STUDIO SPOTLIGHT In the lead from the start, and never looking back, Sony Pictures Entertainment was the studio to beat in 1997 as it comfortably won the box office crown. Sony began the year strong and kept the hits coming with three summer blockbusters and despite a year-end slowdown, ended the year with a record $1.27 billion in domestic ticket sales and 20.4% market share. The new record for most grosses in a year by a single studio is an incredible feat considering that Sony was coming off of a horrible year in 1996. The dramatic turnaround featured aliens, action, screams, snakes, and most importantly, expensive stars. A potent combination of fewer films, bigger stars, inflated budgets, and heavy advertising helped to make it a year to remember for Sony.

January started off with a sports agent that moviegoers couldn't get enough of who went by the name of Jerry Maguire. The Tom Cruise film, which opened in mid-December, was the pivotal hit for the studio as it went on to gross $153.7M. Following Maguire were the star-driven pictures Absolute Power ($50.1M), Donnie Brasco ($42M), and The Devil's Own ($42.9M). The surprise of the spring was Anaconda which sucked up $65.5M from ticket buyers. Summer heat came in the form of The Fifth Element ($63.6M), which Sony only paid distribution rights for, and the studio's three top performers of the year Men in Black ($250.2M), Air Force One ($173M), and My Best Friend's Wedding ($126.8M). While expected to be hits, all three outperformed industry expectations.

That was all the momentum needed to break out the champagne as the expected heavyweights of the fall failed to perform. Weak results were displayed by Excess Baggage ($14.4M), U-Turn ($6.6M), and Gattaca ($12.5M) while the anchor films expected to show them the money through to the end of the year stumbled at the box office. Seven Years in Tibet offered a star and, well, nothing else while Starship Troopers had action and special effects, but no stars, a weak story, and too much violence. The two pictures are on course to end with grosses of about $37.9M and $55M respectively. All hope was not lost though as a little horror film came out of nowhere to become the number one movie of the fall. I Know What You Did Last Summer scored with teens and young adults and ruled the box office for three consecutive weeks and should be able to finish with about $72M.

Aside from Jerry Maguire which was released in 1996 but earned most of its money this year, the top three films for Sony in 1996 were The Cable Guy ($60.2M), The Mirror Has Two Faces ($41.3M), and Matilda ($33.1M). What a difference a year makes! Other disappointments of 1996's team included the star-driven flops Striptease ($32.8M), The Juror ($22.7M), The Fan ($18.6M), and Mary Reilly ($5.6M). 1997's other releases from Sony included Beverly Hills Ninja ($31.2M), Fools Rush In ($29.3M), Booty Call ($20.1M), Double Team ($11.3M), The Pest ($3.5M), Buddy ($10.1M), and Masterminds ($1.9M). The late-year critical and commercial hit As Good As It Gets brought the total of wide releases last year to 22, down from 26 in the previous year. With its sights set on 1998, and the potential summer blockbuster Godzilla, Sony Pictures now has the tough job defending its title and showing the industry that it's not a one-hit wonder.