Steve’s Box Office Report: July 2015
Top 10 Films for the Month of July:
1. Minions – $336,045,770
2. Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation – $195,042,377
3. Ant-Man – $180,202,163
4. Trainwreck – $110,212,700
5. Terminator Genisys – $89,760,956
6. Pixels – $78,747,585
7. Magic Mike XXL – $66,013,057
8. Vacation – $58,884,188
9. Southpaw – $52,421,953
10. Paper Towns – $32,000,304
Honorable Mentions:
1. The Gallows – $22,764,410
2. Mr. Holmes – $17,737,646
3. Self/less – $12,279,691
4. Amy – $8,431,144
We continue on through the year of 2015 as we are deep into the dog days of summer and after a strong June, July had the potential to be just as good if not better due to the number of big films released this month. Looking back, this might be the highest amount of films that make it into this category though I will have to go back and check to see if any year had this category reach double digits, but this is possibly the closest we get. The first film that makes it into this category is the animated film Minions, a prequel to Despicable Me which sees the Minions look for a boss to serve and land on a villain who looks to steal the crown jewels. The film would receive mixed reviews from critics who felt it was a fine spinoff though were worried if the Minions could carry their own film, but the film did finish with over $336 million which I will delve into shortly. The next film that makes it into this category is the next installment in the Mission: Impossible series with Rogue Nation, a film that sees Ethan Hunt try to avoid being captured by the CIA while hunting down a group of rogue government agents. The film would receive critical acclaim from critics who felt the franchise was stronger than ever, and it would finish with over $195 million and I think it’s safe to say the franchise will continue. The next film that makes it into this category is the action comedy film Ant-Man, the last film of Phase 2 of the MCU which sees Scott Lang become Ant-Man as he helps Hank Pym stop Darren Cross. The film would receive positive reviews from critics who felt it was a fresh entry to introduce a new character, and it would finish with over $180 million which ends Phase 2 on a strong note. The next film that makes it into this category is the comedy film Trainwreck, a film about a promiscuous magazine writer who attempts to get into a serious relationship. The film would receive positive reviews from critics who felt it was good counterprogramming to the bigger films, and it would finish with over $110 million which was a strong showing for this film. The next film that makes it into this category is the comedy-drama film Magic Mike XXL, a sequel to the original film which sees Mike and the Kings of Tampa reunite for one last performance. The film would receive positive reviews from critics who felt it was a slight step down from the previous film, and it would finish with over $66 million which was also a step down from the previous film. The next film that makes it into this category is the road comedy film Vacation, a sequel to the original series which sees an adult Rusty Griswold take his family across country to Wally World. The film would receive negative reviews from critics who felt it lacked the charm of the original series, but it did finish with over $58 million which was a good showing for the film. The next film that makes it into this category is the sports film Southpaw, a film about a boxer who tries to get his life on track after his wife is killed and his daughter is taken away. The film would receive positive reviews from critics who felt it was a fine film it not a bit dispirited, and it would finish with over $52 million which was a strong showing for the film. The next film that makes it into this category is the romantic comedy film Paper Towns, a film about a boy who searches for his close friend and love interest. The film would receive mixed reviews from critics who felt it was a fine, if somewhat bland film that was perfect for teens, and it would finish with over $32 million which was a fine showing for the little film. The last film that makes it into this category is the horror film the Gallows, a film about a group of students who attempt to put on a play that was marred by tragedy 20 years ago. The film would receive negative reviews from critics who felt it was a poor horror film looking for cheap scares, and it would finish with over $22 million which was still a good showing. The fact that this many films made it into this category is a clear indication of how strong the month was and we will see how it plays out in the end.
July Losers: Terminator Genisys
Given how many films from this month were in the previous category, it was pretty obvious that this category was going to be pretty empty and it would only be a matter of whether any film would make it into this category or not. Ultimately, we did have one film that makes it into this category and that is the newest entry in the Terminator franchise with Genisys, a film which sees Kyle Reese sent back to 1984 to protect Sarah Connor though he realizes the timeline has been altered. The film would receive negative reviews from critics who felt it was the worst in the franchise though praised the return of Arnold Schwarzenegger, and it would finish with over $89 million which made it the second lowest grossing film the franchise. It will be interesting to see if the franchise continues after this or if it is time to put it out to pasture, but what is certain is that having only one film in this category is another major plus for the month.
The Surprise/Story of July 2015: Minions assemble as “Despicable Me” spinoff easily takes top spot of July 2015
Since the summer of 2015 started, it has been a pretty strong season overall as May got things off to a hot start and June kept that momentum going, and now we reach the peak here with July as we have a lot of success in this month. When you have this many big films released in a month, they can either all succeed or end up cancelling each other out though this was a case where a lot of the films succeeded. In the end, Minions was the clear cut winner of the month by making over $336 million which proved the Despicable Me franchise still had plenty of firepower in it, and with 3 other films this month making over $100 million, it helped make the month a strong one. It will be interesting to see how August does because that is usually the lone down month of the summer, but right now there is no doubt that July currently stands as the top month of the year to this point.
Overachiever of July 2015: Minions
In July 2010, Despicable Me debuted and was a major success, introducing the world to the animation studio Illumination and it would become it’s primary franchise as Despicable Me 2 came out in 2013 and built off the success of the first film. One other thing the world was introduced to was the Minions who became incredibly popular to the point that they would be given their own film, and that’s what we get here with Minions which served as a prequel to the original Despicable Me. Even though the film was not as liked by critics as the first two films, audiences loved it with the film grossing over $336 million which put it between the first two films. There was no question that the franchise had plenty of juice left and we will see if we get a Minions sequel or a third Despicable Me first, but there is also no question that this film deserves to be named the overachiever of the month.
Underachiever of July 2015: Pixels
Going into this month, it was going to be interesting to see what film made it into this category because a bunch of them had potential to succeed, and for the most part they do so and I don’t believe that Terminator Genisys had any expectations so that doesn’t belong here. However, there was one film that had some interest behind it and that was the sci-fi action film Pixels, a film about an alien race invading Earth by recreating classic video games. There was some intrigue in the film given the use of classic arcade games being used by an alien race, but the film would ultimately receive negative reviews from critics who felt it was a poor film that relied too heavily on nostalgia. The film would also finish with over $78 million which was a clear disappointment as it couldn’t even break into the top 5 for the month, and as a result of that there is no doubt that this film deserves to be the underachiever of the month and has a strong case to be the underachiever of the year.
July 2015 Awards Watch: Pixels, Vacation, and Amy
As we have seen over the years, July is usually a hit-or-miss month when it comes to award contenders as even though the month delivers on films that make a lot of money, for some reason they don’t get any nods for any of the big 3 which is a bit weird. However, that does change a bit here as we do have a few films from this month that make it into this category. The first film that makes it into this category is Pixels which would be nominated for 6 Golden Raspberry Awards (Worst Film, Worst Actor, Worst Supporting Actress, Worst Supporting Actor, and Worst Screenplay) though it wouldn’t win any, and all this shows is that there were films even worse than this. The next film that makes it into this category is Vacation which was nominated for one Golden Raspberry Award (Worst Supporting Actor) though it wouldn’t win, and the last film that makes it into this category is the documentary film Amy, a film based on the life and career of singer Amy Winehouse. The film would receive critical acclaim from critics who felt it was a powerful look at the singer and her troubled life as it finished with over $8 million which was strong for a documentary, and it would win one Academy Award (Best Documentary Feature) which solidified it’s spot as one of the best of the year. It is always interesting when of the films in this category, the majority are nominated for the Golden Raspberry which is not quite the end result that the month wants.
Overall Thoughts of July 2015:
Overall, the month of July 2015 ends up being a great month and it is right now the best month of the year. As mentioned, the summer of 2015 has been very strong to this point as May got it off to a strong start, June kept the momentum going, and now we reach the peak here with July which is usually the case though sometimes it isn’t. We had 4 films from this month make over $100 million with one of them crossing well over $300 million, and the rest of the films from the month were solid to average with nothing being an outright bomb. 2015 has been a really good year for the most part as it started fine and has grown throughout the spring and into the summer, but now we will see how the year does as we head into August and the summer comes to an end. As for the month of July 2015, it is a great month and might be one of the best Julys that we’ve had to this point.
Final Grade: A+
