Iron Man and Indy Propel Paramount
June 23, 2008 by brian
Buoyed by a new hit franchise (Iron Man) and one of its oldest (Indiana Jones and The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull) Paramount Pictures has passed the $1 billion mark in domestic box office.
That’s right, make your Dr. Evil face, one billion dollars. That’s a lot of movie tickets. The surprise hit Iron Man was a production of Marvel Studios but distributed by Paramount and has pulled down $305 million domestically. It played to stellar reviews and will no doubt open the floodgates for more comic-related fare.
Indy drew mixed reviews, largely due to a complex plot involving Roswell and aliens. It’s funny, initially Cynthia and I were wondering whether an Indiana Jones sequel would fall under our sci fi/fantasy umbrella. Little did we know how sci-fi Indiana was going to get. Despite the ambivalence of reviewers, Indiana Jones and Steven Spielberg are guaranteed to make money together. They’ve raked in $291 million at this point.
But Paramount hasn’t just been a genre juggernaut. Family flick Kung Fu Panda has grossed $156 million domestically.
Image: Paramount Pictures, 2008
Congrats to Paramount. What other films do they have coming out later this year? or these the two films that will keep them in the black for the rest of the year.
Nice, Indiana Jones made money way quicker than Iron Man, I guess an older series with their fanbase does have its payoffs.
If they finance the distribution of films more conservatively the rest of the year, then John’s right & Paramount will definitely stay in the black…Let’s just hope they didn’t spend excess amounts to release the next Star Trek movie this holiday season.
Speaking of which, if this latest Star Trek is an even # release, then it will probably be good…If it’s an odd #, then it will be dull…I’ve lost count.
But I digress, my Congrats 2 Paramount. Do you think this means Paramount will seek an exclusive distribution contract w/Marvel?
–Godspeed–
Sorry Ryan, Star Trek got pushed back to May 09. The good news is that it drops right around the time the Wolverine prequel does. Good times!