{"id":13352,"date":"2013-10-28T11:48:22","date_gmt":"2013-10-28T15:48:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bejone03.expressions.syr.edu\/trf235\/?p=13352"},"modified":"2013-11-20T16:32:46","modified_gmt":"2013-11-20T21:32:46","slug":"universal-pictures-4","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bejone03.expressions.syr.edu\/trf235\/2013\/10\/28\/universal-pictures-4\/","title":{"rendered":"Universal Pictures"},"content":{"rendered":"
By Corey Schoellkopf<\/pre>\n
\"\"<\/a><\/div>\n
100 Universal City Place
\nUniversal City, CA 91608 United States
\n(818) 777-1000
\nhttp:\/\/www.universalpictures.com<\/a><\/p>\n
About the Company<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n
Universal Pictures (or Universal Studios) is one of the Big Six major film companies. It is a motion picture studio that produces and distributes films. Universal Pictures owns Focus Features and Illumination Entertainment as well. [1]<\/a>[2]<\/a><\/p>\n
Brief History<\/strong><\/span>
\nUniversal Pictures was founded in 1912, making it the oldest movie studio in the United States, and the fourth oldest studio currently in production in the world. In May 2004 Vivendi Universal sold it\u2019s controlling share of the company to General Electric, creating NBCUniversal (General Electric is NBC\u2019s parent company). However, the film production subsidiary of the company remains named Universal Studios. Jaws<\/em> (1975), E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial<\/em> (1982), and Jurassic Park<\/em> (1993) are some of Universal Studios most famous films, each breaking box office records to become the highest-grossing film of their time. [3]<\/a><\/p>\n
Key Executives <\/strong><\/span>[4]<\/a><\/p>\n
Stephen B. Burke<\/strong>
\nChief Executive Officer, <\/em>NBCUniversal<\/p>\n
\"Stephen<\/a>
photo courtesy of NBCUniversal<\/p><\/div>\n
Stephen B. Burke oversees all aspects of NBCUniversal, including Universal Pictures. He has been in this position since January 2011, and has previously worked as Chief Operating Officer of Comcast Corporation, which owns NBCUniversal. [5]<\/a><\/p>\n
Cesar Conde<\/strong>
\nExecutive Vice President<\/em>, NBCUniversal<\/p>\n
\"Cesar<\/a>
Photo courtesy of NBCUniversal<\/p><\/div>\n
Cesar Conde oversees NBCUniversal International. This includes film production and distribution. Conde was previously the president of Univision, before joining NBCUniversal in October 2013. [6]<\/a><\/p>\n
Stuart J. Epstein<\/strong>
\nExecutive Vice President & Chief Financial Officer<\/em>, NBCUniversal<\/p>\n
\"Stuart<\/a>
Photo courtesy of NBCUniversal<\/p><\/div>\n
Stuart J. Epstein oversees the company\u2019s financials, which includes the financials of Universal Pictures. He has been in this position since October 2011. [7]<\/a><\/p>\n
Jeff Shell<\/strong>
\nChairman<\/em>, Universal Filmed Entertainment<\/p>\n
\"Jeff<\/a>
Photo courtesy of NBCUniversal<\/p><\/div>\n
Jeff Shell oversees worldwide operations for Universal Pictures. This includes the global theatrical, as well as home entertainment businesses. He was appointed this position in September 2013. [8]<\/a><\/p>\n
\u00a0Financials<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n
Financially Universal Pictures is doing extremely well. Revenue increased 3.3% from the third quarter of 2012 to the third quarter of 2013. This brought the revenue to $1.4 billion. There was a decrease in home entertainment revenue brought on by the fact that there was a lower volume of releases. The revenue still increased however, due to strong box office results from films such as Despicable Me 2. [9] <\/a>[10]<\/a><\/p>\n
On November 18th, 2013 Universal Pictures announced the studio had broken the record for highest-grossing year ever at the North American box office with $1.352 billion. Universal Pictures has had eight films come in at number one in the box office this past year including Mama, Identity Thief, Oblivion, Fast & Furious 6, Despicable Me 3, The Purge, 2 Guns, and Riddick. [11]<\/a><\/p>\n
Current News<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Photo courtesy of SourceFed
Click to view trailer<\/p><\/div>\n
Despicable Me 2<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n
Much of Universal Picture\u2019s financial success\u00a0for this fiscal year is due to the release of Despicable Me 2<\/em>. Despicable Me 2<\/em> is the sequel to the blockbuster Despicable Me<\/em> (2010), which grossed more than $540 million, making it the 10th biggest animated motion picture in US history. Despicable Me 2<\/em> saw the same success, earning over $365 million domestically, and over $916 million worldwide just in the box office. The film will be released on Digital HD November 26th, and on Blu-Ray December 10th, setting Universal Pictures up to make even more profits with home releases or the film. [12]<\/a><\/div>\n
Despicable Me 2<\/em> was released July 3rd, 2013. It is an animated film, that was also released in 3D. It revisits the now ex-villain Gru (voiced by Steve Carell), his newly adopted daughters, and the lovable and hilarious Minions. The film shows Gru trying to find and defeat a new super criminal with the help of new characters Lucy Wilde (voiced by Kristen Wiig) and Dr. Nefario (voiced by Russell Brand). With new characters that include new star power to the film, along with an already huge fan base set up by the first film, Despicable Me 2<\/em> was destined to succeed. [13] <\/a>[14] <\/a>[15]<\/a><\/p>\n
In Theaters Now<\/strong><\/p>\n
Universal Pictures currently has films in theaters, some of which are doing very successfully. The most recent releases are:<\/p>\n
\n
\"The<\/a>
Photo courtesy of Cinemark
Click to view trailer<\/p><\/div>\n
The Best Man Holiday<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Released: November 15th, 2013
\nDomestic revenue so far: over $32 million [16]<\/a>[17]<\/a>[18]<\/a><\/p>\n
\u00a0After 15 years a group of college friends reunite for the holidays, resulting in drama, comedy and romance.<\/p>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Photo courtesy of ComingSoon.net
Click to view trailer<\/p><\/div>\n
\u00a0About Time<\/em><\/p>\n
November 1st, 2013
\nDomestic revenue over $11 million [16]<\/a><\/p>\n
\u00a0Tim discovers a family secret; that he can time travel. He uses this ability to fix his mistakes, and get his dream girl. [19]<\/a><\/p>\n
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Looking Forward<\/strong><\/div>\n
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Future Releases <\/strong>[20] <\/a>[21]<\/a>
\nUniversal Pictures has some highly anticipated movies set to release in 2014. These films are anticipated to be box office hits, which will undoubtedly add to the company\u2019s financial success. Universal Pictures also has a variety of films that differ in genre and audience, pulling in different demographics to their films.<\/div>\n
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Lone Survivor<\/em>
\nRelease date: January 10th, 2014<\/div>\n
Based on the true story of a SEAL Team mission from 2005. A group of four SEAL Team members set out to kill Ahmad Shahd, a Taliban leader, when they ran into complications. Marcus Luttrell was the only SEAL to survive this mission. Mark Wahlberg, Emile Hirsch, Taylor Kitsch, Alexander Ludwig, and Eric Bana all star in the film, giving it fantastic star power. [22]<\/a><\/div>\n
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Neighbors<\/em>
\nRelease date: May 9th, 2014<\/p>\n
This comedy features a couple (played by Seth Rogen and Rose Byrne) who move in next to a fraternity house filled with obnoxious college boys (played by Zac Efron and Dave Franco). This film employs star power from seasoned comedians, as well as actors that appeal to a young adult audience. [23]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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50 Shades of Grey<\/em><\/div>\n
Universal Films recently announced a pushed release date for their highly anticipated film 50 Shades of Grey<\/em>, based off of a novel by E.L. James with the same. The film\u2019s release date was pushed from August 1st, 2014 to February 13th, 2015. This push was necessary due to the original films star, Charlie Hunnam\u2019s abrupt departure from the project. Just two weeks later Jamie Dornan was cast to fill the role. The film has been getting major buzz due to the large following of the book. The company also decided to push the date because it will now fall by Valentines Day, hopefully increasing the potential audience. [24]<\/a><\/div>\n
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Other News<\/strong><\/div>\n
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Comcast Corporation recently announced a plan to begin selling movies over its cable service. Movies will be sold for about the same price as a DVD, but sell directly to pay-TV. The films would also be available a few weeks before their DVD release. This plan will go into effect before the end of the year. Comcast will be working with Universal Pictures, as well as 21st Century Fox and Warner Bros. [25]<\/a><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
[1] NBCUniversal – Universal Pictures<\/a><\/div>\n
[2] Hoovers- Universal Pictures Company Profile<\/a><\/div>\n
[3] Universal Studios- The Studio Tour<\/a><\/div>\n
[4] NBCUniversal – Corporate Directors<\/a><\/div>\n
[5] NBCUniversal – Stephen B. Burke<\/a><\/div>\n
[6] NBCUniversal – Cesar Conde<\/a><\/div>\n
[7] NBCUniversal – Stuart Epstein<\/a><\/div>\n
[8] NBCUniversal – Jeff Shell<\/a><\/div>\n
[9] Comcast- Earnings<\/a><\/div>\n
[10] Comcast- 3rd Quarter 2013 Financial Report<\/a><\/div>\n
[11]CominSoon.net – Universal Pictures Breaks Studio Box Office Record<\/a><\/div>\n
[12] Box Office Mojo – Despicable Me 2<\/a><\/div>\n
[13] Despicable Me Homepage<\/a><\/div>\n
[14] Despicable Me 2 – Production Notes<\/a><\/div>\n
[15] IMDB- Despicable Me 2<\/a><\/div>\n
[16] Box Office Mojo – 11\/15-11\/18<\/a><\/div>\n
[17] Cinemark – The Best Man Holiday<\/a><\/div>\n
[18] IMDB- The Best Man Holiday<\/a><\/div>\n
[19] IMDB – About Time<\/a><\/div>\n
[20] Universal Pictures – Featured Movies<\/a><\/div>\n
[21] Universal Studios Entertainment- Movie Listings<\/a><\/div>\n
[22]IMDB – Lone Survivor<\/a><\/div>\n
[23] IMDB – Neighbors<\/a><\/div>\n
[24] Variety – Universal Shifts ’50 Shades’ Release Date<\/a><\/div>\n
[25] Bloomberg – Comcast Said to Sell Movies Through it’s Cable Service <\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By Corey Schoellkopf 100 Universal City Place Universal City, CA 91608 United States (818) 777-1000 http:\/\/www.universalpictures.com About the Company Universal Pictures (or Universal Studios) is one of the Big Six major film companies. It is a motion picture studio that … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":297,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[28,1479],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bejone03.expressions.syr.edu\/trf235\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13352"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bejone03.expressions.syr.edu\/trf235\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bejone03.expressions.syr.edu\/trf235\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bejone03.expressions.syr.edu\/trf235\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/297"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bejone03.expressions.syr.edu\/trf235\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13352"}],"version-history":[{"count":59,"href":"https:\/\/bejone03.expressions.syr.edu\/trf235\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13352\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17223,"href":"https:\/\/bejone03.expressions.syr.edu\/trf235\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13352\/revisions\/17223"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bejone03.expressions.syr.edu\/trf235\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13352"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bejone03.expressions.syr.edu\/trf235\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13352"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bejone03.expressions.syr.edu\/trf235\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13352"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}