while Cameron Diaz comedy The Other Woman has grossed $83.7 million.
The studio hasn't been a slouch overseas, either: their top five titles have combined for over $1.3 billion, and Apes is on track for at least $400 million.
Fox's biggest year ever at the domestic box office was 2010, when their movies earned a combined $1.48 billion (Avatar accounted for over $478 million of that). The studio is virtually guaranteed to surpass that this year.
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes will likely add another $150 million or so before the end of its run. August's Let's Be Cops and September's The Maze Runner could surprise, while David Fincher's Gone Girl should be a hit when it opens in October. Kingsman: The Secret Service and animated movie The Book of Life are both question marks at this point, though each will make up for any domestic shortfalls with strong overseas numbers.
DreamWorks Animation's The Penguins of Madagascar will be a strong choice for family audiences in November; don't be surprised if this out-grosses How to Train Your Dragon 2. Exodus: Gods and Kings is well-positioned to come close to Noah's $100 million tally, while Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb is also a safe bet for $100 million (though perhaps not during its brief 2014 run).
Ultimately, Fox could wind up with around $1.8 billion at the domestic box office in 2014.
Especially it opened 1 week after DOFP was released. Hopefully it won't outgross it. It should outgross TASM 2/Cap 2 first, so if that happens, we'll see if it will outgross DOFP.
