Steve’s Box Office Report: December 2009
Top 10 Films for the Month of December:
1. Avatar – $749,766,139
2. Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel – $219,614,612
3. Sherlock Holmes – $209,028,679
4. It’s Complicated – $112,735,375
5. The Princess and the Frog – $104,400,899
6. Up in the Air – $83,823,381
7. Invictus – $37,491,364
8. Did You Hear About the Morgans? – $29,580,087
9. Brothers – $28,544,157
10. Nine – $19,676,965
Honorable Mentions:
1. Armored – $15,988,876
2. The Young Victoria – $11,001,272
3. A Single Man – $9,176,000
4. Transylmania – $397,641
December Winners: Avatar, Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel, Sherlock Holmes, It’s Complicated, and Up in the Air
We are now into the final month of the year as well as the final month of the decade of the 2000s, and 2009 has been a pretty solid year to close out the decade and all signs pointed to a strong finish to the year. Little did anyone know how well the month would end up doing with one film in particular having a performance that no one could’ve predicted. That film is the first film to be in this category and that is the sci-fi film Avatar, a film about humans trying to colonize a foreign planet while mining for a specific material while coming to conflict with the native species. With its unique premise and focus on being a 3-D event, the film would receive positive reviews from critics and go onto have a tremendous run that we will further document later in the review. The next film from this month that makes it into this category is the family film Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel, a film where the chipmunks balance school and their career while facing a rivalry with a trio of singing female chipmunks. Following the success of the first film, you knew a sequel would come and despite the negative reviews from critics, the film would have a good run and finished ahead of the first film which all but guaranteed the franchise would become a trilogy. The next film from this month that makes it into this category is the mystery action film Sherlock Holmes, a film where the detective and his companion Watson try to save England from a mystic. The film would receive positive reviews from critics who felt it was a satisfying portrayal of the legendary character and it would make over $200 million even in a loaded month which would help fuel a potential sequel. The next film from this month that makes it into this category is the romance film It’s Complicated, a film about a woman who has an affair with her former husband while falling in love with another man. Despite the mixed reviews from critics, the film would go onto have a solid run even in such a crowded market and it would manage to finish with just over $110 million which was a major success for the film. The fifth and last film from this month that makes it into this category is the comedy drama Up in the Air, a film about a corporate “downsizer” and his travels as he takes a new hire under his wing. Based on the novel of the same name, the film would receive critical acclaim from critics who considered it one of the best of the year and it would have a solid run by making over $83 million. Given how loaded this month was, the fact that these five films were able to make as much money as they did is a testament to how well they did and helped push the month of December into the heights it was able to reach.
December Losers: Invictus, Did You Hear About the Morgans?, Nine, and the Young Victoria
While we did have a lot of successes this month especially with the winners of the month, the month wasn’t without a few slip-ups as there were a few films that didn’t do well. Granted, the month was pretty loaded with some major films and no one expected Avatar to dominate like it did, but that is not a valid excuse for these films not to do as well as they ended up finishing. The first film from this month that makes it into this category is the sports drama film Invictus, based on the true story of South Africa hosting and winning the 1995 Rugby World Cup following the collapse of apartheid and the election of Nelson Mandela as president. Despite the positive reviews from critics, the film failed to find a foothold amongst the bigger films released during the month and it will fall short of $40 million and was swallowed up in the end. The next film from this month that makes it into this category is the romantic comedy Did You Hear About the Morgans?, a film about a couple about to divorce being forced into a witness protection program after witnessing a murder. The film would receive negative reviews from critics and against the other comedies released this month, it would pretty much fall by the wayside and was left in the dust by barely missing the $30 million mark. The next film from this month that makes it into this category is the musical film Nine, based on the 1982 musical of the same name about film director Guido Contini and his numerous affairs. The film would receive mixed reviews from critics who enjoyed some of the performances though felt the film was uneven, and like the previous two it would be swallowed up by the bigger films and fell off fairly quickly. The fourth and final film from this month that makes it into this category is the period drama the Young Victoria, based on the early life and reign of Queen Victoria up to her marriage with Prince Albert. The film would receive positive reviews from critics who mainly praised Emily Blunt’s performance, but it also would be completely crushed under the weight of the bigger films and finished with just barely over $11 million. While these films weren’t bad enough to drag the month down coupled with the big films doing very well, they were still glaring enough that they are amongst the worst films of the year in terms of lack of money made.
The Surprise/Story of December 2009: Avatar soars high as it closes out 2009 on a dominant note
Coming into the month of December, the box office was once again on a high after a very solid November and with the films that were coming out this month, it was more than likely the month would end the year on a good note barring some sort of complete meltdown. There were still plenty of big films coming out this month along with the main award contenders, and you still had some of the holdovers from November still looking to make some more money in the tail end of their runs. In the end, Avatar ended up soaring over everyone and while most of its money was made during the first two months of 2010, it got off to a great start in December and would go on to have a tremendous run that no one ever expected. Coupled with strong performances by Alvin and the Chipmunks, Sherlock Holmes, and It’s Complicated, and the month ended up being one of the best of the year and closed out not just the year, but the decade itself on a strong note. It would be interesting to go back to January of 2000 and see how the years have progressed, but that’s a project for another time and it’s time to look forward towards the 2010s.
Overachiever of December 2009: Avatar
Going into the month of December, the one film that had perhaps the most eyeballs on it was Avatar as it was James Cameron’s first major film since Titanic back in 1997, and given how long it had taken to make this film there was a lot of question as to whether it could really succeed. Many were even predicting that the film would be a bit of a disappointment even with the 3-D premium ticket pricing included, but things did look up for the film when the reviews coming in were pretty positive from critics. In the end, the intrigue of the film was enough to debut with a strong showing though it did slightly miss the record opening set by I Am Legend just two years earlier. However, the film would go on to have strong legs as it would go onto dominate the first two months of 2010 and it finished with nearly $750 million, and an even bigger milestone was that it became the first film to make over $2 billion worldwide and took the top spot from Titanic. As a result, this ends up being one of the easiest choices to make in determining the overachiever of the month and it is clearly Avatar, and it will be interesting to see if anything can come close to matching these results as we dive into the 2010s.
Underachiever of December 2009: The Princess and the Frog
As we head into December, one thing that was lacking was a strong animated film as Planet 51 had pretty much flamed out by this point and aside from Alvin and the Chipmunks, there was not another major film aimed towards families. So Disney looked to fill the void with their newest release the Princess and the Frog, a loose re-imagining of the classic story where a girl is transformed into a frog after kissing a frog prince who mistakes her for a princess. It was Disney’s first film since 2004’s Home on the Range to be done in the traditional animated style and it would receive positive reviews from critics, and it was in limited release in November to gain some momentum towards a wide release. But despite debuting at number one in its wide release, it would soon lose a lot of momentum especially after the release of Alvin and the Chipmunks and it would become the latest in a string of disappointments for Disney. You can say that the decade as a whole was a disappointment for the Mouse House and we will see how the 2010s turn out for them, but in the end the Princess and the Frog ends up earning the title of the underachiever of the month.
December 2009 Awards Watch: Avatar, Sherlock Holmes, It’s Complicated, the Princess and the Frog, Up in the Air, Invictus, Did You Hear About the Morgans?, Nine, the Young Victoria, and A Single Man
So as we towards the end of the year, this is the time where we get the majority of the award contenders coming out and looking to get their piece of the pie. After the last few months where we had only a handful of films being award contenders, this month we have an astounding 10 films manage to make it into this category while being spread amongst the big three. The first film from this month that makes it is Avatar which would win 3 Academy Awards (Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography, and Best Visual Effects) while being nominated for 6 more (Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Score, Best Sound Editing, Best Sound Mixing, and Best Film Editing). The film would also win 2 Golden Globe Awards (Best Picture – Drama and Best Director) while being nominated for 2 more (Best Original Score and Best Original Song), and this was a testament to the film for being included in so many major categories. The next film from this month that makes it into this category is Sherlock Holmes which was nominated for 2 Academy Awards (Best Original Score and Best Art Direction) though it wouldn’t win either, and it would win one Golden Globe Award (Best Actor – Musical or Comedy) which was a good showing for this film. The next film from this month that makes it into this category is It’s Complicated which was nominated for 3 Golden Globe Awards (Best Picture – Musical or Comedy, Best Actress – Musical or Comedy, and Best Screenplay) though it wouldn’t win any, but it was still a solid outing for the film. The next film from this month that makes it into this category is the Princess and the Frog which was nominated for 2 Academy Awards (Best Animated Picture and Best Original Song for two songs) though it wouldn’t win either, and it would also be nominated for one Golden Globe Award (Best Animated Picture) though it wouldn’t win as the animated awards were mainly dominated by Up. The next film from this month that makes it into this category is Up in the Air which would be nominated for 5 Academy Awards (Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actress twice, and Best Adapted Screenplay) though it wouldn’t win any of them. It would also win one Golden Globe Award (Best Screenplay) while being nominated for 4 more (Best Picture – Drama, Best Actor – Drama, Best Supporting Actress twice, and Best Director) which was a nice success for this film. The next film to make it into this category is Invictus which would be nominated for 2 Academy Awards (Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor) though it wouldn’t win either, and it would also be nominated for 3 Golden Globe Awards (Best Actor – Drama, Best Supporting Actor, and Best Director) though it wouldn’t win any, but it was a good showing for a film that didn’t do well in the box office. The next film from this month that makes it into this category is Did You Hear About the Morgans? which was nominated for one Golden Raspberry Award (Worst Actress) though it wouldn’t win and it would be the only film from this month that was nominated for a Golden Raspberry. The next film from this month that makes it into this category is Nine which was nominated for 4 Academy Awards (Best Supporting Actress, Best Original Song, Best Art Direction, and Best Costume Design) though it wouldn’t win any. It would also be nominated for 5 Golden Globe Awards (Best Picture – Musical or Comedy, Best Actor – Musical or Comedy, Best Actress – Musical or Comedy, Best Supporting Actress, and Best Original Song) though it wouldn’t win any of those awards either. The next film from this month that makes it into this category is the Young Victoria which would win one Academy Award (Best Costume Design) and was nominated for 2 more (Best Art Direction and Best Makeup). It would also be nominated for one Golden Globe Award (Best Actress – Drama) which it wouldn’t win, and it was a fine showing for a film that didn’t connect with the mainstream. The final film from this month that makes it into this category is the drama A Single Man, a film about a depressed gay university professor who comes to terms with the death of his partner while getting his life back on track. It would receive positive reviews from critics and was nominated for one Academy Award (Best Actor) which it wouldn’t win, and it was also nominated for 3 Golden Globe Awards (Best Actor – Drama, Best Supporting Actress, and Best Original Score) though it wouldn’t win any as well. While most of the films received multiple nominations without getting a lot of wins, it was still a successful month in terms of the number of films that were nominated for awards.
Overall Thoughts of December 2009:
Overall, the month of December ended up being a great month and was a good way to end the year and the decade on a major high note. As mentioned, the box office was on a slight high coming off a pretty solid November though again I don’t think anyone could’ve anticipated just how well it would end up doing. While most of the success of the month was mainly due to the overperforming of Avatar, a lot of the other films released this month did very well and obviously the holiday period gave them a boost in terms of the money they made. 2009 was a pretty solid year overall with not many low points and it was a good way to end the decade, which as a whole was solid as well though the second half of the decade was slightly better than the first. As we head into a new year and a brand new decade, we will see how the box office plays out and what films would be the breakouts of the decade. As for the month of December 2009, it was a great month and it ends the year and the decade very strongly.
Final Grade: A+
