A while back we wrote that Penguins of Madagascar was expected to be a nightmare for CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg and Dreamworks. Well, the good thing about a nightmare is that it ends and you can wake up from it. It is possible that “Penguins of Madagascar” will be something worse than a nightmare for the troubled film company that has tried to sell itself off twice in the past year.
Shares of Dreamworks dropped 5.9% as Stifel analyst Benjamin Mogil said he expected the film to lose as much as $49 million as opposed to the $15 million he had initially predicted, according to Deadline Hollywood. Currently Penguins has grossed $59 million domestically, and it is likely to end up a bit higher at $75 million, but is still a huge drop off from estimates of $110 million from Mogil. B. Riley’s Eric Wold was expecting $200 million, cutting it to $130. It will be lucky to reach even half that much.
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Dreamworks was hoping the film would be rescued by its overseas audience, but at $116 million so far in sales, it is likely to disappoint in Europe, Asia and Latin America as well. Mogil was hoping for $300 million overseas, but has cut his estimates to $250. Wold reduced his outlook from $350 to $200.
Good thing Penguins can swim.
