Steve’s Box Office Report: August 2014
Top 10 Films for the Month of August:
1. Guardians of the Galaxy – $333,176,600
2. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles – $191,204,754
3. Let’s Be Cops – $82,390,774
4. The Hundred-Foot Journey – $54,240,821
5. If I Stay – $50,474,843
6. Into the Storm – $47,602,194
7. The Giver – $45,090,374
8. The Expendables 3 – $39,322,544
9. Get on Up – $30,703,100
10. When the Game Stands Tall – $30,127,963
Honorable Mentions:
1. The November Man – $25,018,119
2. As Above, So Below – $21,321,100
3. Step Up All In – $14,904,384
4. Sin City: A Dame to Kill For – $13,757,804
August Winners: Guardians of the Galaxy, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Let’s Be Cops, the Hundred-Foot Journey, If I Stay, and the Giver
We continue on through the year of 2014 as we come to the last month of the summer and unlike previous Augusts, this month had the potential to be great as there were quite a few major releases this month. With the box office still pretty hot for the majority of the summer, this was a good way to close out the summer on a strong note and we did have quite a good number of films make it into this category. The first film that makes it into this category is the next installment in the MCU which is Guardians of the Galaxy, which sees a group of extraterrestrial criminals battle an evil force over a powerful object. The film would receive positive reviews from critics who felt it was a fresh outing for the MCU and it would finish with over $333 million which I will delve into later in the recap. The next film that makes it into this category is the latest reboot of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, which sees the four turtles team up with April O’Neil to battle the Shredder and his Foot Clan who look to unleash a virus on New York City. The film would receive mixed reviews from critics who felt it was a poor rehash of the classic characters, but the film would resonate with audiences as it finished with over $191 million ensuring the franchise still had some legs. The next film that makes it into this category is the action comedy Let’s Be Cops, a film about a pair of friends who pretend to be police officers and end up dealing with an Albanian gang. The film would receive negative reviews from critics who felt the film didn’t live up to the chemistry between the stars, and it would finish with over $82 million which was a pretty decent success for the film. The next film that makes it into this category is the comedy drama film the Hundred-Foot Journey, based on the novel of the same name of two rival restaurants in France battling for customers. The film would receive positive reviews from critics who felt it was slightly predictable and it would finish with over $54 million which was a modest success for the film. The next film that makes it into this category is the romantic drama If I Stay, based on the novel of the same name about a teenager who suffers an out-of-body experience while in a coma and struggles with whether to continue living after a tragic accident or move onto the afterlife. The film would receive mixed reviews from critics who felt it was a weaker YA adaptation and it would finish with over $50 million which was enough to get it into the top 5 of the month. The last film that makes it into this film is the drama film the Giver, based on the novel of the same name about a young boy who is set to become the Receiver of Memory and struggles with the concept of emotion. The film would receive negative reviews from critics who felt it didn’t live up to the source material, and the film would finish with over $45 million which was still a minor success. This was a pretty strong month with the two blockbusters dominating while the rest of the films in this category provided good counter-programming, and we will see if they were good enough to carry the month to a high level.
August Losers: The Expendables 3, Step Up All In, and Sin City: A Dame to Kill For
While the previous category had quite a number of films make it showing how well the month was doing, we did also have a few films make it into this category as there were a few films that cracked under the pressure. It would’ve been nice to see no film make it into this category for a month like this, but unfortunately there are going to be some films that don’t do well and these films are examples of that. The first film that makes it into this category is the third film in the Expendables franchise, and this film sees the group face off against their former co-founder who becomes an arms dealer and vows to destroy the team. The film would receive negative reviews from critics who felt it was on par with the other films in the trilogy, and it would finish with over $39 million which would be the lowest of the trilogy and it will be interesting to see if the franchise continues. The next film that makes it into this category is the dance film Step Up All In, the fifth film in the franchise where Sean Asa and his crew move to Los Angeles where they form a new crew to prepare for a competition. The film would receive mixed reviews from critics who criticized the plot though praised the dancing, and it would finish with over $14 million which makes it the lowest grossing film in the franchise and ends it on a downer. The last film that makes it into this category is the sequel to Sin City with A Dame to Kill For, which sees several characters continue their story while intertwined with each other. The film would receive mixed reviews from critics who felt it was a step down from the previous film, and it would finish with over $13 million which was also a big step down from the previous film. While there were only three films that made it into this category, these films were fairly big losers and we will see how they end up affecting the month in the end.
The Surprise/Story of August 2014: The MCU continues its streak as Guardians of the Galaxy dominates surprisingly good August 2014
As I had mentioned before, August typically didn’t see a lot of blockbusters released as this month is usually a down month for the summer with most of the big films coming out in either June or July, and the few times that a blockbuster did come out this month, it was a moderate success though not enough to carry the month to a higher level. This month bucks that trend with two major blockbusters released this month with Guardians of the Galaxy and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and needless to say these two films dominated the month and nothing else that came out this month was going to come close to them. Ultimately, Guardians had the MCU momentum behind it which put it far ahead of the recognized property that were the Turtles, and with the rest of the films of the month doing just enough and nothing bombing, it would lead to a really great outing for this month.
Overachiever of August 2014: Guardians of the Galaxy
When the second phase of the Marvel Cinematic Universe was announced, the one film that caught everyone’s attention was Guardians of the Galaxy which was one of the more obscure groups that Marvel had done, especially given the fact that there were actually two versions of the Guardians with the MCU opting to go with the second iteration of the team. Adding to the fact that it was basically another origin story right in the middle of the phase where the other characters were fully established to this point, and it seemed like this could go the way of the Incredible Hulk and Thor: The Dark World as one of the weaker entries. However, buzz for the film began to grow thanks to the cast, the visuals, and the soundtrack, and the film would also get strong acclaim from critics who felt it was a fresh outing for the MCU while serving as a good introduction to these characters. In the end, audiences agreed with the critics and the film made over $333 million and is still regarded as one of the most popular films in the MCU which all but guaranteed the Guardians would get at least one more stand-alone film, and there is also no question that this film deserves to be the overachiever of the month and we will see how it stacks up to the rest of the overachievers of the year.
Underachiever of August 2014: The Expendables 3
Since the first Expendables came out 4 years ago in 2010, this franchise has tried to find its footing as a series featuring numerous action stars and providing a lot of action in each of the films. Sadly, critics have not been kind to the franchise as the first film was not well-received, the second film was more favored, but this third film ends up to this point being the worst-reviewed film in the franchise. The franchise has also struggled to connect with audiences as despite the first film making over $100 million, the next two films have clearly seen diminishing returns with the second film making over $85 million and now this film making over $39 million making it also the lowest-grossing film in the franchise. With the trilogy now complete, it will be interesting to see if they try to continue on with a fourth film or if they will just cut their losses and end it here. As a result, this film joins the ranks of the first film by being named the underachiever of the month and we will see how it ranks up to the other underachievers of the year.
August 2014 Awards Watch: Guardians of the Galaxy, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the Hundred-Foot Journey, and the Expendables 3
As we see during the month of August, we either have no award contenders or at least a few though we never have a large amount of films make it into this category, but this month we do have a decent amount with 4 films which might be the most for the month of August to this point. The first film that makes it into this category is Guardians of the Galaxy which was nominated for two Academy Awards (Best Makeup and Hairstyling and Best Visual Effects) though it wouldn’t win either, but it continues the run of MCU films getting at least one nomination. The next film that makes it into this category is Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles which would win one Golden Raspberry Award (Worst Supporting Actress) while being nominated for 4 more (Worst Picture, Worst Director, Worst Remake, Rip-Off, or Sequel, and Worst Screenplay), and it will be interesting to see if there is a sequel if that is better received by critics. The next film that makes it into this category is the Hundred-Foot Journey which was nominated for one Golden Globe Award (Best Actress – Comedy or Musical) though it wouldn’t win, and the last film that makes it into this category is the Expendables 3 which would win one Golden Raspberry Award (Worst Supporting Actor) while being nominated for 2 more (Worst Supporting Actor). It was basically half and half for this month with two films getting nominated for the good awards while the other two were nominated for the bad awards.
Overall Thoughts of August 2014:
Overall, the month of August 2014 ended up being a pretty great month that was slightly better than July and on par with June which is quite remarkable as August is typically the down month for the summer. As I mentioned earlier, August usually doesn’t have any major films released during it though as we see, clearly audiences will come out in droves for the right film as we saw here. We had two films cross over $100 million with one making well over $300 million and the rest of the films were solid to average, and there were no films that came out this month that ended up bombing or even really underdelivering. 2014 has been a pretty solid year to this point and the summer has been one of the best, and as we head into the fall we will see if the momentum stays or starts to die off going into the holiday season. As for the month of August 2014, it is a great month and is probably the best August to this date.
Final Grade: A-
