Despite getting kicked around by analysts after the disappointing arrival of its “Rise of the Guardians,†DreamWorks Animation made it through trading on Monday without serious damage to its stock price.
“Rise of the Guardians,†a $145 million adventure starring Santa and other childhood fantasy figures, took in $32.3 million at the five-day Thanksgiving box office, the worst opening for a DreamWorks Animation movie since 2006. Investors punished the company's shares, but only moderately: $17.11 was the closing price, a decrease of a little more than 5 percent from the start of trading.
In 2010, when “How to Train Your Dragon†had a slow start - with a three-day opening total of $43.7 million - DreamWorks Animation shares dropped 9.2 percent.
The “Dragon†sell-off may have taught investors a lesson: that film recovered to take in a respectable $495 million worldwide, in part because of stellar reviews; two sequels are now in the works, and the company has created a spinoff “Dragon†television series and arena show.
DreamWorks Animation also pointed out that holiday movies like “Guardians†tend to start slowly but play for a longer period, noting the initially disappointing Warner Brothers movie “The Polar Express†from 2004 as one example.
The good news for Hollywood: Even with the lackluster performance from “Guardians,†overall ticket sales and admissions in North America were way up this Thanksgiving when compared with the last. Powered by “Skyfall,†“The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn â€" Part 2†and a stronger-than-expected “Life of Pi,†total box-office sales for the holiday weekend stood at about $200 million, a 30 percent increase over last year.
Brooks Barnes writes about Hollywood with an emphasis on Disney. Follow @brooksbarnesnyt on Twitter.
