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Movie games: 'Wolverine' slashes to the top, 'Terminator' and 'Museum' flop
12:58 PM PT, Jun 15 2009
Correction: The "Terminator Salvation" video game was not financed by the Halcyon Co. It was financed by Equity Games Productions and Evolved Games. Halcyon owns the "Terminator" rights and was the licensor.
WolverineGameThink having a movie break through the summer box office glut is tough? Try debuting a video game based on a summer movie. While several games have launched at your local Best Buy, only one so far -- Activision's adaptation of "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" -- is a breakout hit.
During its first month on the shelves, "Wolverine" sold a very healthy 433,000 units in the U.S., according to the NPD Group, which tracks industry sales. Since video games usually keep selling for at least several months and also do a significant chunk of their business overseas, "Wolverine" could easily end up a multimillion-unit seller.
That's good news not only for Activision but for Marvel Entertainment, which made the video game licensing deal itself even though the film was produced and released by Fox. Most of the profit will go to Activision, which paid for the game's production, but Marvel will earn millions of dollars in royalties.
Fox does control the video game rights to its movie "Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian," but that has turned out to be nothing to brag about. Majesco's game based on the film sold just 29,000 units through the end of May. In the video game world, that's an absolute bomb.
TerminatorGame "Terminator Salvation" has turned out to be a two-medium flop. Not only has the movie been a box office disappointment here in the U.S., but the video game sales would really give Christian Bale something to scream about.
The Halcyon Co., which financed the "Terminator Salvation" movie,also made the tie-in video game, for $18 million. That turned out to be a bad bet. The game has sold a lame 43,000 units in the U.S. since its May 19 release through the end of the month. Though "Terminator" is a popular property with the young men who spend the most time on Xbox 360s and Playstation 3s, "Salvation" landed with a thud and was poorly received by critics, earning an average score of just 48 on review-aggregating website Metacritic.
Producing the game, which was distributed by Warner Bros., itself gave Halcyon a bigger potential upside if "Salvation" had been a hit. Since it flopped, however, the indie company would have been better off making a deal with an outside publisher, which would have given Halcyon a multimillion-dollar advance no matter how the game sold.
If you're wondering, there is a game based on Disney/Pixar's smash "Up." But it was released at the end of May, so we can't yet tell if it's floating or sinking.
-- Ben Fritz
Photos: The "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" video game. Credit (top): Activision. The "Terminator Salvation" video game. Credit (bottom): Warner Bros.
Comment
- Seems like this Wolverine Mania is gathering a hefty chunk even in the game industry. To add up to the hype, it's newly released movie is giving it that added boost in the earnings.
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Friday, June 12, 2009
X-Men Legends: Wolverine's Revenge "The Wolverine Mania"
By Shara Tibken
Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--Shares of Wolverine World Wide Inc. (WWW) jumped 12% Thursday after an analyst said the company is poised to profit when the economy recovers.
"Wolverine World Wide is managing as well as any company during this recession and is positioned to reach higher levels of profitability than ever before as soon as an economic recovery unfolds," CL King analyst Scott Krasik said in a note.
He boosted the footwear maker's stock-investment rating to strong buy from neutral on the possible earnings upside and compelling valuation.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Commerce Department said Thursday that retail sales increased 0.5% last month, largely in line with Wall Street expectations. While much of the increase was due to higher gasoline prices, the retail sales data suggest that, at a minimum, the recession is moderating.
In recent trading, shares of the maker of the Hush Puppy and Merrell show lines climbed 12% to $23.64, up nearly 75% for the past three months. They are still off the company's 52-week high of $29.44 from September, and fell as low as $13.15 in March.
In the past week, Wolverine executives have been meeting with analysts and investors in its New York showroom for the Fashion Footwear Association of New York Shoe Expo and also presented Tuesday at the Piper Jaffray Consumer Conference.
Krasik said his meeting with Chief Executive Blake Krueger and other brand leaders gave him the impression that several brands have "compelling" product that should drive top-line growth in 2010 if the spending environment improves.
In addition, Krasik said that if sales trends stabilize later this year, Wolverine could easily outperform its guidance due to better fourth-quarter sales, a weaker dollar and higher-than-expected savings from its restructuring programs announced in January.
Christi Cowdin, Wolverine's director of investor relations and corporate communications, told Dow Jones Newswires that the company's multi-branded portfolio with 10 different shoe brands, its geographic diversity and its innovative product development have helped it weather the recession.
"We serve a lot of different customers - a lot of varied customers - and we're also diversified through our distribution," Cowdin said, adding the company sells some shoe brands at the Nordstrom Inc. (JWN) department store, but sells others at retailer tractor supply stores. She said that diversity has helped it through the tough environment.
"Our customers in the form of retailers are comfortable with brands they know ... and [along with that], we're delivering new and fresh styles that can deliver [results] for them," Cowdin said.
Going forward, Cowdin said the company plans to concentrate on increasing its apparel and accessories business and expanding its direct-to-consumer business, along with maintaining focus on its core footwear business. Cowdin said the direct-to-consumer business, which includes its own stores and selling products online, currently constitutes less than 7% of its annual revenue; Wolverine hopes to eventually grow that business to nearly 20% in the next several years.
In addition, Cowdin said data the company has collected has "made us confident we're taking market share in this environment," which should position it to profit when the market rebounds.
-By Shara Tibken, Dow Jones Newswires; 201-938-2168; shara.tibken@dowjones.com;
"This is just one of the effects of X-men Legends: Wolverine" .
Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--Shares of Wolverine World Wide Inc. (WWW) jumped 12% Thursday after an analyst said the company is poised to profit when the economy recovers.
"Wolverine World Wide is managing as well as any company during this recession and is positioned to reach higher levels of profitability than ever before as soon as an economic recovery unfolds," CL King analyst Scott Krasik said in a note.
He boosted the footwear maker's stock-investment rating to strong buy from neutral on the possible earnings upside and compelling valuation.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Commerce Department said Thursday that retail sales increased 0.5% last month, largely in line with Wall Street expectations. While much of the increase was due to higher gasoline prices, the retail sales data suggest that, at a minimum, the recession is moderating.
In recent trading, shares of the maker of the Hush Puppy and Merrell show lines climbed 12% to $23.64, up nearly 75% for the past three months. They are still off the company's 52-week high of $29.44 from September, and fell as low as $13.15 in March.
In the past week, Wolverine executives have been meeting with analysts and investors in its New York showroom for the Fashion Footwear Association of New York Shoe Expo and also presented Tuesday at the Piper Jaffray Consumer Conference.
Krasik said his meeting with Chief Executive Blake Krueger and other brand leaders gave him the impression that several brands have "compelling" product that should drive top-line growth in 2010 if the spending environment improves.
In addition, Krasik said that if sales trends stabilize later this year, Wolverine could easily outperform its guidance due to better fourth-quarter sales, a weaker dollar and higher-than-expected savings from its restructuring programs announced in January.
Christi Cowdin, Wolverine's director of investor relations and corporate communications, told Dow Jones Newswires that the company's multi-branded portfolio with 10 different shoe brands, its geographic diversity and its innovative product development have helped it weather the recession.
"We serve a lot of different customers - a lot of varied customers - and we're also diversified through our distribution," Cowdin said, adding the company sells some shoe brands at the Nordstrom Inc. (JWN) department store, but sells others at retailer tractor supply stores. She said that diversity has helped it through the tough environment.
"Our customers in the form of retailers are comfortable with brands they know ... and [along with that], we're delivering new and fresh styles that can deliver [results] for them," Cowdin said.
Going forward, Cowdin said the company plans to concentrate on increasing its apparel and accessories business and expanding its direct-to-consumer business, along with maintaining focus on its core footwear business. Cowdin said the direct-to-consumer business, which includes its own stores and selling products online, currently constitutes less than 7% of its annual revenue; Wolverine hopes to eventually grow that business to nearly 20% in the next several years.
In addition, Cowdin said data the company has collected has "made us confident we're taking market share in this environment," which should position it to profit when the market rebounds.
-By Shara Tibken, Dow Jones Newswires; 201-938-2168; shara.tibken@dowjones.com;
"This is just one of the effects of X-men Legends: Wolverine" .
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