Steve’s Box Office Report: November 2015
Top 10 Films for the Month of November:
1. The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2 – $281,723,902
2. Spectre – $200,074,609
3. The Peanuts Movie – $130,178,411
4. The Good Dinosaur – $123,087,120
5. Creed – $109,767,581
6. Spotlight – $45,055,776
7. The Night Before – $43,047,372
8. Brooklyn – $38,322,743
9. Love the Coopers – $26,302,731
10. Secret in Their Eyes – $20,180,155
Honorable Mentions:
1. The 33 – $12,227,722
2. Trumbo – $7,857,741
3. Victor Frankenstein – $5,775,076
4. Miss You Already – $1,162,653
November Winners: The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2, the Peanuts Movie, Creed, Spotlight, and Brooklyn
We are closing in on the end of the year 2015 and it has been a pretty strong year to say the least, and all signs are pointing to the holiday season being just as strong and ending the year on a major high. Before we get to the end of the year, we do have the month of November to get through and this category looks to have quite a few films that make it and help push the month to high levels. The first film that makes it into this category is the second part of the final film in the Hunger Games Trilogy with Mockingjay Part 2, which sees Katniss and the rebels lead the final revolution against President Snow and the Capitol. The film would receive positive reviews from critics who felt it was a fine finish to the series, and it would finish with over $281 million which I will delve into later in the recap. The next film that makes it into this category is the animated film the Peanuts Movie, based on the comic strip which sees Charlie Brown attempt to impress the Little Red-Haired Girl. The film would receive positive reviews from critics who felt it found a good balance between nostalgia and introducing the characters to a new audience, and it would finish with over $130 million which was a strong showing for the film especially against a Pixar film released the same month. The next film that makes it into this category is the boxing film Creed, the next film in the Rocky franchise which sees Apollo Creed’s son Adonis becoming a boxer while receiving training under Rocky Balboa. The film would receive critical acclaim from critics who felt it was a strong addition to the franchise and helped inject new life into it, and it would finish with over $109 million which was a great showing and we will see if the franchise continues on. The next film that makes it into this category is the biographical drama film Spotlight, based on the true story of the Boston Globe’s “Spotlight” team investigation into the coverup of child sex abuse by the Catholic Church. The film would receive critical acclaim from critics who felt it was one of the best films of the year, and it would finish with over $45 million which was a strong showing for a major award contender. The last film that makes it into this category is the romantic drama film Brooklyn, a film about a woman who emigrates to Brooklyn in the 1950s though is torn between her new life and her old life back in Ireland. The film would receive critical acclaim from critics who felt this film was also one of the best of the year, and it would finish with over $38 million which was a fine showing for the film. Even though it felt like there should’ve been a few more films that should be in this category, the ones that did make it were more than strong enough to help carry the month.
November Losers: Spectre, the Good Dinosaur, and Victor Frankenstein
Even though we did have quite a few films make it into the previous category, you figured that there would be a few films that made it into this category as well even though the month looked pretty strong with a lot of variety. The only thing to think about is if this category would have the same amount of films as the previous category, and right now it looks like it won’t though there are still a few films that make it. The first film that makes it into this category is the newest installment in the James Bond franchise with Spectre, which sees Bond try to prevent the mysterious group Spectre from infiltrating a global surveillance system. The film would receive mixed reviews from critics who felt it was a fine film though a clear step down from Skyfall, and it would finish with over $200 million which I will delve into later in the recap. The next film that makes it into this category is the animated film the Good Dinosaur, the newest Pixar film which sees a dinosaur befriend a human child and try to get him back to his family. The film would receive positive reviews from critics who felt it was a fine film though not up to usual Pixar standards, and it would finish with over $123 million which was a bit of a disappointment especially after the major success of Inside Out earlier in the year. The last film that makes it into this category is the sci-fi horror film Victor Frankenstein, a film told from Igor’s perspective as it shows his journey to eventually becoming Victor Frankenstein’s sidekick. The film would receive negative reviews from critics who felt it was nothing compared to previous Frankenstein films, and it would finish with over $5 million which made it one of the bigger bombs of the year. These films that ended up in this category were all fairly big losers which doesn’t help the month, but we will have to see if it is enough to really do damage to the month after how strong the previous category was.
The Surprise/Story of November 2015: The Hunger Games franchise ends on a bit of a whimper as “Mockingjay Part 2” takes fairly loaded November 2015
Back in March 2012, the first Hunger Games film came out and it quickly established itself as the next big young adult franchise following the conclusion of Harry Potter and Twilight, and it grew even bigger with Catching Fire two years ago which led to the decision to split Mockingjay into two films similar to what Harry Potter and Twilight did. Last year, Mockingjay Part 1 came out and did very well though November 2014 was a bit of a light month, and now we have Mockingjay Part 2 this year though the difference is that this November is quite a bit more loaded than the year prior. Coupled with the mixed reviews with some critics stating the film was a perfect end to the franchise while others believed splitting the film in two was unnecessary, and the film did end up finishing with over $281 million which was a fine finish though it was significantly lower than Part 1 and it was also the lowest-grossing film in the franchise. Looking at it, it does feel like a bit of a disappointment and now we will have to see if a new franchise can fill the void the Hunger Games left behind, but the film’s performance coupled with some other strong performances from other films this month does help the month finish on a strong note.
Overachiever of November 2015: Creed
In 1976, we saw the debut of the Rocky franchise and it would help put Sylvester Stallone on the map, and the franchise would go through several ups and downs throughout the years and the franchise seemingly came to an end in 2006 with Rocky Balboa, the sixth film in the franchise. Now almost 10 years later, the franchise is brought back to life though with a twist as we have the first spin-off with Creed, focusing on Apollo Creed’s son Adonis who follows in his father’s footsteps and is trained by Rocky. As mentioned, the film received critical acclaim who felt it was a breath of fresh air and just what the franchise needed, and it finished with over $109 million which put it right in the middle of the franchise ahead of Rocky II, Rocky V, and Rocky Balboa though behind the other three. It looks like the Rocky franchise is back on its feet and we will see if the franchise continues this track going forward, and there is no question that this film deserves to be the overachiever of the month.
Underachiever of November 2015: Spectre
Since the Daniel Craig Bond films began back in November 2006, it seemed like they have struggled to find their footing as both Casino Royale was the underachiever of November 2006 and Quantum of Solace was one of the losers of November 2008, but then Skyfall broke the mold and overachieved anyone’s expectations which earned it the title of overachiever of November 2012. Needless to say, the bar had been set high for Spectre given that the mysterious organization was making their return and with actor Christoph Waltz portraying the legendary villain Ernst Stavro Blofeld, there were hopes that this film could at least match Skyfall if not potentially surpass it. However, while it did make more than either Casino Royale or Quantum of Solace, it was a major step behind Skyfall and didn’t reach those same heights as I think many expected it to. It will be quite a while before we see James Bond on the big screen again and we will see if that next film can do better, but sadly there is no question that Spectre deserves the title of underachiever of the month.
November 2015 Awards Watch: Spectre, the Peanuts Movie, the Good Dinosaur, Creed, Spotlight, Brooklyn, and Trumbo
As we come to the end of the year, we now start getting the major award contenders coming out as November and December typically have multiple award contenders come out during those two months. We start it off with November here and true to form, we have quite a few films that make it into this category and now it comes down to how successful they are in terms of wins. The first film that makes it into this category is Spectre which would win one Academy Award (Best Original Song) and it would also win one Golden Globe Award (Best Original Song), and it’s interesting that the film’s only wins were in regards to the song though it is one of the better Bond songs in history. The next film that makes it into this category is the Peanuts Movie which was nominated for one Golden Globe (Best Animated Film) which it didn’t win though getting that nomination was a good showing, and the next film that makes it into this category is the Good Dinosaur which was also nominated for one Golden Globe (Best Animated Film) though it wouldn’t win as the year was clearly dominated by Inside Out. The next film that makes it into this category is Creed which was nominated for one Academy Award (Best Supporting Actor) though it wouldn’t win, and it would win one Golden Globe (Best Supporting Actor) and it would also win one Golden Raspberry Award (Razzie Redeemer Award) which showed that this was a return to form for Sylvester Stallone. The next film that makes it into this category is Spotlight which would win 2 Academy Awards (Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay) while being nominated for 4 more (Best Director, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress, and Best Film Editing). The film would be nominated for 3 Golden Globes (Best Picture – Drama, Best Director, and Best Screenplay) though it wouldn’t win any, but it does secure its spot as one of the best films of the year. The next film that makes it into this category is Brooklyn which was nominated for 3 Academy Awards (Best Picture, Best Actress, and Best Adapted Screenplay) though it wouldn’t win any, and it was also nominated for one Golden Globe (Best Actress – Drama) which it didn’t win and it just shows how strong the field was that this film didn’t win any awards. The last film that makes it into this category is the biographical drama film Trumbo, based on the life of Dalton Trumbo who is blacklisted by Hollywood for his association with the Communist Party and also serves time in prison briefly. The film would receive positive reviews from critics and finished with over $7 million as it was nominated for one Academy Award (Best Actor) which it didn’t win, and it also earned two Golden Globe nominations (Best Actor – Drama and Best Supporting Actress) though it didn’t win either. This was a definite mixed bag as some of the films did get some wins, but for the most part the films only got a handful of nominations which is a bit unusual for November films.
Overall Thoughts of November 2015:
Overall, the month of November 2015 ended up being a pretty solid month and while it might not have reached the high levels of some previous years, it still ended up finishing pretty high. As mentioned, November is one of the bigger months of the year given that it kicks off the holiday season and this year was no exception as this holiday season looked to be one of the biggest in recent memory. We had 5 films from this month make over $100 million with two of them making over $200 million, and the rest of the films in the month were pretty standard with nothing being terrible. 2015 has been a great year to this point and has been pretty hot up to this point, and with what looks to be a massive December coming next, we will see if the year ends on a high note. As for the month of November 2015, it is a very solid month and looks to set up a strong end to the year of 2015.
Final Grade: B+
