Steve’s Box Office Report: December 2015
Top 10 Films for the Month of December:
1. Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens – $936,662,225
2. Daddy’s Home – $150,351,137
3. Sisters – $87,044,645
4. Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip – $85,886,987
5. The Big Short – $70,259,870
6. Joy – $56,451,232
7. The Hateful Eight – $54,117,416
8. Krampus – $42,275,475
9. Concussion – $34,542,474
10. Point Break – $28,782,481
Honorable Mentions:
1. In the Heart of the Sea – $25,020,758
December Winners: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens, Daddy’s Home, Sisters, the Big Short, and Krampus
We now reach the end of 2015 and it has been a pretty strong year to say the least, and now it all comes down to the month of December and whether this month can either end the year on a high or a low. Looking at the slate of films for this month, anything less than solid would be a major disappointment though luckily we have nothing to worry about mainly from one film this month. The first film that makes it into his category is the return of Star Wars with the Force Awakens, which takes place 30 years after Return of the Jedi where a scavenger and former Stormtrooper join the Resistance led by Leia Organa in their fight against the First Order. The film would receive positive reviews from critics who felt it was a return to form for the franchise, and it would finish with over $936 million which I will delve into later in the recap. The next film that makes it into this category is the comedy film Daddy’s Home, a film about a stepfather who tries to bond with his stepchildren while also dealing with their biological father. The film would receive negative reviews from critics who felt it played it too safe despite the chemistry between Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg, but it would finish with over $150 million which was a strong showing for the film. The next film that makes it into this category is the comedy film Sisters, a film about a pair of adult sisters who decide to hold a party in their childhood home before it is sold. The film would receive mixed reviews from critics who felt it was solely carried by Tina Fey and Amy Poehler’s continued chemistry, and it would finish with over $87 million which was a good showing against Daddy’s Home. The next film that makes it into this category is the biographical film the Big Short, based on the 2010 book of the same name detailing the 2008 financial crisis that occurred when the housing bubble burst. The film would receive positive reviews from critics who considered it one of the best of the year, and it would finish with over $70 million which was a great showing for an award contender. The last film that makes it into this category is the holiday horror film Krampus, a film about a family who is tormented by the demon Krampus due to a boy’s disbelief in the season. The film would receive mixed reviews from critics who felt it was fine counterprogramming to the bigger films, and it would finish with over $42 million which was a good showing for a horror film at this time. Obviously, with the Force Awakens pretty much carrying the month, the fact that we still had this many films make it into this category is a strong showing for this month.
December Losers: Point Break and In the Heart of the Sea
Now obviously with the month being dominated mostly by one film, there was always going to be a chance that this category was going to have some films be in it, but the question would be how many and would they be big enough losers to drag the month down. In the end, we only have two films make it into this category which itself is a plus though now we will see how badly they did. The first film that makes it into this category is the action thriller film Point Break, a remake of the 1991 film of the same name of an FBI agent who infiltrates a group of extreme sports athletes he believes is behind a series of heists. The film would receive negative reviews from critics who felt it was an unnecessary remake, and it would finish with over $28 million which was a pretty big loss for the film and one of the bigger bombs of the year. The other film that makes it into this category is the historical drama film In the Heart of the Sea, based on the novel of the same name of the sinking of a whaling ship that would serve as the inspiration for the novel “Moby Dick”. The film would receive negative reviews from critics who felt it was a pretty pedestrian film amongst bigger films, and it would finish with over $25 million which also made it one of the bigger failures of the year. While these two films ended up being pretty bad losers, the fact that this month also featured one of the biggest films in recent history is more than enough to counterbalance these two failures.
The Surprise/Story of December 2015: The Force is strong with Star Wars as Episode VII breaks numerous records and dominates December 2015
In 2008, we saw the last Star Wars film in theaters with “The Clone Wars” which did fine, but was pretty much there to promote the upcoming TV series and after that, Star Wars would go dormant for the most part aside until it was announced that LucasFilm would be acquired by Disney in 2012. After that, the sequel trilogy was announced with the first film being released this month and needless to say, the expectation and anticipation was high especially with J.J. Abrams at the helm after he basically revived the Star Trek franchise. In the end, even the most modest expectations were crushed as the film nearly became the first to make $1 billion in the U.S. alone, but it did fall short though making over $936 million is still nothing to sneeze at as it would break several records and completely dominate the month. While some of the other films this month did pretty well in their own right, nothing was going to come close to Star Wars as that alone was enough to end the year on a strong note.
Overachiever of December 2015: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens
As mentioned in the previous category, the expectations for the Force Awakens were extremely high given that this was the first Star Wars film in over 7 years, and the anticipation was strong with the return of most of the original cast while bringing in new characters. This would lead to numerous theories being made about the film, specifically around the character of Rey and if she had any connections to the Skywalker name, and having J.J. Abrams at the helm was also widely praised given what he did for Star Trek. In the end, the film far exceeded any expectations and dominated the month, and it was pretty clear that the Star Wars franchise was back with a vengeance and we will see how they build off this momentum with the sequel trilogy as well as possible anthology films and future TV series. As a result of that, there is no question that this film is not only the overachiever of the month, but has a great shot at being overachiever of the year and maybe even of the decade.
Underachiever of December 2015: The Hateful Eight
In 2012, we saw the latest film from director Quentin Taratino with Django Unchained which was considered one of his greatest films and one of the best of the year, and now 3 years later we get his eighth film with the Hateful Eight, a film about 8 strangers who take shelter during a storm at a stagecoach stopover a decade after the civil war. It was interesting that Tarantino would do two straight Westerns and unlike Django Unchained which was critically acclaimed, the Hateful Eight wasn’t as well-received enough though it did receive positive reviews from critics who felt it was a good film though considered it one of his weaker films. The film would end up finishing with over $54 million which was a fine showing for the film, but there was some thought that the film would do better as counterprogramming to Star Wars. While it could be said that Star Wars was such a juggernaut that this film stood no chance, there was enough of a subset of people that would prefer to see this instead and the fact it made what it did was a bit of a disappointment. As a result, this film ends up being the underachiever of the month which I think is a first for Tarantino, and we will see if he can rebound with his next film.
December 2015 Awards Watch: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens, Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip, the Big Short, Joy, the Hateful Eight, and Concussion
As we come to the end of the year, this is around the time when we start getting hot and heavy with the award contenders and December is typically the big month for that, and that continues to hold true here as we have quite a number of films from this month make it into this category. The first film that makes it into this category is the Force Awakens as it would be nominated for 5 Academy Awards (Best Film Editing, Best Original Score, Best Sound Editing, Best Sound Mixing, and Best Visual Effects) though it wouldn’t win any, and that’s a bit of a shocker as Star Wars usually wins either for music or visual effects. The next film that makes it into this category is the comedy film Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip, the fourth installment in this series where Dave Seville takes the Chipmunks to Florida so he can propose to his girlfriend. The film would receive negative reviews from critics and finished with over $85 million which made it the lowest in the franchise, and it would win one Golden Raspberry Award (Worst Supporting Actress) while being nominated for two more (Worst Supporting Actor and Worst Prequel, Remake, Ripoff, or Sequel). The next film that makes it into this category is the Big Short which won one Academy Award (Best Adapted Screenplay) while being nominated for 4 more (Best Picture, Best Director, Best Supporting Actor, and Best Film Editing), and it would also be nominated for 4 Golden Globe Awards (Best Film – Comedy or Musical, Best Supporting Actor, and Best Screenplay). The next film that makes it into this category is the biographical film Joy, a film loosely based on Joy Mangano and the invention of the Miracle Mop. The film would receive positive reviews from critics and finished with over $56 million as it would receive one Academy Award nomination (Best Actress) which it didn’t win, and it would win one Golden Globe Award (Best Actress – Comedy or Musical) while being nominated for one more (Best Picture – Comedy or Musical) as the praise was towards Jennifer Lawrence and her performance. The next film that makes it into this category is the Hateful Eight which won one Academy Award (Best Original Score) while being nominated for 2 more (Best Supporting Actress and Best Cinematography), and it would also win one Golden Globe Award (Best Original Score) while being nominated for two more (Best Supporting Actress and Best Screenplay). The last film that makes it into this category is the sports drama Concussion, based on the true story of Bennet Omalu and his study of the effects of concussions and CTE on football players. The film would receive mixed reviews from critics who felt the film was carried by Will Smith and it would finish with over $34 million, and it would receive one Golden Globe nomination (Best Actor – Drama) which it didn’t win as well as one Golden Raspberry nomination (Razzie Redeemer Award) which it didn’t win either. While the majority of the films in this category didn’t get a lot of wins, the fact that they got this many nominations was still a strong showing for the month as a whole.
Overall Thoughts of December 2015:
Overall, the month of December 2015 ended up being a strong month and while it wasn’t perfect, it was still a dominant month and a strong end to what ended up being a surprisingly good year of 2015. As I mentioned earlier, December can be a make-or-break month for the year as it can end things on a high note or a low note, and there is no question that this month ended the year on a major high. We did only have two films make over $100 million though one of them made well over $900 million which is completely unprecedented, and the rest of the films in the month did well enough to help underneath with only two films being complete bombs though not badly enough to hurt. 2015 as a whole has been a very strong year with a solid start, a red hot summer, and the back half here has been strong as well, and we will see the momentum can carry over into 2016 though it will be interesting to see if anything comes close to the Force Awakens. As for the month of December 2015, it is a pretty dominant month and brings an end to what ended up being a strong year in 2015.
Final Grade: A
