STUDIO SPOTLIGHT It was another light year for MGM/UA as the studio showed promise early in the year, but failed to stir any excitement with its small slate of films and collected over $182M in ticket sales for a market share of just 2.7%. Tomorrow Never Dies, released in December 1997, picked up some coin in the first quarter and passed the $100M milestone in January. The Bond picture was followed in March by the studio's only real hit of the year, The Man in the Iron Mask, which grossed $57M domestically and a superb $180M worldwide capitalizing on the immense popularity of Leonardo DiCaprio.

But there was little else that MGM/UA had to offer in 1998. Its total number of wide releases reached just five, down from seven in 1997 and eleven in 1996. The expensive action thriller Ronin took in $42M in the fall. Rounding out the studio's films were Species II ($19.2M), Dirty Work ($10M), and Disturbing Behavior ($17.5M) plus the limited release pictures Live Flesh ($1.6M) and Deceiver ($600k).