Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Ups 2017 Movie Revenue 6%
February 1, 2018
Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Feb. 1 reported fiscal 2017 revenue of $1.56 billion from physical and digital sales of movies, which was 5.8% more than revenue of $1.48 billion in 2016. Sales of TV content on disc and digital declined 11% to $418 million from $470 million in the previous-year period.
Wonder Woman was the studio’s top-selling title, generating more than $88.4 million on sales of nearly 3.5 million combined Blu-ray Disc/DVD units, according to The-Numbers.com. The tally does not include 4K UHD Blu-ray or digital.
For the fourth quarter, ended Dec. 31, 2017, sales of movie discs and digital transactions fell almost 25% to $432 million from $571 million in the previous-year period.
The studio attributed the decline to year-over-year sales comparisons with Suicide Squad, which generated nearly $64 million on sales of 2.5 million discs in 2016. The title generated another $30 million in disc revenue in 2017.
By comparison, Annabelle: Creation generated just $3.7 million in disc sales, followed by Will Ferrell/Amy Poehler comedy, The House, with $1.6 million.
Sales of TV content dipped less than 2% to $155 million from $157 million.
Overall, studio income increased 12% ($199 million) to $1.9 billion on revenue of $13.9 billion – up 6% ($829 million) from $13.07 billion in 2016.
At the global box office, Warner movies grossed more than $5 billion. Five movies (Wonder Woman, Dunkirk, Justice League, Kong: Skull Island and It) each grossed more than $500 million and eight films ranked #1 in their opening weekends in the U.S.
For the 2017-2018 television season, Warner Bros. Television is producing 70 series, including 37 primetime series on broadcast networks — a studio record.