Steve’s Box Office Report: June 2012
Top 10 Films for the Month of June:
1. Brave – $237,283,207
2. Ted – $218,815,487
3. Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted – $216,391,482
4. Snow White and the Huntsman – $155,332,381
5. Prometheus – $126,477,084
6. Magic Mike – $113,721,571
7. Madea’s Witness Protection – $65,653,242
8. Rock of Ages – $38,518,613
9. Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter – $37,519,139
10. That’s My Boy – $36,931,089
Honorable Mentions:
1. To Rome With Love – $16,685,867
2. Beasts of the Southern Wild – $12,795,746
3. People Like Us – $12,434,778
4. Seeking a Friend for the End of the World – $7,078,738
June Winners: Brave, Ted, Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted, Magic Mike, and Madea’s Witness Protection
We now come to the summer of 2012 and after what has been a dominating performance by the Avengers back in May, the films coming out this month had a little bit more pressure on them to perform with the Avengers starting to slow down a bit. Luckily, there were some well-anticipated films that were coming out this month and for the most part, the majority of them either performed on par or over-performed to carry the month and keep the hot streak going. The first film from this month that makes it into this category is Pixar’s latest entry in Brave, a film about a young girl who has to mend the relationship with her mother after inadvertently turning her into a bear. The film would receive positive reviews from critics who considered it a fresh take on the Disney princess and it would finish with over $237 million, chalking up another huge win for Pixar and being a major step up from Cars 2 the previous year. The next film from this month that makes it into this category is the comedy film Ted, a film about a man who grows up with his favorite teddy bear who came to life when he was a child and they struggle to survive adulthood. The film would receive positive reviews from critics who felt it was familiar, but still worked thanks to its stars and it would finish with over $218 million which was a huge success and I will delve into that further in the recap. The next film from this month that makes it into this category is the third film in the Madagascar series with Europe’s Most Wanted, which sees Alex and his friends attempt to return to New York City by posing in a circus traveling through Europe. The film would receive positive reviews from critics who felt it was a satisfying conclusion to the Madagascar trilogy, and it would finish with over $216 million which was a huge win especially coming out against Brave in the same month. The next film from this month that makes it into this category is the comedy-drama film Magic Mike, a film about a veteran male stripper who takes a newcomer under his wing. The film would receive positive reviews from critics and coming out the same weekend as Ted, it performed very well and it would finish with over $113 million which was a major win for the small film. The final film from this month that makes it into this category is the latest Madea film in Witness Protection, which sees Madea and her husband take in a family who were put in the witness protection program by the FBI. The film would receive negative reviews from critics who felt it was a lower end Madea film though it would finish with over $65 million which was a huge success for the film with such a small budget. As I said, coming off the dominant performance of the Avengers back in May, there was a bit of pressure on this month to perform and fortunately, these films were extremely successful and kept the hot streak of 2012 going.
June Losers: Rock of Ages, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, and That’s My Boy
While the films in the previous category were so strong that they carried the month to great heights, not every film that was released this month did well as we do have a few films that didn’t do good and end up in this category. Obviously, it now comes down to how poorly these films did as given how successful the films in the last category was, and if these films did bad enough that they end up dragging the month down at all. The first film that makes it into this category is the musical comedy Rock of Ages, based on the musical of the same name of a young girl who looks to make it big in Hollywood while a longtime club is in danger of closing. The film would receive mixed reviews from critics who enjoyed some of the performances though felt it wasn’t justified in getting a film version, and the film would end up finishing with over $38 million which led it to being one of the bigger bombs of the year. The next film from this month that makes it into this category is the supernatural horror film Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, a film that takes place in an alternate reality where Lincoln tries to end the Civil War while also fighting off the vampires causing it. The film would receive mixed to negative reviews from critics who felt the film was too silly for its dark tones, and the film would finish with just over $37 million which again led it to being one of the bigger bombs of the year. The last film from this month that makes it into this category is the comedy film That’s My Boy, a film about a man who attempts to reconcile with his son while raising to avoid going to jail for tax evasion. The film would receive negative reviews from critics who felt it was too raunchy for Adam Sandler, and the film would finish with just over $36 million which while not as bad as the other two films, it was still a pretty bad finish for this film. While these three films were some of the bigger bombs of the year, the month isn’t hurt too bad thanks to the how extremely well the winners did to keep this month high up.
The Surprise/Story of June 2012: Pixar reclaims the top spot as “Brave” edges out “Ted” to win June 2012
As I mentioned earlier, this month had some decent expectations going in especially after how well the Avengers did last month, and there was quite a number of different films released this month including two animated films, some horror, comedy, and everything else in between that was aimed at someone. Obviously with a Pixar film being released, you figured that would be in contention for the top spot of the month even with another animated film coming out that same month, but at the end of the day Brave ended up finishing at the top of the month and reclaimed the top spot for Pixar after it missed it the previous year. But Madagascar also had a great run and took a spot in the top three as well, and the big story was the surprise success of Ted which overdelivered for a comedy rated “R” and it would be sandwiched between the two animated films. Couple that with a few strong performances by Prometheus, Snow White and the Huntsman, and Magic Mike which all finished with over $100 million, and the month ended up being tremendous and continued the momentum that the Avengers had started back in May and now we will see if the films released in July can keep that going.
Overachiever of June 2012: Ted
Going into the month of June, there were a lot of eyes on Ted given that it was the directorial debut of Seth MacFarlane who had established himself with “Family Guy” and now was breaking off into live-action for the first time. On the surface, the story about a teddy bear who is brought to life by his owner and grows up with him to become a slacker much like his owner seems like it could either be brilliant or be completely terrible, and given the raunchiness of most of the film it felt like it could turn off a lot of people into watching it. But when it came out, it ended up resonating with the audience and they ended up turning out in droves for the film despite the mixed reviews from critics and also coming out the same weekend as Magic Mike. The film would have a great opening debut with $54 million and as mentioned, it would go onto finish with $218 million which was a great success for this film and finishing just ahead of Madagascar which is an even bigger win for the film, and given the popularity of the film you would think that there could now potentially be a sequel down the line. In the end, this film was one of the bigger success stories of 2012 and is easily deserving of being the overachiever of the month.
Underachiever of June 2012: Snow White and the Huntsman
Going into this month, another film that had a lot of eyes on it and how successful it would be was the fantasy film Snow White and the Huntsman, a retelling of the classic fairy tale in which the huntsman teams with Snow White to fight her stepmother. Being the second retelling of this story following April’s “Mirror Mirror”, this film had a lot more intrigue going in being a more darker version than that other film and also having the star power of Kristen Stewart, Chris Hemsworth, and Charlize Theron involved. The film would receive mixed reviews from critics who enjoyed some of the performances of the cast, but felt it was uneven and it did feel like Stewart’s portrayal of Snow White was more similar to Bella Swan from Twilight. When the film came out on the first weekend of June, it easily debuted at #1 with over $56 million and ultimately finished with over $155 million which on the surface seems like it should be a big win as it landed in the top 5 for the month, but for some reason it feels like it should’ve gone higher and come closer to $200 million especially with the hype it was getting. While the final amount is still nothing to sneeze at and still helps carry the month up, this does end up being a bit of a disappointment and the film ends up being named the underachiever of the month though it isn’t as bad as some of underachievers earlier this year.
June 2012 Awards Watch: Brave, Ted, Snow White and the Huntsman, Madea’s Witness Protection, That’s My Boy, and Beasts of the Southern Wild
As we now enter the summer, the award season really starts heating up as the month of June can typically have quite a number of films come out that get nominated for at least one of the big three awards. What’s even better about it is that there isn’t one award that dominates as the films are typically spread out over the three and that makes it even better as it provides more variety. The first film that makes it into this category is Brave which would win one Academy Award (Best Animated Film) and one Golden Globe Award (Best Animated Film), and this would solidify the film as arguably the best animated film released this year amongst some other great animated films. The next film from this month that makes it into this category is Ted which was nominated for one Academy Award (Best Original Song) though it didn’t win, but the fact that it got an Academy Award nod is a great success for this film. The next film from this month that makes it into this category is Snow White and the Huntsman which was nominated for two Academy Awards (Best Costume Design and Best Visual Effects) though it wouldn’t win either, and it would win one Golden Raspberry Award (Worst Actress) though that win for Kristen Stewart was probably more for another film which we will get to later in the year. The next film that makes it into this category is Madea’s Witness Protection which was nominated for 5 Golden Raspberry Awards (Worst Actress, Worst Screen Couple, Worst Director, Worst Prequel, Remake, Ripoff, or Sequel, and Worst Screen Ensemble) though it wouldn’t win any as there were other films even worse. The next film that makes it into this category is That’s My Boy which would win 2 Golden Raspberry Awards (Worst Actor and Worst Screenplay) while being nominated for 6 more (Worst Picture, Worst Supporting Actor, Worst Screen Couple, Worst Director, and Worst Screen Ensemble), making it easily one of the worst films of the year. The final film from this month that makes it into this category is the fantasy drama film Beasts of the Southern Wild, a film about a young girl who deals with her father’s failing health while her community is under threat from melting ice caps. The film would receive positive reviews from critics and finished with just over $12 million, and it would be nominated for 4 Academy Awards (Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress, and Best Adapted Screenplay) which it wouldn’t win any of them. This was a real mixed bag as we had some winners amongst the bunch, but it was definitely more nominees than winners as the bigger films for this season were still to come.
Overall Thoughts of June 2012:
Overall, the month of June ended up being a pretty great month and really capitalized on the momentum that May had, again most of that was due to the Avengers and their strong run going into this month. There were a wide array of films that were released this month that appealed to all audiences, and while the two big family films released this month were the biggest successes, the other films still did very well in appealing to adults as we had some good variety, particularly in the top 5 of this month. 2012 has been a pretty interesting year thus far as it didn’t start off on the best foot, but it picked up a bit in March and after a slow April, May shot the box office straight up and this month kept it going as we will now see if July can keep the momentum going. As for the month of June 2012, it is a pretty great month and will end up being one of the top months of the year.
Final Grade: A