Steve’s Box Office Report: April 2013
Top 10 Films for the Month of April:
1. 42 – $95,020,213
2. Oblivion – $89,107,235
3. Evil Dead – $54,239,856
4. Pain and Gain – $49,875,291
5. Jurassic Park Re-Release – $45,385,935
6. Scary Movie 5 – $32,015,787
7. The Big Wedding – $21,819,348
8. Mud – $21,590,086
9. The Company You Keep – $5,133,027
10. Home Run – $2,861,020
Honorable Mentions:
1. The Lords of Salem – $1,165,882
April Winners: 42, Evil Dead, and Pain and Gain
We continue on through the year of 2013 and after what ended up being a solid March, we now have to see how these films would end up doing and if we have any momentum going into the summer. Looking at the list of films from this month, there was nothing that looked to be a major breakout film though there were a few films that did good and made it into this category. The first film from this month that makes it into this category is the biographical sports film 42, a film about the early career of baseball legend Jackie Robinson. The film would receive positive reviews from critics who felt it was a faithful re-telling of Robinson’s journey, and it would finish with over $95 million and easily took the top spot for the month which I will delve further into later in the recap. The next film from this month that makes it into this category is the horror film Evil Dead, a re-imagining of the 1981 film of a group of five people who come under attack by a supernatural entity at a remote cabin. The film would receive positive reviews from critics who felt it was a solid remake and it would finish with over $54 million which was a good haul for the horror film, especially coming out in April which isn’t typically a big month for horror. The third and final film from this month that makes it into this category is the action comedy film Pain and Gain, a film loosely based on the Sun Gym gang who are convicted of numerous crimes including murder. The film would receive mixed reviews from critics who felt it was uneven in parts though praised the performances, and it would finish with over $49 million which was a good haul for the film and got it in the top 5 for the month. The fact that we had 3 films from this month make it into this category is a plus as April usually doesn’t have this many, and we will see going forward if this continues or we go back to only having one or two winners from this month.
April Losers: Oblivion
To this point, April usually doesn’t have many major blockbusters come out as they are typically reserved for the summer starting in May, but it seems like that trend was looking to change with this month as we did have a film that looked to be a surprise hit come out. That film was the sci-fi action film Oblivion, a film about a technician who lives on Earth years after it was ravaged by aliens and he finds a survivor that makes him question the truth about the war. The film would receive mixed reviews from critics who felt the visual effects were great and they praised Tom Cruise’s performance, but they felt parts of the film were clunky and the script was weak. Despite some good expectations, the film would finish with over $89 million which put it at the number two spot for the month and while that would be a great showing for any other film, it was slightly disappointing for this film that was seen as the one to carry the month. It also ends up being the sole loser of the month as it wasn’t a bomb, but it was below what it could’ve and it was another major disappointment for Cruise. Fortunately, it was the only film from this month that makes it into this category and that is another help for the month of April.
The Surprise/Story of April 2013: 42 steps up to bat and hits a home run as it takes the top spot of April 2013
Going into the month of April, there looked like there would be no film that would be a major breakout and it seemed like the month would be in a holding pattern until we hit the month of May. But these films did have some intrigue going in and an interesting note was that there were no films coming out this month that were geared towards families, and with a mix of different genres represented well this month it was going to be interesting to see which ones would do well and which ones would fall flat. In the end, 42 would take the top spot for the month fairly easily even though it just missed hitting the $100 million, and aside from a decent showing from Oblivion the rest of the month was fairly average with nothing doing very well though no films really bombed either. Usually, the month of April is a tepid month between March and May though there are times when it can overdeliver or underdeliver, but in this case it was right on par with what we are used to seeing with the month of April.
Overachiever of April 2013: 42
Going into the month of April, 42 had a lot of eyes on it given that April is the start of the baseball season and there is no question that Jackie Robinson is one of the most influential players in the history of baseball. Being the first African-American players to play in the Major League to the point that the number “42” was retired in 1997 by all teams, there is no question that he is one of those players that deserves to have a film about him and to do it properly. Thankfully, 42 does that well thanks to great performances by Chadwick Boseman and Harrison Ford, and while the film does take some liberties which is common for biographical films, this film was seen as a faithful telling of Robinson’s early career and breaking the color barrier. Coupled with as mentioned the start of the baseball season and no other film this month that looked too promising, and there is no doubt that 42 deserves to be the overachiever of the month though it will be interesting to see how it stacks up against the other overachievers of the year.
Underachiever of April 2013: Scary Movie 5
In 2000, the first Scary Movie came out and was a major success as it is still considered one of the best parody films ever released, and it would spawn a franchise as Scary Movie 2 and 3 also did well and seemed like it would cap off a successful trilogy. However, it ended up continuing with Scary Movie 4 in 2006 and while it did well, it seemed like the spoof genre was lagging a bit given the glut of parody films that were coming out during that time. In any case, we do end up getting yet another Scary Movie this year with Scary Movie 5, a film which sees a couple adopted 3 children who are possessed and they work to free them. The film would be panned by critics who felt the franchise had become stale by that point and with this film being the first to not have either Anna Faris or Regina Hall, it was clear that it needed to be put out of its misery. Coupled with the fact that it would finish with over $32 million which makes it the lowest grossing film in the franchise pretty much all but confirmed the franchise was dead, and as a result this film ends up being the obvious underachiever of the month and brings a sad end to what was one of the better parody franchises in history.
April 2013 Awards Watch: Scary Movie 5
We are now into the new awards season and April typically is pretty hit or miss with award contenders, and we can have only one or two films make it into this category though there are times when we do get a bunch of films that can make it into this category. This year, we only have one film that makes it into this category which was Scary Movie 5, and it would be nominated for 3 Golden Raspberry Awards (Worst Supporting Actress, Worst Screen Combo, and Worst Prequel, Remake, Rip-Off, or Sequel) though it wouldn’t win any of them. This was a case where the films released this month weren’t really award contenders and we will see how the summer does in terms of the contenders.
Overall Thoughts of April 2013:
Overall, the month of April 2013 was a fairly tepid month that did have one good success in 42, but the rest of the month was pretty dull coming off a solid March and it was clear everyone was looking forward to the month of May. While this April was a step up from last year, it still was pretty low in terms of Aprils of the past and it might be one of the dullest we’ve seen to this point. As mentioned, we didn’t have any film from this month break the $100 million mark though 42 did come close, and the rest of the films from this month did fine though nothing broke out while nothing was a major bomb either. 2013 has been an interesting year to this point and while May 2013 didn’t have anything highly anticipated like the Avengers last year, there were some high expectations going into this summer. As for the month of April 2013, it was a below average month and now it’s up to May to regain some momentum.
Final Grade: D+
