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Will Smith and Martin Lawrence star in “Bad Boys For Life”.

Sony

The studio with the highest box office in 2020 delayed most of its film until 2021.

After CNBC sifted through Comscore’s data, Sony became the top earner in a year marked by a global pandemic. The studio accounted for 22.2% of the domestic film market and had ticket sales of nearly $ 500 million.

“If you need a symbol of how unusual 2020 was at the box office, look no further than the fact that Sony’s ‘Bad Boys For Life’, a mid-January release, is at the top of the box office for the whole year” said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst at Comscore.

The film grossed $ 206.3 million, a far cry from the $ 858.3 million in revenue generated by the top-grossing Avengers: Endgame in 2019.

Sony’s market share was boosted by ticket sales of “Jumanji: The Next Level” and “Little Women,” both released in 2019. The sequel to “Jumanji” was the fourth highest grossing film of the year, while “Little Women” was the eighth.

If you just look at the box office, where the pandemic had to close cinemas by the end of the year, Sony only raised around $ 29 million after March 20.

“The 2020 box office year had a split personality,” said Dergarabedian. “It had a strong market before the pandemic, but its development was badly affected when the theaters shut down in mid-March. It then struggled through the spring, summer and fall with a severely limited number of open theaters and a notable shortage of new films.”

The global coronavirus pandemic has paralyzed the domestic box office, forcing studios to postpone blockbusters and place other major feature films on premium video-on-demand or branded streaming services.

Studios that were able to release films before the pandemic closed theaters in March stuck to their box office earnings and remained the top earners of the year, according to Comscore. These studios’ grossing results were also boosted by films released in 2019 but continued to be in theaters in early 2020.

In fact, the lion’s share of the $ 2.2 billion at the 2020 box office was generated in the first three months of the year. From January 1 to March 19, the US and Canadian box offices achieved ticket sales of $ 1.8 billion, according to Comscore data. The remaining $ 400 million was raised between April and December.

“The pandemic has fundamentally changed the fate of studios and their films, which were either cut midstream in March or postponed for 2021,” Dergarabedian said. “This unforeseen and unfortunate turn of events has made the promising and possibly record-breaking year at the Multiplex one of the toughest for the company.”

Just a second

Universal was the second highest recording studio in 2020 and achieved a market share of 21.9%. The box office difference between Sony and Universal was only $ 5.8 million.

Universal delayed most of its films until late 2020 or early 2021. However, when the theaters reopened and it became clear that audiences weren’t returning en masse, the studio changed its strategy.

Contracts were signed with several major theater chains in the US and Canada that would enable him to shorten the time his films take to theaters. This allowed the studio to put its films on premium video-on-demand earlier or on its streaming service Peacock, and monetize its film among consumers who were unwilling to leave their homes.

Most of the box office portion of the Comcast-owned studio came from the war drama “1917”, which was released in late 2019. The film received the Oscar for Best Picture in February 2020, which enticed moviegoers to watch it in droves. The film raised $ 158 million in 2020, making it the studio’s highest grossing film and the second highest grossing domestic box office film for the year.

Universal had two major releases prior to the theater closing: “Dolittle” at $ 78 million and “The Invisible Man” at $ 70 million.

A handful of films also hit theaters during the pandemic, including “Trolls World Tour”, “Freaky” and “The Croods: A New Age”. Together, these films made just under $ 50 million.

The studio also benefited from the new releases of Jaws and Jurassic Park, which increased the company’s ticket sales by approximately $ 10 million. These films, which originally debuted in 1975 and 1993, were among the top 20 grossing films to hit theaters between late March and December 2020.

The bronze medal

In 2019 the Walt Disney Company released seven films that exceeded $ 1 billion worldwide and accounted for nearly 40% of the domestic box office market share. Between the distribution of Disney films and 20th Century Fox’s newly acquired real estate, which was the largest part of a studio, the company had made more than $ 4 billion in ticket sales.

Just a year later, Disney’s stake shrank to 20% and rose from top cashier to third best after just $ 442 million.

Disney had a jam-packed series of films for 2020. Between the Disney production studios and the newly acquired Fox studio, the company should release around two dozen films. However, the pandemic caused the company to make new plans.

For the most part, Disney pushed out its 2020 titles, including two major Marvel films, “Jungle Cruise” directed by Emily Blunt and Dwayne Johnson, and an adaptation of Stephen Sondheim’s “West Side Story”.

While the majority of Disney’s films have been pushed into 2021, the company offered its live-action version of “Mulan” for $ 30 on its streaming service Disney + in September and hired its Oscar contender, the Pixar -Film “Soul”, free on the platform.

While Comscore is separating Disney and 20th Century as two different distributors, CNBC has decided to combine their ticket sales as both are owned by Disney. Together they have the third largest market share or around 20%.

According to data from Comscore, Disney, as a single distributor, had ticket sales of $ 255 million last year compared to the 20th century grossing $ 187 million. If these numbers had not been combined, Disney would have the fourth largest market share and the 20th century the fifth.

Warner Bros., which sold $ 258 million in ticket sales last year, would have finished third. Compared to Disney and the 20th century, Warner Bros. is fourth.

Rey and Kylo Ren compete against each other in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.

Disney

Disney’s top-grossing film of 2020 was Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, which was released in late December 2019. The film, valued at $ 128 million in 2020, was the fifth highest grossing film at the domestic box office.

As with Sony, the majority of Disney’s total box office came from films released earlier this year or holdovers from 2019. “Onward,” “Call of the Wild,” “Frozen 2” and “Spies in Disguise “Everyone contributed to his transport in the first few months of 2020.

“The New Mutants” was Disney’s top-grossing theatrical release during the pandemic. The film had sales of approximately $ 32 million.

Disney also had a number of newly released films that added to its record, including “Hocus Pocus”, “Star Wars”, “The Nightmare Before Christmas” and “Black Panther”. Those titles accounted for nearly $ 30 million from Disney’s Transport.

Disclosure: Comcast is the parent company of NBCUniversal and CNBC.

Tax season is fast approaching and after the 2020 roller coaster ride, this could be the year you can get extra help filing your tax return.

The coronavirus pandemic has resulted in many changes to the tax number that could affect filers who generally would have received a hassle-free return, potentially making your return difficult.

“For the average taxpayer, I don’t know what else to add if your head isn’t turning,” said Megan Gorman, attorney and managing partner at Checkers Financial Management in San Francisco.

Because of these changes, it might be a good idea to establish a relationship with a tax advisor such as an accountant or CPA, an IRS registered agent, or someone who has a tax identification number for the tax advisor with the IRS.

If you do your own taxes it makes sense

Of course, despite the events of 2020, many people will continue to benefit from using online tax filing software, often available for free or inexpensively.

“The online software is really good,” said Adrienne Ross, certified financial planner and founder of Clear Insight Financial Planning LLC in Spokane, Washington. “They update them every year, they adhere to the tax law.”

According to Susan Greenhalgh, an accredited financial advisor who runs Mind Your Money LLC in Rhode Island, the step-by-step approach that many online tax preparation platforms use is helping education the taxpayers who use them.

“If you have a desire to really connect with how taxes work and maybe even save yourself some money later by doing something else, you can do that,” she said.

“TurboTax has Covid-specific guidance to address the 2020 impact like unemployment or applying for a refund loan,” said Lisa Greene-Lewis, CPA and Tax Expert for TurboTax, in an email, adding that TurboTax also services for self-employed and companies.

Customers can also video connect with a CPA or tax professional to answer questions or have taxes reviewed, or hand their return completely to a professional, she said.

When it’s time to get extra help

However, there are times when financial experts recommend going beyond the online software to file your taxes.

For individuals, this can include changes such as getting married or having a child. If you have investments like stocks and bonds, making capital gains, listing deductions, making a contribution to charity, incurring significant medical expenses, or being a homeowner, it may be time to get started with a tax professional.

A good rule of thumb is that if you need to file tax forms for IRS Schedule A through F, according to Sheneya Wilson, CPA and founder of Fola Financial in New York, it is probably time to work with a tax professional.

“If you trigger any of these schedules, be sure to consult a CPA because then tax codes can get much more complex,” said Wilson. “In companies in particular, they tend to overpay because they are unfamiliar with the rules for deducting that income.”

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Even if you enjoy doing your own taxes but aren’t sure you’ve done everything right, it may be worthwhile to get a tax professional to review your tax return before filing it.

“It will always be beneficial to have someone to speak to and manage your numbers,” said Anjali Jariwala, CFP, CPA and founder of Fit Advisors in Torrance, California.

Covid made some specific tax changes

The CARES bill passed in March also provided some relief for coronavirus, which will affect taxes for some in the coming years, and the recent coronavirus package expanded some tax rules.

For example, if you created a 401 (k) plan retirement account because of Covid, the usual penalty has been waived and the taxes can be spread over the next three years.

“If you just go to a regular tax preparation business that you don’t have the same preparer year after year, how can you make sure this is done correctly on your tax return?” Said Gorman.

If you’ve been unemployed at any point in the last year, didn’t get a stimulus check and need to apply for a refund credit, or are a small business that applied for the paycheck protection program, hiring a tax professional could be a huge benefit this year and affect your taxes in the future.

Justification of the costs

Cost usually plays a huge role in choosing tax preparation services and there is a wide range available.

If you’ve got a simple return, you might be able to file for free through the IRS and online services like CreditKarma, H&R Block, TurboTax, and more, although some of these companies may charge additional government return fees.

Many of these companies also offer inexpensive tax return options.

For example, H&R Block and TurboTax online tax preparation starts at $ 29.95 and $ 90, respectively, although this can be more expensive for premium services like chatting with an expert online.

Working with an accountant is usually more expensive. The average fee for an accountant to create and file a Form 1040 with the standard deduction and a state return is $ 176, and a Form 1040 with detailed personal deductions and a state return is $ 273, according to the National Society of Accountants. More complicated returns can cost even more – the average cost of a Form 1040 with a Schedule C for Small Business Income and a government return is $ 457.

Of course, the cost of a skilled tax planner can help you get the most out of all the benefits that are due to you, including credits, deductions, and more.

“You may have missed a loan that is worth more than the fee you paid,” said Luis Rosa, CFP and registered agent and founder of Build a Better Financial Future in Henderson, Nevada.

If you hire a tax planner now, you can and should work with them year round.

“Ask what other planning services they offer – they can be incredibly valuable,” Gorman said, adding that people often take an active approach to investing and a passive approach to tax planning when the reverse is true.

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Disclosure: NBCUniversal and Comcast Ventures are investors in Acorns.

Jamie Dimon, CEO of JP Morgan Chase, will appear in CNBC’s Squawk Box on January 22nd, 2020 at the 2020 World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

Adam Galica | CNBC

JPMorgan Chase beat analysts’ estimates for fourth quarter earnings on better-than-expected trading results and a boost from releasing funds previously earmarked for credit losses.

The company posted earnings of $ 3.79 per share, beating Refinitiv’s poll of $ 2.62 per share. Even without the increase in loan reserves by 72 cents per share, the bank would have exceeded the estimates. The company had sales of $ 30.16 billion, beating the estimate of $ 28.7 billion.

Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan, cited the two main developments that occurred in late 2020 – news of effective coronavirus vaccines and another round of government incentives – as reasons for running down his bank’s reserves. The company announced that it had released $ 2.9 billion from its stack of cash earmarked for expected loan defaults in the quarter, increasing earnings by $ 1.9 billion from approximately $ 1 billion. Dollar in depreciation.

“While positive vaccine and stimulus developments this quarter have contributed to these reserve releases, our credit reserves of over $ 30 billion continue to reflect significant economic uncertainties in the near term and will enable us to withstand an economic environment far worse than current Baseline forecasts of most economists, “Dimon said in a statement.

Dimon added that he did not view the $ 2.9 billion reserve release as part of the bank’s core operating income, but rather the result of calculations that “now include several multi-year hypothetical probabilistic scenarios that may or may not occur “and this could bring quarter to quarter volatility.

A bright spot for Wall Street in 2020 was trading, which is expected to be the best year in terms of total revenue since the financial crisis thanks to unprecedented moves by the Federal Reserve to support markets. Investment bankers also benefited from the fact that wide open markets brought with them increased demand for IPOs and a record rate of debt issuance.

Last month, Dimon expected trade and investment banking revenue to be 20% higher in the fourth quarter than a year earlier.

Analysts might ask Dimon about succession planning after a health crisis he had last year. Although it was widely reported that Dimon had heart surgery in March last year, he recently told the Wall Street Journal that his condition was so precarious that he thought he “couldn’t make it”.

Analysts will also be excited to see how quickly the bank expects share buybacks. JPMorgan announced a $ 30 billion share buyback program last month after the Federal Reserve announced that the industry could resume buybacks in the first quarter.

JPMorgan stocks were down 8.7% over the past year, compared with the KBW Bank Index’s 4.3% decline.

Here are the numbers:

• Earnings: $ 3.79 per share versus $ 2.62 per share, according to Refinitiv.

• Revenue: $ 30.16 billion versus $ 28.70 billion according to Refinitiv.

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A health worker shows a dose of the Chinese vaccine Sinopharm Covid-19 in a vaccination center in the Jordanian capital Amman on January 13, 2021.

Khalil Mazraawi | AFP | Getty Images

BEIJING – Sinopharm, a state-owned giant in coronavirus vaccine development in China, announced that its chairman resigned from the board on Tuesday.

The company cited personal reasons for Li Zhiming’s resignation, according to a release made for the Hong Kong-listed company. Li Hui, a member of the board of directors and the audit committee of Sinopharm subsidiary China National Medicines Corp., also resigned Tuesday for personal reasons.

In late December, Chinese authorities approved a vaccine being developed for general launch by a Beijing-based subsidiary of Sinopharm. According to state media, the vaccine had a 79.34% effectiveness after a Phase 3 test.

In early December, the United Arab Emirates said the vaccine was 86% effective.

There was no direct indication that the resignation was due to vaccination work. The company did not immediately respond to CNBC’s email request for comment.

Different countries have published different results on the effectiveness of a coronavirus vaccine from another Chinese company, Sinovac.

A WHO team is working with manufacturers of Covid-19 vaccines from Chinese pharmaceutical companies Sinovac and Sinopharm “to assess compliance with international quality manufacturing practices prior to a possible emergency listing by the WHO,” said WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus earlier this week.