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Tag: North American

  • Disney’s ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ crosses $2 billion global box office mark

    Disney’s ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ crosses $2 billion global box office mark

    MUMBAI: Star Wars: The Force Awakens has crossed the $2 billion mark worldwide on 6 February, which was its 53rd day of release, thus becoming only the third film ever to do so and just the second to do it in original release. 

    Additionally, the movie also crossed the $900 million mark at the North American box office and is the only film in history to reach this milestone.

    “This is a historic moment for Star Wars, for Lucasfilm, and for Disney, and all of us here are extremely gratified to be a part of this journey with fans around the world who have made Star Wars: The Force Awakens such an extraordinary success. The film’s achievements are truly astounding, and it’s our great honor to relaunch this cinematic galaxy not only for all the devoted decades-long fans but for a new generation who will keep the Star Wars legacy alive for many years to come,” said The Walt Disney Studios chairman Alan Horn.

    Through 4 February, Star Wars: The Force Awakens earned an estimated $899.1 million in North America and $1,095.6 million internationally for a global total of $1,994.7 million. Opening internationally 16 December and in the US on 18 December, Star Wars: The Force Awakens posted the all-time biggest global and domestic debuts with $528.9 million and $247.9 million respectively.

    Over the course of its eight-week run, it has set numerous other records, including:
    – Biggest domestic preview gross ($57 million)
    – Biggest opening day domestically ($119.1 million)
    – Biggest domestic second weekend ($149.2 million)
    – Biggest domestic third weekend ($90.2 million)
    – Biggest opening week domestically ($390.8 million)
    – Biggest opening weekend in 18 territories: UK (4-day), Australia, Russia, Germany, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Austria, Poland (3-day), Denmark (5-day), Romania, Hungary, Bulgaria, Croatia, Ukraine, Iceland, Serbia, New Zealand
    – Fastest film to $1 billion globally (12 days)
    – Biggest film of all time in the US and the UK

    Directed by J.J. Abrams, written by Lawrence Kasdan & Abrams and Michael Arndt, and produced by Kathleen Kennedy, Abrams and Bryan Burk, Star Wars: The Force Awakens was named one of AFI’s top ten films of 2015 and has received five Academy Award nominations, for film editing, visual effects, sound editing, sound mixing, and for series composer John Williams’ original score.

    The Star Wars Saga continues 15 December, 2017, in Star Wars: Episode VIII, picking up in the wake of Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Later this year, Rogue One, a new adventure detailing events prior to Star Wars: A New Hope, will take flight on 16 December, 2016.

  • Disney’s ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ crosses $2 billion global box office mark

    Disney’s ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ crosses $2 billion global box office mark

    MUMBAI: Star Wars: The Force Awakens has crossed the $2 billion mark worldwide on 6 February, which was its 53rd day of release, thus becoming only the third film ever to do so and just the second to do it in original release. 

    Additionally, the movie also crossed the $900 million mark at the North American box office and is the only film in history to reach this milestone.

    “This is a historic moment for Star Wars, for Lucasfilm, and for Disney, and all of us here are extremely gratified to be a part of this journey with fans around the world who have made Star Wars: The Force Awakens such an extraordinary success. The film’s achievements are truly astounding, and it’s our great honor to relaunch this cinematic galaxy not only for all the devoted decades-long fans but for a new generation who will keep the Star Wars legacy alive for many years to come,” said The Walt Disney Studios chairman Alan Horn.

    Through 4 February, Star Wars: The Force Awakens earned an estimated $899.1 million in North America and $1,095.6 million internationally for a global total of $1,994.7 million. Opening internationally 16 December and in the US on 18 December, Star Wars: The Force Awakens posted the all-time biggest global and domestic debuts with $528.9 million and $247.9 million respectively.

    Over the course of its eight-week run, it has set numerous other records, including:
    – Biggest domestic preview gross ($57 million)
    – Biggest opening day domestically ($119.1 million)
    – Biggest domestic second weekend ($149.2 million)
    – Biggest domestic third weekend ($90.2 million)
    – Biggest opening week domestically ($390.8 million)
    – Biggest opening weekend in 18 territories: UK (4-day), Australia, Russia, Germany, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Austria, Poland (3-day), Denmark (5-day), Romania, Hungary, Bulgaria, Croatia, Ukraine, Iceland, Serbia, New Zealand
    – Fastest film to $1 billion globally (12 days)
    – Biggest film of all time in the US and the UK

    Directed by J.J. Abrams, written by Lawrence Kasdan & Abrams and Michael Arndt, and produced by Kathleen Kennedy, Abrams and Bryan Burk, Star Wars: The Force Awakens was named one of AFI’s top ten films of 2015 and has received five Academy Award nominations, for film editing, visual effects, sound editing, sound mixing, and for series composer John Williams’ original score.

    The Star Wars Saga continues 15 December, 2017, in Star Wars: Episode VIII, picking up in the wake of Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Later this year, Rogue One, a new adventure detailing events prior to Star Wars: A New Hope, will take flight on 16 December, 2016.

  • ‘Lee Daniels’ The Butler’ hits $100 million

    ‘Lee Daniels’ The Butler’ hits $100 million

    MUMBAI: The independent historical drama – headlining Forest Whitaker and Oprah Winfrey – took in $5.4 million in its fifth weekend for The Weinstein Co, pushing the movie’s North American total to a stellar $100 million.

     

    Daniels becomes one of only a handful of black directors to have a film clear that mark, not accounting for inflation.

     

    One reason for The Butler’s success is that it is playing to all audiences, according to Harvey Weinstein’s team. On opening weekend, 52 per cent of ticket buyers were black; now, 67 per cent of the audience is white. The Butler is also becoming a family play.

     

    The Butler opened in mid-August, hoping to mirror the success of The Help, another civil-rights themed drama. The Butler isn’t likely to match The Help’s lifetime domestic gross of $169.7 million, but The Help was different in featuring both black and white lead actors.

     

    In the film, Whitaker plays a White House butler who serves through eight presidential administrations, a character inspired by the real-life story of the late Eugene Allen.

     

    Winfrey, who plays the butler’s wife, has provided an enormous marketing boost for the movie because of her avid fanbase. The Butler already is considered an awards contender, particularly for Whitaker and Winfrey’s performances.

  • Sony acquires rights of Woody Allen’s next

    Sony acquires rights of Woody Allen’s next

    MUMBAI: Sony Pictures Classics (SPC) has acquired all North American and U.K. rights of Woody Allen’s next, Nero Fiddled. Paris has grossed more than $56 million since its release in May.

    With this acquisition, this is Allen‘s fifth film to be released by SPC following his Midnight in Paris, his biggest success to date.

    “More laughs in this one than you can imagine,” SPC co-presidents Tom Bernard and Michael Barker has been stated to have said. “We know it‘s a bit premature, but thank you Woody and company for granting us the perfect summer comedy of 2012. Keep ‘em coming,” he added.

    Alec Baldwin, Roberto Benigni, Penelope Cruz, Jesse Eisenberg, Greta Gerwig and Ellen Page star in the Rome-set story.

    SPC previously released Allen‘s You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger, Whatever Works and Sweet and Lowdown.

  • Broadband growth ups demand for premium online content in North America

    Broadband growth ups demand for premium online content in North America

    MUMBAI: Rapidly rising broadband penetration in North America has set the stage for increased demand and rapid growth of premium or paid online content applications such as music, gaming and video/movies. This is bringing in opportunities for the consumer broadband market and participants that can identify and deliver compelling content to their customers.

    This market has earned revenues of $2.45 billion in 2005 and is likely to exceed $10 billion in 2012, suggests the findings from Frost & Sullivan (www.frost.com/communicationsservices) analysis North American Residential Online Content Services Markets.

    “For mainstream consumers, online content has been inextricably linked to Internet usage and rising broadband penetration is further cementing this bond,” notes Frost & Sullivan research analyst Piyush Arora. “As broadband service providers continue to enhance speeds and bandwidth limits for their subscribers, new opportunities are cropping up in terms of content applications that can be delivered on these fast connections.”

    Premium online content applications such as music, video/movies and gaming offer broadband service providers a competitive advantage in a market where participants have largely competed on speed and pricing. Providing content can also help service providers sell ‘triple play’ or ‘quadruple play’ service bundles to customers.

    The study indicates tha online gaming is undoubtedly the most popular of these applications, currently accounting for the bulk of market revenues, at 59 percent. Music and video are fast catching up and becoming popular among broadband consumers. At present, online music and video revenues constitute 34 percent and 7 percent, respectively, of the total paid content market revenue, informs an official release.

    However, a key challenge facing all market participants is the need to strictly control unauthorized on-line content distribution as well as the piracy of copyright protected content. A related challenge is to ensure that the various competing digital rights management (DRM) technologies and standards, needed for the legal distribution of digital content, are compatible with each other. Currently, the leading on-line content distributors and device vendors use different proprietary standards.

    In 2004, the loss to the U.S. music industry due to illegal file sharing exceeded a massive $2 billion, which demonstrated the seriousness of this challenge. Unless the rights of artists and other copyright owners are protected, content owners – including music recording companies and movie studios – are not likely to consider the Internet on an equal footing with traditional media.

    “Online content distributors and specialist content providers must therefore, continue to collaborate with content owners, technology companies, broadband service providers and other stakeholders to curb the illegal distribution of digital content,” says Arora. “The online music market has already benefited from these efforts, which can reap similar results in the emerging video market as well.”

    Moreover, participants must take concrete steps to resolve the DRM interoperability issues, to encourage consumers to actively use the Internet as a mainstream medium for accessing paid content.

    North American Residential Online Content Services Markets, part of the Communications Services Subscription, provides an analysis of the current and future market for premium or paid online content services and applications along with the key market drivers and restraints and industry challenges faced by various stakeholders in the industry.

  • Former Intelsat chairman inducted into satellite pros hall of fame

    Former Intelsat chairman inducted into satellite pros hall of fame

    MUMBAI: Global satellite services provider Intelsat has announced today its former chairman Conny Kullman is a 2007 inductee to the Society of Satellite Professionals International (SSPI) Satellite Hall of Fame.

    Kullman led Intelsat and its global employee base through its privatisation, and its metamorphosis into a highly competitive operator. In addition, he was a driving force behind commercial, operational and engineering changes during his tenure as Intelsat’s Chief Executive Officer from 1998-2005.

    Under his leadership, Kullman implemented a terrestrial strategy resulting in the development of Intelsat’s Global Connex portfolio suite of services, which now represents approximately $130 million in annual revenues. In addition, Kullman led a $2.5 billion, three-year fleet replenishment campaign that increased available capacity in growth markets.

    In 2003, Kullman was at the helm when Intelsat announced its acquisition of the North American satellites of Loral Space and Communications, providing Intelsat with access to the North American market and completing Intelsat’s global system.

    In 2004, Kullman recognised the opportunity to achieve the goals of the Orbit Act while at the same time obtaining premium shareholder returns, by conducting an LBO process which resulted in the acquisition of Intelsat by a consortium of private equity firms at a competitive price. Kullman capped his career in 2005 as Intelsat chairman playing a role in the completion of Intelsat’s acquisition of Panamsat.

    Intelsat CEO Dave McGlade says, “Conny led Intelsat through its privatisation and began the challenging task of transforming the company from an intergovernmental organisation to a commercial company, positioning Intelsat to become the leading global satellite operator. His many achievements throughout his career shaped Intelsat and the industry.”

  • eBay to add Skype phone link to listings

    eBay to add Skype phone link to listings

    MUMBAI: After paying a whopping $2.6 billion to acquire Skype last year, eBay has announced its first major business plan: to integrate the internet tele-calling service with its customer feedback system.

    Starting 19 June, sellers in 14 selected categories will be able to add a free “Skype Me” button to their listings. Potential buyers, who are looking for more information directly, can then communicate with the seller using voice, text chat, or both through the new facility.

    How does this work? Sellers will be able to embed simple “Skype Me” icons alongside product listing to allow users to contact them using a new feature, “Ask a seller a question.” The feature is free and designed to allow people to answer quick questions before completing specific purchases. When a potential buyer clicks the “Skype Me” button on the Web page, buyers can instantly be put into contact with the seller via a web-based voice call, a text message, or both.

    eBay’s North American auction business president Bill Cobb said in a statement that, the company was set to begin a trial programme on its U.S. site to evaluate how Skype can be used to connect sellers to buyers seeking product information before they buy. “Skype represents a tremendous opportunity for our sellers to connect even more closely with their buyers,” Cobb said.

    Eyebrows were raised when eBay spent such a humungous amount to acquire Skype which had revenues less than $100 million. The recent move provides part of eBay’s strategy as it targets to double Skype’s revenues.