Mark Harris discovers that Jennifer Lawrence and Hunger Games is the first film to top annual box office in 40 years, since The Exorcist. These numbers have changed. I was watching the box office at the end of the year to see if that would turn out to be true. The last time I checked BoxOfficemojo.com, Iron Man 3 had topped the year’s box office. But now, the records show it was Catching Fire. That is an incredible stat.
That undeserved win over Riva last year really paid off..!!
and has been mentioned in a couple of places ‘catching fire’ got the number one spot without 3-d. (sort of rarity now days)
odd to think of Ellen Burstyn as a box office champ.
Glad to hear it! Though I’m ever so slightly disappointed the honor couldn’t go to “Gravity”, a film not only driven by a woman but centered on the inner life of one.
The numbers have ‘changed’ b/c box office stats don’t end once the year is over, they include all money made by a film that was released in the 2013 calendar year in its initial run. Catching Fire eclipsed Iron Man 3 today and will only make its victory more decisive as it earns more in the coming weeks.
Still, crazy statistic.
“Wow. Though I feel like Kate Winslet deserves a slight mention for being the true lead of Titanic.”
I agree with this assessment of Oscar-winner and Hollywood Icon Kate “Ain’t She GREAT?” Winslet (Sense & Sensibility, Iris), this assessment of deserving, and this assessment of the notion of “truth” and “leadership”!!
-Watermelons
Frozen’s 4th place is pretty impressive, considering it hit theatres in Thanksgiving… taht makes what, a 5-6 week run and 4th place? Remarkable.
“Mark Harris discovers that Jennifer Lawrence and Hunger Games is the first film to top annual box office in 40 years, since The Exorcist.”
Pretty sure there’s a word or two missing from that sentence.
Arguably 4 of the 10 are female-driven if you also count Gravity, Frozen, and Oz.
I like this piece of news a good deal. Catching Fire is a much better movie than Iron Man 3 anyways.
With Frozen coming in at No. 4, when’s the last year two films starring female characters finished in the box office top five? Let alone both gross over $300 million?
The Film Experience did a post on this — apparently women owning that top spot has happened like ten times. And the last time was even further back — The Sound of Music.
All in all, going back to 1965 just increases the power of this stat. It takes nearly 50 freaking years for a film with a decisively solo female lead to top the yearly U.S. box office charts again. For shame.
The Sting out grossed The Exorcist. You have to go back to 1965 and The Sound of Music.
Yeah, I’ve been trying to verify this myself, and this seems correct. According to Wikipedia footnotes, The Sting grossed 156M in its initial 1973 box-office run, while The Exorcist in comparison grossed 128M – which is still an impressive sum.
The Sting out grossed The Exorcist. You have to go back to 1965 and The Sound of Music.
Yeah!
I don’t want to be this guy and Catching Fire definitely deserves praise but Iron Man 3 still has more worldwide.
Wow. Though I feel like Kate Winslet deserves a slight mention for being the true lead of Titanic.