Why Foreign Box Office Does Not Automatically Make Movies Profitable

[jscoggins]

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/new...s-saved-737025

But there is one major caveat: "If you are talking about gross box-office revenue, then international growth may well compensate," says Doug Creutz, managing director at Cowen and Co. "If you are talking about the actual revenue the studios take home, I'm not so sure." Revenue-sharing deals in China mean the studios collect a smaller fraction of gross revenue (typically between 25 to 40 percent compared with 50 percent in the U.S.). While Russia's ticket sales are booming — attendance is up 10 percent — the collapse of the ruble means, on a dollar basis, earnings in the region actually have gone down.

So please, next time someone starts talking about how a billion dollars is impressive, remember, the studio doesn't get all of that money.