On Thursday, June 8, the Gabelli & Company’s 9th Annual Movie and Entertainment Conference took place in New York. It was here that Viacom (NASDAQ:$VIA) CFO Wade Davis informed the audience that the media company plans to have its top TV network brands represent half of Paramount’s roster. In fact, in 2020 alone, there will be “Amusement Park”, a third “Spongebob” movie, and “The Loud House”. The first of the three projects will be developed into a Nickelodeon television series, while the latter two are based on popular Nickelodeon shows.
Viacom owns numerous television networks such as Nickelodeon, Comedy Central, BET, MTV, and VH1. Acquiring Paramount in 1994, Viacom has successfully adapted its popular television shows into movies for the film company. By doing so, Viacom has the potential to collect massive dividends. Below is a list of 10 movies that illustrate that Viacom is on the right track to success.
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“Beavis and Butthead Do America”
Released in 1996, “Beavis and Butthead Do America” was the first successful film adaptation of one of Viacom’s television shows. Beavis and Butthead were immensely popular characters on their MTV animated sitcom and the film adaptation was given the go-ahead by Viacom in 1993. Viacom bought Paramount Pictures a year after the film was given the green light, thus allowing the LA-based film company to become the distributor for “Beavis and Butthead Do America”.
The film was purposefully scheduled for a Christmas release and it instantly became a hit, recording the largest-ever December debut at the time with $20 million and finishing with $63.1 million. Seeing as the film had an insufficient budget of $12 million, “Beavis and Butthead Do America” brought in astronomical profit for Viacom, thus marking the start of a profitable strategy for the company.
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“The Rugrats Movie”
Towards the end of 1998, Paramount Pictures released “The Rugrats Movie”, which was based on the popular Nickelodeon series. The film adaptation of the show was not surprising seeing as “Rugrats” was Nickelodeon’s highest rated show from 1995 to 2000, with more than 25 million viewers tuning in every week. Given its $24 million budget, “The Rugrats Movie” opened to $27.3 million and ended with a global total of $140.3 million.
With the success of the movie, there were two more sequels. “Rugrats in Paris” was released in 2000 and “Rugrats Go Wild” in 2003. Despite being profitable, neither film matched the success of the first movie.
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“South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut”
To date, “South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut” is the most controversial film that Paramount Pictures has released. In fact, the film was almost X-rated but Paramount decided against it and stuck with the R-rating. When the film debuted in the summer of 1999, “South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut” was either met with intense love or disdain. Based on Comedy Central’s “South Park”, the animated film made $83.1 million off of a $12 million budget. It was also nominated for an Academy Award for Best Song. Until 2016’s “Sausage Party”, “South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut” held the record for the highest-grossing R-rated animated movie of all time.
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“Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius”
There were short films about Jimmy Neutron that had aired on Nickelodeon leading up to the release of “Boy Genius” in 2001, however, the film entered theaters as an unknown entity. But this did not stop the film from becoming an instant hit. “Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius” capitalized on CGI animation and earned $103 million worldwide off of a $30 million budget. Additionally, the film was nominated for Best Animated Feature at the Oscars in the first year of that category’s existence.
The film was so popular that it inspired Viacom to create a spin-off TV series, which premiered in 2002. “The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius” is proof that the strategy of film-to-TV adaptation is a feasible model for success.
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“Jackass: The Movie”
Despite the MTV show “Jackass” ending before the film release of “Jackass: The Movie”, the characters and concept still proved to be extremely popular following the release of the movie. When promoting the movie, the advertisement used the tagline “with stuff you’d never see on TV” in the hopes of drawing in fans who wanted to see the crew be even more self-destructive. And it worked. “Jackass: The Movie” opened to $22.8 million and ended with $79.5 million worldwide. Seeing as the film’s budget was only $5 million, the movie brought in huge return.
Surprisingly, three sequels followed and each was more successful than the initial film. “Jackass: Number Two” was released in 2006 and made $84.6 million, 2010’s “Jackass 3-D” made $171.1 million and “Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa” was released in 2013 and made $151.8 million. All three sequels were produced for $20 million or less.
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“The Wild Thornberrys Movie”
Released in 2002, “The Wild Thornberry’s Movie” is one of the more modest adaptations of Viacom’s television shows. However, the film adaptation was still considerably profitable, raking in $60.7 million worldwide off of a $25 million budget. The film was also nominated for an Oscar for the song “Father and Daughter,” which was written and performed by Paul Simon (former member of Simon and Garfunkel).
Six months after the initial release of the film, there was a sequel which combined the Wild Thornberrys with the Rugrats. The crossover was called “Rugrats Go Wild” and it became yet another modest hit.
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“The Spongebob Squarepants Movie”
Paramount Pictures had been dreaming of a “Spongebob” movie since 2002, but it was not until 2004 that this dream was turned into a reality. “The Spongebob Squarepants Movie” opened with $32 million (the budget was $30 million) and it finished with a $140.2 million worldwide total, thus making it a highly-profitable gamble for both Viacom’s Nickelodeon and Paramount.
It’s clear that Viacom is trying to squeeze all that they can out of this sponge. To date, the show remains on the air and the 2015 sequel “The Spongebob Movie: Sponge Out of Water” brought in $325.2 million off of a $74 million budget. There will also be a “Spongebob” musical on Broadway which will open in the fall. Last but not least, there will be a third “Spongebob” movie released in either 2019 or 2020.
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“Barnyard”
Featuring a male cow as the protagonist, “Barnyard” is an animated film which became an instant hit in the summer of 2006. The film brought in $116.5 million worldwide off of a $51 million budget. Similar to “Jimmy Neutron”, the film obtained its own TV spinoff series (“Back at the Barnyard”), but it only lasted two seasons.
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“Reno 911!: Miami”
This film was an adaptation of Comedy Central’s “Reno 911!” but it was only able to gather $22 million in total box office. That said, the film was made on a mere $10 million budget and it became beloved by fans of the television series. Plus, “Reno 911!: Miami” almost matched its box office in home video receipts ($16.3 million in DV sales).
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“The Last Airbender”
What was once a popular Nickelodeon television series became the most anticipated movie of the summer of 2010. Expectations were high for the film and it opened in July of 2010 with a $40 million debut and ended with a global total of $319.7 million. Despite being roasted by both critics and audiences, the film still became Nickelodeon’s highest-grossing movie ever at the time of its release.
Needless to say, if Viacom is ever looking for a film for Paramount to reboot, both “The Last Airbender” and “Jackass” should be the top choices.
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