While 20th Century Fox may have cleaned up as far as international sales went in 2009, it was Warner Bros. that swept the competition domestically.
Despite starting the year off with several films that saw lukewarm success–Watchmen, Observe and Report, Terminator:Salvation–the summer’s big hits of The Hangover and the most recent Harry Potter both brought in around $300 million domestically.
More recent openings for the studio have also done well, with The Blind Side being one of the top ten highest grossing films of 2009, and Sherlock Holmes bringing in $65 million in its opening weekend.
All of this has helped Warner Bros. to make over $2 billion this year, crushing its own record of $1.8 billion in a year. The studio’s success in 2008 was due largely to the very well-received The Dark Knight, which helped to make Warner Bros. the most profitable studio. Obviously, such an increase in sales in the past year has cemented that title for the studio for a second year.
Will 2010 bring the same success for Warner Bros.? Considering that the later part of the year will see the release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part I, it’s definitely possible.
