Motion Pictures
July 22, 2003
Warner Bros. Pictures International Crosses $1 Billion Mark In Overseas Box Office
(July 22, 2003 – Burbank, CA) – Only seven months into 2003, Warner Bros. Pictures International has surpassed the billion dollar mark, with a year-to-date international box office of $1.012 billion (see editor’s note below), marking the sixth time the subsidiary has crossed this milestone (’03, ’02, ’01, ’99, ’95, ’93) and the fastest that it has passed it in Studio history.
The subsidiary is jointly run by Veronika Kwan-Rubinek, President, Distribution and Sue Kroll, President, Marketing, Warner Bros. Pictures International. Since 2001, the first full year that Kwan-Rubinek and Kroll were at its helm, the subsidiary has had three consecutive years grossing over $1 billion, finishing top among all studios in 2001 and 2002. Warner Bros. Pictures International's current overseas box office puts it ahead of all competition year to date.
This achievement was fueled by such hits as “Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets,” which has the third-highest industry international gross of all time; “The Matrix Reloaded,” the first film ever to break the $100 million mark internationally in a single weekend and the highest-grossing U.S. “R”-rated film of all time; and “Two Weeks Notice,” which has grossed $108 million-to-date.
“We’re confident that the rest of 2003 will bring in solid revenues as well, with the upcoming release of such high-potential performers as ‘The Matrix Revolutions,’ ‘Looney Tunes: Back In Action,’ and ‘The Last Samurai,’” said Kwan-Rubinek.
Added Kroll, “In planning our campaign strategies for our films, we have a wealth of opportunities to capitalize on – including star power and talented filmmakers – that are a marketer’s dream.”
Kwan-Rubinek and Kroll are currently preparing the distribution and marketing plans for the second half of 2003 which includes such films as “The Matrix Revolutions,” the final chapter in the Wachowski Brothers’ revolutionary film trilogy; the live-action/animated adventure “Looney Tunes: Back in Action”; “Mystic River,” directed by Clint Eastwood and starring Sean Penn, Tim Robbins, Kevin Bacon, Laurence Fishburne, Laura Linney and Marcia Gay Harden; “Matchstick Men,” directed by Ridley Scott and starring Nicolas Cage, Sam Rockwell and Alison Lohman; and “The Last Samurai,” starring Tom Cruise and directed by Edward Zwick.
Note to Editors:
• Warner Bros. Pictures reports international financial results on a November fiscal year basis, however, the above stated box office results are based on the 2003 calendar year.
• The above overall gross estimate of $1.012 billion, includes $50.0 million of grosses generated by Warner Bros. Pictures International films, distributed by Village Roadshow Pictures. # # #