With the holiday season soft, it’s clear the 2014 domestic box office is going to wind up down from last year by nearly 5 percent. So why aren’t we hearing more groans and gnashing of teeth from Hollywood executives?
It’s because despite the downturn, the majority of the studios made money on their movies. Fox, Disney, Paramount, Universal, Warner Bros. and Sony should all — to varying degrees — wind up in the black on their film slates.
The fact that 2015 has a shot to be the biggest on record is brightening Hollywood’s mood, too. Among the heavyweight films set for release: “Avengers: Age of Ultron,” “Star Wars: The Force Awakens,” “Jurassic World,” along with the next James Bond film “Spectre” and the “Hunger Games” finale.