Steve’s Box Office Report: December 2011
Top 10 Films for the Month of December:
1. Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol – $209,397,903
2. Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows – $186,848,418
3. Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked – $133,110,742
4. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo – $102,515,793
5. The Descendants – $82,584,160
6. War Horse – $79,884,879
7. The Adventures of Tintin – $77,591,831
8. We Bought a Zoo – $75,624,550
9. New Year’s Eve – $54,544,638
10. The Sitter – $30,441,326
Honorable Mentions:
1. The Darkest Hour – $21,443,494
2. Young Adult – $16,311,571
3. My Week with Marilyn – $14,600,347
4. A Separation – $7,099,055
December Winners: Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked, the Descendants, and We Bought a Zoo
We now come to the final month of 2011 and it has been a pretty interesting year to this point, and coming off what was a mixed bag that was November there was hope that the films in December would end the year on a high note. Unlike the previous month where one film really dominated the other ones, this month had more films do very well as once again there was a little bit of something for everyone. The first film from this month that makes it into this category is the next installment in the Mission: Impossible series with Ghost Protocol, which sees Ethan Hunt and his team try to find a nuclear extremist who had implicated the IMF in the bombing of the Kremlin and forced them to be disavowed. The film received critical acclaim from critics who considered it one of the best action films of the decade and it finished with over $209 million which I will delve further into later in the review. The next film from this month that makes it into this category is the mystery action film Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, the sequel to the 2009 film where Holmes and Dr. Watson attempt to stop Professor Moriarty from instigating a major war. The film would receive mixed reviews from critics who felt it was a step down from its predecessor, but it would have a successful run and finished with over $186 million which leaves open the possibility to add a third film to make it a trilogy. The next film from this month that makes it into this category is the family film Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked, the third film in the franchise where the Chipmunks and Chipettes are stranded on a deserted island where they find a castaway looking for treasure. The film would receive negative reviews from critics who felt it was the worst in the franchise and it would finish with just over $133 million which was the lowest in the franchise, but it was still successful enough to potentially see the franchise continue on. The next film from this month that makes it into this category is the comedy drama film the Descendants, a film about an attorney who struggles with several unexpected events in his life. The film would receive positive reviews from critics who felt it was one of the best of the year and it would finish with just over $82 million which was a solid win for the film. The fifth and final film from this month that makes it into this category is the comedy film We Bought a Zoo, based on the memoir of the same name where a couple purchase an old zoo and attempt to reopen it. The film received mixed to positive reviews from critics and would finish with just over $75 million which was seen as a nice win for this film. Considering how loaded this month ended up being and having to deal with the holdovers from the previous months, these five films did a great job in making the money that they did and helped make the month very successful.
December Losers: The Adventures of Tintin
With a wide variety of films being released during this month, there surprisingly weren’t a lot of films that were geared towards families as there were only two films that were specifically aimed at children and families. While one of them made it as a winner which was Alvin and the Chipmunks, the other one ends up being included in this category and that was the action adventure film the Adventures of Tintin, based on the comic series of the same name where Tintin and his dog help a disgraced ship captain recover the treasure of his ancestor’s ship. The film would receive positive reviews from critics and did finish with over $77 million which was fine enough, but in a month like this it seemed to be crushed under the weight of other films which I will get into later in the review. However, the fact that there was only one film that was a loser of the month was a big plus for the month and didn’t drag the month down that much.
The Surprise/Story of December 2011: Mission not impossible as “Ghost Protocol” takes top spot of loaded December 2011
Going into the month of December, November had been carried by the latest Twilight film and much of the other films were not riding a lot of momentum, and this month was being carried by a few sequels and some award contenders. For the most part, the majority of the films were aimed at adults with only a few films that were family films which was a bit weird given we were obviously around the time when schools were out for Christmas break and going into the New Year. In the end, we did have four films cross the $100 million mark with one of them making over $200 million and that was Ghost Protocol, and coupled with some other strong performances by films that didn’t make it to $100 million and the month ends up being a very good month and ends 2011 on a pretty high note.
Overachiever of December 2011: Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol
It had been five years since Mission: Impossible III came out and while the film was better received than it’s predecessors, it would end up being the lowest grossing film in the franchise to that point. Despite that, there was belief that the franchise still had enough legs for a fourth film and we get that here with Ghost Protocol, and the only question now was could it do well coming out in a month that was going to be loaded with a lot of films aimed towards adults. Continuing to build off the goodwill from the previous film, this film would garner near critical acclaim as many considered it the best in the franchise to that point, and audiences clearly agreed with the critics as it managed to pull away from the other films by crossing $200 million with just over $209 million. This would make it the second highest grossing film in the franchise as it just missed surpassing the second film, and it was very clear by the end of the year that this franchise had more than enough juice left in it that it wouldn’t be surprising to see a fifth film pop up here in the future. As a result, there is no question that Ghost Protocol is more than deserving of being the overachiever of the month and it will be interesting to see how it stacks up against the overachievers from the year.
Underachiever of December 2011: The Adventures of Tintin
On paper, it seemed like the Adventures of Tintin had the potential to be a breakout hit as it was based off a popular comic series, had a fairly decent run on TV as a cartoon series, and perhaps more importantly had one of the best directors of all time in Steven Spielberg at the helm. While the road to get to the film was a bit rocky which included an initial release in 2010 that was delayed to now, the film was getting positive reviews from critics and was becoming an early awards contender. In the end, the film would finish with just over $77 million which was a good success for the film, but it does feel like it could’ve done more considering it finished a good distance behind Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked by about $55 million. Coupled with a potential sequel that has since been stuck in developmental hell and ultimately, the film ends up being the underachiever of the year though it more than likely will not be as high as the other underachievers of the year.
December 2011 Awards Watch: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, the Descendants, War Horse, the Adventures of Tintin, New Year’s Eve, Young Adult, My Week with Marilyn, and a Separation
Like we usually have when we get to this time of the year, we have a lot of award contenders come out during the month of December as we have an amazing eight films from this month make it into this category. While most of them are the two good awards, we do actually have one that is involved in the bad award as it were though it is mostly good. The first film from this month that makes it into this category is the thriller film the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, based on the novel of the same name where a journalist enlists a computer hacker to help him in a missing persons case. The film would receive positive reviews from critics who felt it was one of the best films of the year and finished with over $102 million as it would win one Academy Award (Best Film Editing) while being nominated for four more (Best Actress, Best Cinematography, Best Sound Editing, and Best Sound Mixing), and it was also nominated for two Golden Globe Awards (Best Actress – Drama and Best Original Score) though it wouldn’t win either. The next film from this month that makes it into this category is the Descendants which would win one Academy Award (Best Adapted Screenplay) while being nominated for four more (Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, and Best Film Editing), and it would also win two Golden Globe Awards (Best Picture – Drama and Best Actor -Drama) while being nominated for three more (Best Director, Best Supporting Actress, and Best Screenplay) and this was a nice run for this film. The next film that makes it into this category is the war film War Horse, a film about the life of a horse that is brought into World War I and experiences numerous adventures through its life. The film would receive positive reviews from critics and finished with just over $79 million, and it would be nominated for six Academy Awards (Best Picture, Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography, Best Original Score, Best Sound Editing, and Best Sound Mixing) though it wouldn’t win any of them. It would also receive two Golden Globe nominations (Best Picture – Drama and Best Original Score) though it wouldn’t win either, but it was still a good showing for this film to get this many nods. The next film from this month that makes it into this category is the Adventures of Tintin which was nominated for one Academy Award (Best Original Score) which it wouldn’t win, and it would win one Golden Globe Award (Best Animated Feature) which was a huge win for the film given the other animated films that came out this year. The next film from this month that makes it into this category is the romance film New Year’s Eve, a film that follows several people as they deal with their personal issues on New Year’s Eve. The film would receive scathing reviews from critics who believed it wasted its large cast and it would finish with over $54 million, and it would be nominated for five Golden Raspberry Awards (Worst Picture, Worst Actress, Worst Director, Worst Screenplay, and Worst Screen Ensemble) though it wouldn’t win any as there was a film the previous month that swept everything up. The next film from this month that makes it into this category is the comedy drama film Young Adult, a film about a divorcee who returns to her hometown and rekindle a relationship with her ex who has a family of his own. The film would receive positive reviews from critics and ended with just over $16 million, and it would be nominated for one Golden Globe Award (Best Actress – Comedy or Musical) which it wouldn’t win. The next film from this month that makes it into this category is the drama film My Week with Marilyn, a film about the filming of the 1957 film “The Prince and the Showgirl” and Colin Clark’s experiences with Marilyn Monroe. The film would receive positive reviews from critics and finished with over $14 million, and it would receive two Academy Award nominations (Best Actress and Best Supporting Actor) though it wouldn’t win either and it would win one Golden Globe Award (Best Actress – Musical or Comedy) while being nominated for two more (Best Picture – Musical or Comedy and Best Supporting Actor). The last film from this month that makes it into this category is the drama film A Separation, a film about a couple who separate and deal with the fallout that surrounds their family. The film would receive critical acclaim from critics and finished with just over $7 million, and it would win one Academy Award (Best Foreign Language Film) and was nominated for one more (Best Original Screenplay) while also winning one Golden Globe Award (Best Foreign Language Film). December usually sees a lot of big award contenders come out though sometimes they just get the nods and don’t win, but this month we see a good amount of films actually walk away with awards.
Overall Thoughts of December 2011:
Overall, the month of December for 2011 ended up being a pretty great month and really ended the year on a high note. December usually can make or break a year since this month is up there with the summer months as having the biggest films of the year come out, and this was a year that December ended up making the year strong. We had four films from this month make over $100 million with one crossing $200 million and the rest of the top 10 were pretty solid with nothing being a bomb. 2011 has been quite the year with some big highs though it also had some big lows, but for the most part it has had more highs and lows and now we will see if the momentum can continue on into 2012 which will have some major blockbusters. As for the month of December 2011, it is a really great month and one of the better Decembers in quite a while.
Final Grade: A
