For the second year in a row, Paramount Pictures offered up major backlot dramas. First, the Melrose Avenue studio acquired DreamWorks, beating out crosstown rival Universal Pictures. Paramount also initiated the year’s most talked-about breakup, ending its 14-year relationship with Tom Cruise and Paula Wagner’s C/W Prods. shingle after “Mission: Impossible III” was judged a disappointment, its $133.4 million domestic gross notwithstanding. Amid the changes, chairman Brad Grey’s handpicked production team ushered in its first signature films, and the results largely were positive. Such low-budget comedies as “Nacho Libre” and “Jackass Number Two” scored with the young male demographic, while the studio is taking awards season by storm with heavies “Dreamgirls” and “Babel.”
| Paramount releases | Date | Boxoffice |
| Last Holiday | 1/13 | $38.4 |
| Failure to Launch | 3/10 | 88.7 |
| Ask the Dust | 3/10 | 0.7 |
| She?s the Man | 3/17 | 33.7 |
| Mission: Impossible III | 5/5 | 133.4 |
| Over the Hedge | 5/19 | 155.0 |
| Nacho Libre | 6/16 | 80.2 |
| Barnyard | 8/4 | 72.6 |
| World Trade Center | 8/9 | 70.2 |
| The Last Kiss | 9/15 | 11.6 |
| Jackass Number Two | 9/22 | 72.6 |
| Flags of Our Fathers | 10/20 | 33.6 |
| Flushed Away | 11/3 | 61.6 |
| Charlotte?s Web | 12/15 | 55.8 |
| Dreamgirls | 12/15 | 41.3 |
| Perfume: The Story of a Murderer | 12/27 | 0.08 |
| Aeon Flux | 12/2/05 | 0.8 |
| Yours, Mine & Ours | 11/23/05 | 2.2 |
| Get Rich or Die Tryin? | 11/9/05 | 0.2 |
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The boxoffice and market share for each distributor represents tickets sales from Jan. 3, 2006, through Jan. 1, 2007, inclusive. “Films tracked” represents the total number of films, including 2005 releases that generated ticket sales for each distributor. For 2005 releases, only boxoffice returns from 2006 are reported. |
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2006 BOXOFFICE WRAP
- Avast ye b.o. slide: ’06 receipts gained back ground
- Booty call: The year’s top films boosted boxoffice
- Overview: Dividing the treasure
- Fox: Polishing its franchises
- Sony Pictures: Cracking a winning code
- MGM: Getting back to basics
- Universal Pictures: Marking a transition
- Warner Bros.: Getting back on its feet
- Buena Vista: Riding summer’s wave
- New Line: Sitting on the sideline
- Paramount: Introducing the new team
Studio scorecards:
