In the ritualistic jockeying for power that is something of a blood sport within Hollywood, the buzz is about the return to grandeur of that oldest and greatest of the major studios, MGM.
And it was largely due to the stunning success of one new film, “Legally Blonde.”
When “Blonde,” a comedy about a ditsy young woman who goes to Harvard Law School, stole the number one spot at the box office, earning $20.4 million in its first weekend and out-pacing much-touted rivals like “The Score” and “Final Fantasy,” it caught even studio insiders by surprise.
But “Blonde’s” performance wasn’t the studio’s only coup. It marked MGM’s third first-place opener this year, after the comedy “Heartbreakers” and the thriller “Hannibal.” When “Hannibal” opened in February, it grossed a sensational $58 million its first weekend, and has gone on to earn more than $165 million in North America alone.
Hits like these aren’t just the result of a studio making movies people want to see; they are a sign of a studio firing on all cylinders, from production to distribution to marketing to ancillary markets.
And MGM’s new management team, led by chairman Alex Yemenidjian and vice chairman Chris McGurk, has boosted the company since coming aboard in early 1999, adding value to its film library, launching several new cable channels and taking a 20 percent stake in Rainbow Networks, the parent of Bravo and AMC.
“They have a tremendous asset in their film library; they’ve done well with some films like ‘Hannibal’ and ‘Legally Blonde;’ and their movement into cable network ownership will provide an important platform for library- and content-distribution over the next three-to-five years,” said Jeffrey Logsdon, an analyst with Gerard Klauer Mattison. “New management has really done a great job in resurrecting an icon of the industry.”
Still, insiders note, there are serious challenges ahead before MGM is fully welcomed back into the major ranks, and these were especially obvious over the past few weeks.
The disappointment of the Danny DeVito starrer, “What’s the Worst That Can Happen?,” which earned a weak $31.7 million, showed that the film division can be erratic a verdict confirmed when MGM quickly brought in veteran exec Bob Levin above distribution chief Larry Gleason and marketing head Gerry Rich just weeks ago.
At the same time, the studio has to decide what to do about United Artists, which has nominally been headed by Rich and Gleason. Sources said McGurk and Yemenidjian may hire seasoned indie executive Bingham Ray to run UA. (McGurk declined to comment on UA’s status.)
And MGM also has to deal with consistent rumors that financier Kirk Kerkorian will put the studio up for sale which McGurk strenuously denied last week.
MGM is not yet positioned to challenge the other majors in market share it ranks eighth in this year’s total box office, with revenues around $270 million (as of last week), compared with Paramount and Warner Bros., with $523 million and $505.3 million, respectively.
Contributing columnist Stephen Galloway can be reached at scgalloway [email protected].
