By Laurie A. Trotta
Hollywood studios boasted total box office receipts of a record-breaking $9.57 billion in 2007, up 4.2% over 2006’s earnings of $9.21 billion, according to the website FirstShowing.net.
Paramount dominated the other studios in profits, with a total of $1.48 billion from 20 films released. The studio’s leading films for the year were: “Shrek the Third,” “Transformers,” “Bee Movie,” “Blades of Glory,” “Norbit,” “Beowulf,” “Disturbia,” and “Shooter.”
Warner Brothers came in second with $1.41 billion gleaned from 34 films, while Sony forfeited its 2006 leading spot, coming in fourth with $1.24 billion from 28 movies. Paramount had not held the top spot since 1998, when the juggernaut “Titanic” broke all records for box office grosses.
The major studios and their earnings from the 123 major releases of 2007, according to FirstShowing.net, are as follows:
1 – Paramount / DreamWorks (20 Films) – $1.48 billion
2 – Warner Brothers (34 Films) – $1.41 billion
3 – Disney / Buena Vista (21 Films) – $1.35 billion
4 – Sony Pictures (28 Films) – $1.24 billion
5 – Universal (20 Films) – $1.09 billion
