Sony Corp's profits from the movie "Spider-Man" may extend over several years after a weekend box-office record and yesterday's announcement that a second installment is scheduled for 2004, analysts said.
The spandex-clad, web-slinging superhero fits well with Sony's strategy of getting its businesses to generate sales for each other. Spider-Man has taken center stage at SonyStyle.com, the Web-based retailing arm of the world's second-largest consumer-electronics company. Sony's Web site offers posters, figurines, CDs, T-shirts and other clothing. A video game for Sony's PlayStation2 console went on sale last month.
PHOTO: REUTERS
"The impact of a big hit such as Spider-Man comes from income derived from the secondary use of the movie," said Kazuya Yamamoto, an analyst with UFJ Capital Markets Securities Co. "This will help Sony's earnings next fiscal year and beyond."
Consider the Tokyo-based company's experience with past hits.
Sony Pictures Entertainment's Columbia Pictures is still reaping profit from hits such as the Academy-award winning Black Hawk Down and DVD release of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. The result: operating income at Sony's pictures business soared more than sevenfold to ?31.3 billion (US$245 million) in the fiscal year ended March 31.
Along comes Spider-Man, which took in an estimated US$114 million in US theaters over the weekend, surpassing US$100 million in ticket sales faster than any movie in history.
Add to that its slice of the millions of dollars in sales for everything from Fruit of the Loom underwear to Kellogg Co's breakfast cereal, analysts said.
Marvel Enterprises Inc, publisher of Spider-Man comic books, formed a venture with Sony to license the wall-crawling superhero to hundreds of companies. CKE Restaurants Inc is selling collectors cups at its Carl's Jr. and Hardee's hamburger chains, while Kellogg put Spider-Man on cereal boxes.
"This could be stellar year if you are selling products linked to the movie," said Jim Neal, principal with Kurt Salmon Associates, a retailing and manufacturer consulting firm. "This is a great situation -- you have a character and story line that resonates with parents, and with kids."
Spider-Man, which stars Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst and Willem Dafoe, was released by Sony's Columbia Pictures. Marvel said it received a "substantial, seven-figure advance" licensing fee from Sony for the sequel to be released in 2004.
Sales of DVDs of the movie will also help Sony to offset advertising and production costs for the film, analysts said.
"Sony will enjoy good sales of DVDs based on the movie," said Masahiko Ishino, an analyst with Tokyo-Mitsubishi Securities Co. "It happened with Charlie's Angels, also a Sony movie.
Among the best-selling Spider-Man-licensed products are action figures, children's' clothing and house wares for kids such as bedding and wallpaper, said Charles Riotto, president of the International Licensing Industry Merchandisers Association. Many items have been available for a couple of weeks, he said. Pre-orders for a video game tied to the movie are strong, Riotto said.
Activision Inc, a US-based video-game software maker, last month released Spider-Man: The Movie for Sony's PlayStation2.
A version of the game for Microsoft Corp's Xbox is the best- selling software title for that game console, according to the Gamespot Web site. Activision also makes a version for Nintendo Co's GameCube, with Sony receiving payments from its rivals.
Marvel's Toy Biz unit is making action figures and toys such as the "Web Blaster," a glove that squirts "webs just like Spider-Man," according to the company's Web site. That item sold out at one Toys `R' Us Inc store in New York over the weekend, Toy Biz spokeswoman Ilona Weinerman said.
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