How has the year been shaking down in terms of box office numbers? For the big movies, at the mid-year point, it looks like this (from Box Office Mojo):
1 | Iron Man 3 | $405,929,319 | 4,253 |
2 | Man of Steel | $263,691,000 | 4,207 |
3 | Oz The Great and Powerful | $234,832,779 | 3,912 |
4 | Fast & Furious 6 | $233,980,000 | 3,771 |
5 | Star Trek Into Darkness | $221,206,000 | 3,907 |
6 | Monsters University | $203,684,000 | 4,004 |
7 | The Croods | $184,611,163 | 4,065 |
8 | World War Z | $146,709,000 | 3,607 |
9 | The Great Gatsby (2013) | $142,505,950 | 3,550 |
10 | Identity Thief | $134,506,920 | 3,230 |
11 | G.I. Joe: Retaliation | $122,412,474 | 3,734 |
12 | The Hangover Part III | $110,787,926 | 3,565 |
13 | Now You See Me | $107,645,412 | 3,082 |
14 | Epic | $103,331,179 | 3,894 |
15 | Olympus Has Fallen | $98,836,300 | 3,106 |
16 | 42 | $94,628,674 | 3,405 |
17 | Oblivion | $89,107,235 | 3,792 |
18 | Despicable Me 2 | $89,000,000 | 3,997 |
19 | This is the End | $77,439,000 | 3,055 |
20 | Mama | $71,628,180 | 2,781 |
Probably nothing will top Iron Man 3 this year. What immediately jumps out at me is how much money Gatsby has made. The other thing is that Jessica Chastain’s Mama is in the top twenty. Melissa McCarthy’s Identify Thief is in the top ten – also noteworthy.
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. A book published recently critiques collaberation between Nazi Germany and Hollywood in censoring American movies shown in Germany. Hollywood has not changed. ” Red Dawn” was forced to change the bad guys from Chinese to North Korean to appease China. In every boring Matt Damon spy film , the CIA is the bad guy. What does Hollywood have to say for the 7 CIA agents ambushed and killed in Afganistan three years ago.
Is foreign box office so important that Hollywood has to first send the script to propaganda minister Josef Gobbles to make certain the anti american message gets through?
Andf whatever happened ” a good plot written and produced on a shoestring budget”. Look ast ” The Purge” which cost only $3 million
to make but grossed $70 million.
Finally, has anyone noticed that Ben Afflack’s Academy Award winning film is a ripoff of a TV movie” On Wings of Eagles ” . This film made over 30 years ago stars Richard Crenna as H Ross Perot, who organized a term to enter Iran and rescue several of his employees.
Sound familar ?
Great blog post. It
This entire list is pretty much uninspiring. Could this be an antidote?
McAvoy/FILTH
Not a good movie in the bunch.
🙂
1. Didn’t see it
2. It was garbage
3. Didn’t see it
4. Didn’t see it
5. Didn’t see it
6. Didn’t see it
7. Didn’t see it
8. Didn’t see it
9. It was okay
10. Didn’t see it
11. Didn’t see it
12. Didn’t see it
13. Didn’t see it
14. Didn’t see it
15. Didn’t see it
16. Didn’t see it
17. Didn’t see it
18. Didn’t see it
19. Masterpiece
20. Saw it on the internet/Stupid horror w/idiotic ending
Looks like this ain’t my year.
Copying you…
1.★★★
2.★★★
3.★★★★★
4.★★★
5.★★★★
6.★★★
7.★★★
8.★
9.★★
10.★★
11.★
12.★
13. N/A
14. N/A
15.★
16. N/A
17.★★
18.N/A
19.★★★★
20.★★★
Maybe I’ll listen to Jpns Viewer and incorporate more nuance into my rating system after all.
1. 6.5 out of 10
2. 4.5 out of 10
3. 3 out of 10
4. 7 out of 10
5. 8 out of 10
6. 8 out of 10
7. Didn’t See It
8. Didn’t See It
9. 3.5 out of 10
10. 3 out of 10
11. Didn’t See It
12. 2 out of 10
13. 6.5 out of 10
14. Didn’t See It
15. Didn’t See It
16. 7 out of 10
17. 5 out of 10
18. Didn’t See It
19. 9.5 out of 10
20. Didn’t See It
The average score of the 13 movies I’ve seen on this list is 5.7 out of 10. Last year’s top 20 had an average score for me of 7.1 out of 10 (I saw 14 of the top 20). I actually genuinely liked all of the top 5 of 2012, meaning they were all an 8 out of 10 or better. That usually doesn’t happen.
The truth is, my favorite movies of each year usually don’t come anywhere near the top box office performers. My favorite last year, Beasts Of The Southern Wild, was number #130. The previous year, my favorite movie Hugo reached #49. In 2010, Black Swan reached #25. 2009, my favorite was Fantastic Mr. Fox, which hit #107. 2008 is the only time in the last 25 or so years that my favorite movie was the top box office grosser of the year, The Dark Knight. But that is an anomaly. If you want to find the best movies of a given year, usually you have to think outside the Top 20.
While I’m inclined to agree that Iron Man 3 remains atop this list, does anyone else have box-office titan(ic!) and Oscar-winner Kate Winslet’s (Titanic, Revolutionary Road) upcoming film Labor Day as a dark horse to end up wearing the box office crown?
Here’s my reasoning:
1. It has been a few years since Kate “The Great” was really front and center in a film – Contagion was an ensemble, Movie 43 a sketch/anthology film, etc..
2. American audiences have only been growing hungrier to experience a new performance from Kate Winslet
3. Sometimes the biggest surprises make the most sense.
-Watermelons
LMFAO @ #2.
I love me some Winslet, but she is not really known as a huge box office draw.
Watermelons (Awards Daily, Shangri-La) FTW.
And there isn’t a Jaws, Dark Knight, or even a Bridesmaids among them.
The chasm widens *sighs*
Bullock and McCarthy’s The Heat had a big weekend and will go over $100M by next Sunday.
Props to McCarthy, and, yet another reason, with the right part, that Bullock could well win #2 someday…. dues.
Saw the HEAT, loved it. Seeing it again on DVD when its released.
I predict the top 9, plus Despicable Me 2 will remain in the top 20, and the other 10 films will be replaced by these movies:
The Hunger Games: Catching Fire
The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug
Anchorman 2
The Wolverine
Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs 2
Thor: The Dark World
Pacific Rim
Elysium
Planes
The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty
Just a hunch.
Also, Despicable Me 2 and Catching Fire are the only 2 movies that have a shot at catching Iron Man for the top spot. The first Hunger Games topped out at 408 million, so the precedent is there. My current prediction is it makes slightly less and ends at around 350 million, as does Despicable Me 2. We’ll see, though!
Prediction of Top 20:
1. Iron Man 3 – 415 million
2. The Hunger Games: Catching Fire – 350 million
3. Despicable Me 2 – 340 million
4. Man Of Steel – 320 million
5. The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug – 250 million
6. Fast & Furious 6 – 240 million
7. Oz The Great And Powerful – 235 million
8. Monsters University – 235 million
9. Star Trek Into Darkness – 230 million
10. Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs 2 – 200 million
11. The Croods – 185 million
12. The Wolverine – 180 million
13. World War Z – 165 million
14. Thor: The Dark World – 160 million
15. The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty – 150 million
16. Anchorman 2 – 150 million
17. The Great Gatsby – 150 million
18. Elysium – 145 million
19. Pacific Rim – 140 million
20. Planes – 140 million
Despicable Me 2 doesn’t have a chance at ousting Iron Man 3.
I don’t think it will either. I’m predicting 350 million total. BUT, it has the best 5 day animated opening of all time, ahead of Shrek 2 (which ended up with 441 million). That’s a figure that gives me reason to keep it in consideration. We will see. It’s only family competition for the rest of its run is Turbo (which looks like an underperformer). Planes will come at the tail end of its run.
I disagree that these movies will be big boxos and move into the top 10:
Terrible trailer: Anchorman 2
Just based on the trailer, this looks like it is more geared to the Asian market than the American market:
The Wolverine
Too much overload on space and apocalypse:
Pacific Rim
Elysium
I guarantee that Anchorman 2 is a big hit. Its THE high profile comedy release on Christmas. There’s no way it doesn’t finish big. 150 million at least. My thoughts have nothing to do with the quality of the film, which I agree based on the trailer looks underwhelming. So did ALL of the Hangover movies, and it took America 3 straight entries in that series to realize they were watching garbage. That’s what brand recognition gets you. The Wolverine is a movie that I initially thought would flop, but I remember that it will have no direct comic book competition during its run, a lot of my female friends have told me they will specifically go to see Hugh Jackman shirtless (I’m not kidding, multiple women have just come out and told me that) and the X Men franchise is riding a little wave of goodwill after First Class. All it has to do is gross 150 million domestically to make the top 20, and I think that number will be easy to hit.
I can’t really justify why I think Pacific Rim and Elysium will do well. They’re not franchise films or remakes. But District 9 did really well when it came out, and Guillermo Del Toro is a patron saint of the fanboy set. Its certainly not guaranteed success, but I have a feeling the word of mouth will be good enough to carry them through their runs.
“a lot of my female friends have told me they will specifically go to see Hugh Jackman shirtless (I’m not kidding, multiple women have just come out and told me that)”
you need to get some recording of these and then do a podcast. 😉
Oh and I agree that none of those movies make the top 10. Just top 20. I currently predict The Wolverine to finish at #12, Anchorman 2 at #16, Elysium at #18 and Pacific Rim at #19.
I know that you don’t care about worldwide box office, and it is your opinion that AMPAS doesn’t much either. Also I’m aware that you don’t appreciate Hollywood pandering to the “global audience” as it becomes more prominent in their economic considerations because it bears a decline in movie quality. But if the subject of the post is pure numbers, I suggest that the tendency of only reporting the North American numbers is getting a bit out of hand –by decades end China will replace North America as the largest market for movie tickets in the world.
Hear hear!
This is true.
What you state is quite true. Many films will gather a great deal of their profits from international markets. It’s also true that China will be the largest market sometime in the not too distant future. That however will not impact the quality of film produced in other markets.
Even though the United States has for a long time been the engine generating the most product there was still product being produced individually in other countries that addressed their specific audiences and that will continue. What’s really interesting is that to a degree this summer has also given a great deal of credence to Steven Speilberg and Francis Ford Coppola’s argument about implosion.
World War Z cost 190 million to make and to date has only taken in 140. Yes it will probably cover the difference in the international market but at the same time producers will probably begin to reassess their strategy towards their individual markets as well. We have a number of large expensive films that have become duds. White House Down cost 150 million and picked up just barely 40. The Lone Ranger which by all intents should have grabbed fan boy attention had the most dismal opening. 215 million price tag for a 19.5 million opening. Epic which cost 100 is at 103. G I Joe cost 130 and Americans only coughed up 122. Oblivion cost 120 and has at this point 88. Oz is interesting because it’s made back it’s investment but for the kind of money invested the return is rather sickly. You don’t pour 215 million dollars into a project and then be happy with 233 million box office. And you certainly don’t want to address the issue of Jack the Giant because he became a rather pathetic Giant. And then you have After Earth.
Yes all of them will continue to make money but as we all know that once a new comic book film or adventure venue hits the market it just takes away from the failing and flailing.
Identity Thief is in the top 10 until Sunday, when Despicable Me 2 is obviously taking its spot. Great box office for Thief, though. And Despicable Me 2 is coming so strong that I’m thinking the Academy won’t deny a nomination for the franchise in a field of 5 next year.
What jumps out to me is that Despicable Me 2 has only been out for two days! We’ll see how far word of mouth carries it after its massive opening.
It’s true that probably nothing will top Iron Man 3 this year but there is one movie left that could, Catching Fire. The Hunger Games grossed $408 million (which tops Iron Man 3), Catching Fire could do better.