Through TheFLY's Eyes: Film Studios
from Theflyonthewall.com













Preview of Potential Summer Blockbusters

The summer is a critical time for film studios, as their highest grossing movies are, more often than not, big-budget summer popcorn flicks. Although we are only in the first week of May, the first prospective summer blockbuster, Mission Impossible 3, is already heading to the box office.

Hollywood is hoping for a “return to normalcy” this summer, i.e. a return to rising box office receipts. Stung by the increasing popularity of DVDs, box office receipts declined -6.2% in 2005 to $8.83B after setting a box office record of $9.42B in 2004.

Without further ado, here is a chronological list of ten movies that Hollywood thinks you will pay $10 to see in theaters this summer, along with This Fly's opinion of those movies:

5/05 - Mission Impossible 3, Viacom's (VIA) Paramount Pictures
Isn't this movie franchise dead already? Like Cruise's career?

5/12 - Poseidon, Time Warner's (TWX) Warner Bros.
Titanic 2 without the historical background? I'll pass.

5/19 - The DaVinci Code, Sony Corp's (SNE) Sony Pictures
Tom Hanks + Best selling book + Hype and Controversy = Good bet for success.

5/26 - X-Men: The Last Stand, News Corp's (NWS) 20th Century Fox
Unlike MI:3, this franchise looks alive and well.

6/09 - Cars, Disney's (DIS) Disney-Pixar
It's Pixar, and they haven't missed yet.

6/30 - Superman Returns, Time Warner's Warner Bros.
Clearly seeking the same returns as Batman Begins, the jury's out on this one.

7/07 - Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, Disney
People will flock to see Johnny Depp reprise his role as Captain Jack Sparrow.

7/21 - Lady in the Water, Time Warner's Warner Bros.
With Shyamalan, you know what you are getting, but are audiences tiring of it?

7/28 - Miami Vice, GE's (GE) Universal Studios
Another trip to the remake well, this movie could be this summers Duke's of Hazzard.

8/11 - World Trade Center, Viacom's Paramount Pictures
Too soon, Oliver Stone, too soon.

From an investment standpoint, with Hollywood’s box office recovery from its worst slump in a decade by no means certain – the sector is generally rated as a moderate-risk to an above-average-risk for investors.

General Electric (GE), trading at $34.00, owner of Universal, has a broad resource base to withstand any protracted Hollywood slump. Also, Both News Corp (NWS), $18.85, parent of 20th Century Fox, and Time Warner (TWX), $17, parent of Warner Bros., have survived the advertising slump and are well-positioned for growth across their media platforms.