Thanks to James Cameron’s Avatar, officially the #1 all-time box-office champ both domestically and internationally, Rupert Murdoch's News Corp., which owns 20th Century Fox, reported higher quarterly profits than Wall Street forecasters had predicted, the New York Times has reported. News Corp. announced earnings of $8.68 billion in its fiscal second quarter, which ended Dec. 31; that's up 10 percent from the year before.
News Corp.'s film revenues grew from $112 million to $324 million. After passing Cameron’s own Titanic on Tuesday, Avatar topped the all-time domestic box-office chart (not accounting for inflation and 3D/IMAX surcharges) with earnings of $601.6 million as per Box Office Mojo. To date, Avatar has grossed $1.446 billion overseas.
Avatar's influence will be felt even more strongly once this quarter's figures are tallied. During the previous quarter, Avatar had been out for only 13 days.
As per the Times report, News Corp. claimed its profit gain was a result of “increased advertising revenues at The Wall Street Journal and lower operating expenses throughout the newspaper businesses from prior year restructuring efforts,” though the company's cable network division led by Fox News was the most successful, with operating income growing from $448 million to $604 million.
The Times adds that the Avatar effect was reduced by "a recent $500 million payment to settle three lawsuits against one of its lesser-known units, News America Marketing, which sells in-store advertising in supermarkets and publishes coupon inserts."
Photo: Avatar (WETA / 20th Century Fox)