Steve’s Box Office Report: June 2010
Top 10 Films for the Month of June:
1. Toy Story 3 – $415,004,880
2. The Twilight Saga: Eclipse – $300,531,751
3. The Karate Kid – $176,591,618
4. Grown Ups – $162,001,186
5. The A-Team – $77,196,316
6. Knight and Day – $76,423,035
7. Get Him to the Greek – $60,974,475
8. Killers – $47,059,963
9. Marmaduke – $33,633,5977
10. Splice – $17,010,170
Honorable Mentions:
1. Jonah Hex – $10,547,117
2. Winter’s Bone – $6,531,503
June Winners: Toy Story 3, the Twilight Saga: Eclipse, the Karate Kid, Grown Ups, and Get Him to the Greek
We continue on through the year of 2010 as we officially hit the summer and after what was a fairly decent start to the season with May, we have a pretty stacked lineup here for June and it was quite the variety of films. There was a little bit for everyone with the films that came out this month and despite the loaded month, there were several films that did very well and were able to get into this category. The first film from this month that makes it into this category is the animated film Toy Story 3, the third film in the trilogy where Woody and his friends come to terms with Andy growing up as they try to survive being in a daycare. The film would receive critical acclaim as many considered it a perfect sendoff for the franchise and it would easily become the highest grossing animated film of all time for the moment. The next film from this month that makes it into this category is the next installment of the Twilight Saga with Eclipse, which sees Bella Swan having to choose between Edward and Jacob as a string of killings grip her town. The film would receive mixed reviews from critics who felt it was a step up from New Moon though believed it wouldn’t gain many new fans, and it would end up finishing with just over $300 million which put it at the top of the franchise and set the stage for the finale. The next film from this month that makes it into this category is the martial arts film the Karate Kid, a remake of the classic 1984 film where a boy befriends a karate master and learns karate to participate in a tournament. The film would receive mixed reviews from critics who felt that while it was a satisfying film, it did not live up to the original though it would end up making over $176 million which was a huge success for the remake. The next film from this month that makes it into this category is the comedy film Grown Ups, a film about a group of friends who reunite after three decades to mourn their basketball coach while reconnecting with each other. The film would receive negative reviews from critics who felt it was a poor film despite the star power, but despite the reviews it would make over $162 million which was a big win and left the door open for a possible sequel. The final film from this month that makes it into this category is the comedy film Get Him to the Greek, a film about a talent scout who works to bring a failing rock star to a famous venue to celebrate the 10th anniversary of his last performance at the venue. The film would receive positive reviews from critics and it would end up just missing $61 million which was a fine number, and given the other films coming out around the same time it was a good win for this film. These films were pretty strong in the numbers that they made as four of them made well over $100 million, and the successes of these films help push the month up and made it memorable.
June Losers: The A-Team, Knight and Day, Killers, and Jonah Hex
Even though we had a solid number of winners for the month, there were also just as many losers of the month which isn’t too surprising given how well the winners had done and there wasn’t much left for these films. In addition, these films had a lot of questions as to whether they could surprise people and possibly do well, but in the end they don’t and end up in this category. The first film from this month that makes it into this category is the action film the A-Team, based off the 1980s TV show of the same name of a group of Special Forces soldiers who try to clear their name for a crime they didn’t commit. Despite the star power in the film, it would receive mixed to negative reviews from critics who felt it was a poor rehash of the TV series and it would finish with just under $78 million which was a pretty fair disappointment. Th next film from this month that makes it into this category is the action comedy film Knight and Day, a film about a secret service agent who is on the run from the CIA and he forces a woman to become involved as well. The film would receive mixed reviews from critics and would end up making just over $76 million, which was a pretty big disappointment and I will delve further into that later in the recap. The next film from this month that makes it into this category is the action comedy film Killers, a film about a woman who falls in love with a man only to learn that he is an assassin. The film would receive negative reviews from critics who considered it one of the worst films of the year, and it would end up making just over $47 million as it in essence faded into obscurity. The final film from this month that makes it into this category is the superhero film Jonah Hex, based on the comics of the same name where a bounty hunter who can revive the dead seeks revenge for the death of his family. The film would receive negative reviews from critics who felt it was a terrible comic adaptation and it would flop at the box office, making just over $10 million and leaving it as one of the bigger bombs of the year. While these films were fairly bad and could’ve tanked any other month, the winners did so well that they counterbalanced the bad effects of these films and kept the month of June in good balance.
The Surprise/Story of June 2010: Pixar reclaims the June crown as Toy Story 3 easily takes the top spot
Beginning in 2006, June was pretty much dominated by Pixar as Cars, Ratatouille, and WALL-E all took the top spot for the month of June in that year, but that changed the previous year when the Pixar film was released in May though the result was the same as Up took the top spot. This year, Pixar returns to its usual June release month with Toy Story 3 and for the fifth straight year in a row, they once again take the top spot for the month as Toy Story 3 easily finishes at the top and it’s not even close. Even with the third Twilight film being released this month and a couple of other films that looked like they could potentially have a solid run, none of them touch Toy Story 3 as Eclipse finishes with $300 million and is still $115 million away from Toy Story 3. By this point, it was becoming a constant that if a Pixar film was being released in June, it was more than likely going to finish at the top of the list though we will see because the next few Pixar films have some question marks as to whether they will do well. In the end, Toy Story 3 dominates the month and hands Pixar another successful outing as they once again take the top spot for the month of June.
Overachiever of June 2010: Toy Story 3
When the first Toy Story came out back in 1995, it was a massive success and showed that computer animation was going to be the future of animation, and it would put Pixar on the map as a viable studio going forward. Four years later, Toy Story 2 came out and was just as successful if not more so than the first one and both films were critically acclaimed as it was another major win for Pixar. After that, Pixar would go onto release many more films throughout the decade that had a varying degree of success, and then it was announced that Toy Story would get a third film to officially make it a trilogy. Even though Pixar’s track record to this point had been pretty stellar, there was probably some hesitation since the third films of trilogies tend to end the series on a bit of a downer and it had been 11 years since Toy Story 2 had come out. Fortunately, Toy Story 3 ended up being a great film that many considered a fitting end to the trilogy though there was enough that you could see the franchise continue in short films, and I wouldn’t be surprised if many felt that the franchise had the legs for a fourth film. Even so, the fact that the film walked away with $415 million was just an amazing feat and right now it stands as the highest grossing film of the year thus far, and as a result it is more than deserving of its title of overachiever of the month.
Underachiever of June 2010: Knight and Day
Looking at the list of films from this month, I had mentioned that there was a wide variety that were playing towards all different types of audiences. On the surface, Knight and Day looked like an interesting film as it featured two pretty popular stars in Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz, and it was the type of film that Cruise is usually pretty good in going back to his role in Mission: Impossible. Coupled with the quirky charm that Diaz has no matter what type of movie that she’s in, and it seemed like this had the potential to be a surprise breakout hit of the summer and unfortunately it didn’t turn out that way. The film garnered mixed reviews from critics who thought the performances of Cruise and Diaz were good, but they felt that the script was too uneven and formulaic while not performing up to par as was hoped. The film did finish with $76 million which was a good chunk of money compared to some of the other films released this month, but it was still fairly disappointment given who was involved and it ultimately earns the title of underachiever for the month of June 2010.
June 2010 Awards Watch: Toy Story 3, the Twilight Saga: Eclipse, Grown Ups, Killers, Marmaduke, Jonah Hex, and Winter’s Bone
After the last few months where there were only one or two films that were included in this category, that changes here as over half the list of films from this month make it into this category. It does same something to the quality or lack thereof with these films that most of them make it into this category, and it will be interesting to see where most of them end up in terms of the big 3 awards. The first film from this month that makes it into this category is Toy Story 3 which would win 2 Academy Awards (Best Animated Feature and Best Original Song) while being nominated for 3 more (Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Sound Editing), and it would also win 1 Golden Globe Award (Best Animated Feature) which goes to show the amazing success that the film had. The next film from this month that makes it into this category is the Twilight Saga: Eclipse which would win 1 Golden Raspberry Award (Worst Supporting Actor) while being nominated for 8 more (Worst Picture, Worst Director, Worst Actor twice, Worst Actress, Worst Screenplay, Worst Prequel, Remake, Rip-off, or Sequel, and Worst Screen Ensemble), and it is amazing that it was nominated for so many awards and only won one which shows that there were worse films than it. The next film from this month that makes it into this category is Grown Ups which would be nominated for 1 Golden Raspberry Award (Worst Supporting Actor) which it wouldn’t win, and there’s nothing much else to say about it. The next film from this month that makes it into this category is Killers which would win 1 Golden Raspberry Award (Worst Actor) and that was it, and the next film to be included in this category is the family film Marmaduke, based on the comic strip of the same name where the titular dog and his family move to California and they struggle to adjust to their new life. The film would receive negative reviews from critics who considered it one of the worst of the year and it would receive 1 Golden Raspberry Award (Worst Supporting Actor) though it wouldn’t win. The next film from this month that makes it into this category is Jonah Hex which was nominated for 2 Golden Raspberry Awards (Worst Supporting Actress and Worst On-Screen Couple) though it wouldn’t win either as there were other films worse than it. The final film that makes it into this category is the mystery drama film Winter’s Bone, a film about a teenager who tries to find her missing father to keep her family from being evicted from their home. The film would receive positive reviews from critics who considered it one of the best of the year, and it would be nominated for 4 Academy Awards (Best Picture, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor, and Best Adapted Screenplay) though it wouldn’t win any, and it was also nominated for 1 Golden Globe Award (Best Actress – Drama) which it wouldn’t win. It is funny that the highest grossing film of the month and the lowest grossing film of the month got all the Academy Award and Golden Globe nods while the others all got Golden Raspberry nods, and it will be interesting to see going forward if that happens again.
Overall Thoughts of June 2010:
Overall, the month of June 2010 ended up being a great month and was probably the best month of the year to this point. The year has been quite a rollercoaster after starting on a low note and we have had some high points with March and May, and now we continue to be on a high note with his month. Obviously, most of the success came from the success of Toy Story 3 and the Twilight Saga: Eclipse, but we did have two other films cross over $100 million and the rest did just well enough that the ones that tanked didn’t drag the month down at all. 2010 has been a very tumultuous year as I just mentioned as there have been some major successes while also having some pretty dismal failures, and as we continue into the summer we will see how things play out with some more big films still to come. As for the month of June, it was a great month and thus far the best month of 2010 as we will see if it is the peak or if we do better.
Final Grade: A+
