STUDIO SPOTLIGHT It was a horrendous year for MGM/UA until its hero, James Bond, zoomed in to save the day. Tomorrow Never Dies, the 18th 007 picture, was the only film from the studio to gross over $25M in 1997, and it took only three days to reach that level. MGM/UA released just seven films wide, down from 1996's eleven and will end the year with about $159M in ticket sales - half of which came from Bond in the final three weeks of the year.

After the Bond picture, MGM/UA's other films included Hoodlum ($23.5M), Red Corner ($22.3M) and Turbulence ($11.5M). The second-best per-theater performance of the year, after Tomorrow Never Dies, was from Ulee's Gold which grossed $8.6M while never expanding wider than 350 locations. Forgetable titles from the studio this year included Zeus and Roxanne ($7.2M), Warriors of Virtue ($6.5M), and Gang Related ($5.8M).