Star Wars: The Last Jedi posted the second-largest weekend debut in history, behind its predecessor Star Wars: The Force Awakens. The film enters its second weekend over the $500 million mark, and looks well positioned to enter the New Year above $1 billion worldwide.
Cineplex Inc. (TSX:CGX), which operates over 160 theatres across Canada, appears to be a great bet to bounce back in early 2018. Shares have declined 25.5% in 2017 as of early afternoon trading on December 22. The summer box office in 2017 was the worst in over a decade, and it reflected in third quarter results Cineplex released in early November.
Overall attendance fell 12.8% to 16.8 million in the quarter, and net income dropped 33.8% to $17.2 million. Still, the company delivered a quarterly dividend of $0.14 per share representing a 4.4% dividend yield. The box office performance in the fall should be more than enough to impress when Cineplex releases its fourth quarter results.
Walt Disney Co. (NYSE:DIS), which owns Lucasfilm, was down 1.6% week over week during mid-afternoon trading on December 22. On December 14 Disney reached a deal to acquire 21st Century Fox for $52.4 billion, which sent shockwaves across the entertainment industry. Disney is set to launch its own streaming service in what is becoming an increasingly fierce competition with companies like Netflix, Inc. and even newcomers to TV production like Amazon.com, Inc. and Facebook, Inc.
Disney offers a quarterly dividend of $0.84 per share representing a 1.5% dividend yield.
