U.S. Box Office 2014: Weakest Results Since 2011

U.S. theatrical box office revenue is on track to sink anywhere from 5% to 7% versus a year ago -- its poorest results since 2011.

U.S. box office receipts could drop around 5% to $10.2 billion, according to Rentrak. Some blame goes to other entertainment diversions, such as the World Cup earlier this summer. Also, July 4th — a big moviegoing day — landed on Friday, a big movie day of the week.

Other estimates position a slightly worse scenario: ShowBuzzDaily.com says the business is looking at a 7% decline as of December 28 — down to $9.4 billion from $10.06 billion. The previous low was $9.14 billion in 2011.

The big studio winner, according to ShowBuzzDaily, was 20th Century Fox, at $1.942 billion. Next comes Warner Bros. at $1.564 billion, followed by Walt Disney, $1.516 billion; Universal Pictures, $1.298 billion; Sony Pictures Entertainment, $1.250 billion; Paramount, $974 million; and Lionsgate/Summit, $728 million. (ShowBuzzDaily defines the start of each year as the first Monday after New Year’s Day, and ends on the Sunday after New Year’s Day the following calendar year.)

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The biggest movies in the U.S. for 2014: “Hunger Games: Mockingjay” (Lionsgate/Summit, $352 million); “Guardian of the Galaxy” (Disney, $333 million); “The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies” (Warner Bros’, $297 million); “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” (Disney, $260 million); “The LEGO Movie” (Warner Bros’, $258 million); and “Transformers: Age of Extinction” (Paramount, $245 million).

The overall worldwide leader in revenue for 2014 is “Transformers: Age of Extinction” (Paramount, $1.087 billion). Then comes “Guardian of the Galaxy” (Disney, $772 million); “Maleficent” (Disney, $758 million); and “X-Men: Days of Future Past” (Fox, $746 million).

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