Steve’s Box Office Report: June 2015
Top 10 Films for the Month of June:
1. Jurassic World – $652,270,625
2. Inside Out – $356,461,711
3. Spy – $110,825,712
4. Ted 2 – $81,476,385
5. Insidious: Chapter 3 – $52,218,558
6. Max – $42,656,255
7. Entourage – $32,363,404
8. Dope – $17,506,570
9. Love and Mercy – $12,551,031
10. Me and Earl and the Dying Girl – $6,758,416
Honorable Mentions:
None
June Winners: Jurassic World, Inside Out, Spy, Insidious: Chapter 3, and Max
We continue on through the year of 2015 as we now officially hit the summer season and June was looking very front loaded, and it looks like the month was going to be dictated by how the biggest films of the month ended up doing. Ultimately, the month does end up being very strong as we do have quite a few films from this month that make it into this category. The first film that makes it into this category is the sci-fi action film Jurassic World, the newest installment in the Jurassic Park franchise which sees a raptor trainer at the new theme park work with the operations manager to stop a transgenic dinosaur from going on a rampage. The film would receive positive reviews from critics who felt it was a solid return to form for the franchise following the maligned Jurassic Park III, and it would finish with over $652 million which I will delve into later in the review. The next film that makes it into this category is the newest Pixar film Inside Out, a film about a group of emotions who try to help a girl deal with her family moving to a new location. The film would receive critical acclaim from critics who considered it one of Pixar’s greatest films, and it would finish with over $356 million which would’ve dominated the month had it not been for Jurassic World. The next film that makes it into this category is the action comedy film Spy, a film about an unlikely secret agent who looks to recover a stolen nuclear portable device. The film would receive positive reviews from critics who felt it was perfect counterprogramming to Jurassic World and Inside Out, and it would finish with over $110 million which was a great outing for the film. The next film that makes it into this category is the newest entry in the Insidious franchise with Insidious: Chapter 3, a prequel to the first film which sees a psychic attempt to help a girl who is targeted by a supernatural entity. The film would receive mixed reviews from critics who felt it was a decent outing in the franchise, and it would finish with over $52 million which made it the lowest in the franchise and we will see if the franchise ends up continuing after this. The last film that makes it into this category is the adventure drama film Max, a film about a military dog named Max whose trainer is killed in battle and he is brought to live with the trainer’s brother. The film would receive negative reviews from critics who felt it was disjointed and manipulative, and it would finish with over $42 million which was a fine enough showing for the film. There is no question that the month was clearly carried by the top 3 films of the month which were amongst some of the strongest of the year, and the rest of the slate of films was just good enough to make the month very good.
June Losers: None
Since I started doing these recaps several years ago, it was fairly rare where I had one of the months of the year not have any losers of the month, and it seemed like it happened a few times early on though stopped once the decade turned into the 2010. However, we have a big moment here as 2015 becomes the first year to have not one, but two months that have no losers as this month joins April as having no losers. It was a good showing for the films from this month that none of them did bad enough to merit entry into this category, and it will be interesting to see if any other month from this year has no losers and we can somehow get a three-peat. But as far as June 2015 is concerned, it is a major plus for the month that no film was bad enough to be included in this category.
The Surprise/Story of June 2015: Dinosaurs dominate emotions as “Jurassic World” takes top spot of June 2015 and Pixar’s losing streak continues
Going into this month, a lot of eyes were on both Jurassic World and Inside Out as both of those films looked to be the top films of the month, and it seemed like Inside Out had the slight edge as Pixar usually took the top spot of June and it was garnering stronger reviews than Jurassic World. But in the end, the appeal of returning to the Jurassic Park franchise proved to be the turning point as Jurassic World easily topped Inside out by almost $300 million which was insane and also showed just how strong both films were able to do. Coupled with a strong performance by Spy and some solid performances by the other films that came out, and there is no doubt that this month wound up being one of the best months of 2015 and we will eventually see if it ends up being the best month of the year or if another month ends up topping it.
Overachiever of June 2015: Jurassic World
In 1993, Jurassic Park came out and became a global phenomenon as it dominated the year and is still considered one of the greatest films of all time, and then we got the Lost World in 1997 which was not quite as well-received followed by the third film in 2001 which was received even more poorly. It looked like the franchise would come to an end after that despite a few scripts were written during that time with none going anywhere, but now 14 years later the franchise is brought back to life with Jurassic World. Obviously, setting the film years after the first Jurassic Park with a new theme park was a good touch and having Chris Pratt involved was a good move given how hot he was, and obviously with technology being better now than it was in 1993, the visuals were even stronger and the time between this film and Jurassic Park III was long enough to make people want to return to the franchise. In the end, the film exceeded anyone’s expectations by making over $652 million and it seems like the franchise has been brought back to life and we will see if this leads to the franchise continuing, and there is no question that Jurassic World easily deserves the title of overachiever of the month.
Underachiever of June 2015: Ted 2
In June 2012, Ted was released and ended up being a surprise hit as it was one of the top films of the year and now 3 years later, we get the long-awaited sequel which sees Ted try to prove that he fights to be recognized as a person and not property so he can adopt a baby. With most of the cast from the first film returning and adding in some new cast members, it looked like the film had the potential to be another surprise hit even though it was coming out against stronger competition than the first Ted did. The film would end up receiving mixed reviews from critics who felt it was a slight step down from the first film, and it did finish with over $81 million which was a fine showing though it was significantly lower than the first film. It was quite disappointing given the great success of the first film and it would be quite a while before the franchise came back with anything, and as a result there is no question that this film deserves to be the underachiever of the month.
June 2015 Awards Watch: Inside Out, Spy, and Love and Mercy
As we continue through the year of 2015, we now get to the point where the big award contenders start to come out though June does usually ebb and flow with how many contenders come out. This year does have quite a decent amount of films that make it into this category which is usually on the higher side for the month of June. The first film that makes it into this category is Inside Out which would win one Academy Award (Best Animated Film) while being nominated for one more (Best Original Screenplay), and it would also win one Golden Globe Award (Best Animated Film) which solidified its spot as the best animated film of the year. The next film that makes it into this category is Spy which would be nominated for 2 Golden Globe Awards (Best Picture – Musical or Comedy and Best Actress – Musical or Comedy) though it wouldn’t win either, but it was a good showing that the film at least got those nods. The third and last film that makes it into this category is the biographical drama film Love and Mercy, based on the true story of Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys and his struggles with his mental health. The film would receive positive reviews from critics and would finish with over $12 million which was a fine showing for the film, and it would be nominated for 2 Golden Globe Awards (Best Supporting Actor and Best Original Song) though it wouldn’t win either. Even though there were only three films in this category, the fact that there were no Golden Raspberry Award nods helped the cause for the month.
Overall Thoughts of June 2015:
Overall, the month of June 2015 ended up being a pretty great month and to this point is probably the best of the year. June is typically a strong month given that it is the official start of the summer season and this year proves no different as this June ends up being one of the stronger ones we’ve had. We had three films from this month make over $100 million with one going over $300 million and one that topped over $600 million which is insane, and the rest of the films from the month were fairly solid and nothing was a bomb to drag the month down. 2015 has been a pretty solid year to this point as it started fairly strong, held tough throughout the spring, and after a strong May the summer continues to heat up and we will see if July can keep the momentum going. As for the month of June 2015, it is a very strong month and will easily be one of the best of the year.
Final Grade: A
