Steve’s Box Office Report: November 2010
Top 10 Films for the Month of November:
1. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 – $295,983,305
2. Tangled – $200,807,262
3. Megamind – $148,415,853
4. Due Date – $100,539,043
5. Unstoppable – $81,537,988
6. Burlesque – $39,440,655
7. For Colored Girls – $37,729,698
8. Love and Other Drugs – $32,343,814
9. Morning Glory – $31,011,732
10. Faster – $23,240,020
Honorable Mentions:
1. Skyline – $21,393,620
2. The Next Three Days – $21,148,651
November Winners: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 and Due Date
We are now reaching the end of the line for the year of 2010 as we hit the month of November and officially begin the holiday season, and after October did a decent job in bringing the box office back up it was now time to see what the films from this month would end up doing. Amazingly enough, we only had two films make it into this category as the first one is the seventh and penultimate film in the Harry Potter series, the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 which sees Harry and his friends prepare for the ultimate final showdown with Lord Voldemort. Obviously, there was a lot of anticipation for the final Harry Potter film especially after it was announced that it would be broken into two parts, and the first part didn’t disappoint as it made close to $300 million and built the anticipation to the final film. The other film from this month that makes it into this category is the comedy film Due Date, a film about a man who travels cross-country for the birth of his child and reluctantly does a road trip with an aspiring actor. The film would receive mixed to negative reviews from critics who felt it didn’t make full use of the talents of its stars, but it would end up making just over $100 million as it connected well with audiences. It doesn’t do well for the month of November that there are only two winners especially since four films made over $100 million, and we will see how that affects the overall grade for the month.
November Losers: Tangled
While only having two films in the winners category is not too good especially for the month of November, the fact that there is only one film in this category is a slight positive though not positive is which film it is. The lone film from this month that makes it into this category is the animated film Tangled, a modern retelling of the story of Rapunzel as she convinces a thief to take her to the kingdom to see the floating lights on her birthday. The film would receive positive reviews from critics who considered it a vast improvement from previous Disney films of the last decade, and the film would make just over $200 million which would’ve been a major win for a lot of films though amazingly enough it was not a win here. We will delve into this later in the review and for now, this film ends up being the lone loser of the month though it will be interesting to see how many more Disney films end up in this category going forward.
The Surprise/Story of November 2010: Harry Potter begins its last run to glory as “Deathly Hallows” easily claims the top spot for November 2010
As we come to the end of 2010, there was a lot of anticipation for the finale of the Harry Potter series, but then it was announced that the last film Deathly Hallows would be split into two parts with the first part released here and the second part in July 2011. At the time, the decision was met with a lot of raised eyebrows and many felt it was just a cheap cash grab, but others felt it was a smart idea as it could be a bit more faithful to the book. There was also a feeling that the first film might suffer a bit as many might just skip over it in the theaters and catch it at a later date prior to the release of the second film, but those fears were unfounded when the film ended up making close to $300 million. It would become the third highest grossing film in the franchise domestically and easily dominated the holiday season, and it was another great win for the franchise as they now look towards July 2011 and if Part 2 can end the franchise on a high note.
Overachiever of November 2010: Megamind
Going into the month of November, a lot of focus was on Tangled which is pretty understandable though there was another animated film that was getting a bit overlooked, and that is the film Megamind which is about a villain who finally defeats his superhero rival and then finds no purpose in life so he creates another hero to feud with. Coming out at the beginning of the month, the film was in a good place to make some money as it received positive reviews from critics who felt it was refreshing while familiar as well, and it would debut at number one in its opening weekend and had a good two weeks until the release of Deathly Hallows. While the film would end up falling down a bit after the release of Tangled, the fact that the film made close to $150 million was a major win for the film and as a result, the film more than deserves the title of overachiever of the month which wasn’t expected going into this month.
Underachiever of November 2010: Tangled
If you read my more in-depth review of Tangled over at my Wonderful Reviews of Disney column, I talk about how much I enjoyed this film tremendously and that it is one of the those films that is extremely underrated in the Disney canon. So it would seem weird that I would have this film be in this category, but as we know this is all about the box figures and ultimately personal preference has to be excluded. On the surface, it would seem weird that a film that managed to make just over $200 million would be considered for this category, but unfortunately given that it had the largest production budget of any animated film to this point, that has to be taken into consideration as well. Now the film was a major success compared to the Disney films from the previous decade and the outlook was looking up following this, but when it comes to this film it sadly ends up being the underachiever of the month due to the belief that it could’ve done even more all things considered.
November 2010 Awards Watch: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows; Part 1, Tangled, Burlesque, and Love and Other Drugs
As we come to the end of the year, we now start seeing the big award contenders start to come out though this month doesn’t have as many films that are nominated for the big three as compared to the last few years. But we do have a few and the first one is Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 which was nominated for two Academy Awards (Best Art Direction and Best Visual Effects) though it wouldn’t win either as it has been rare for a Harry Potter film to win an Academy Award. The next film from this month that makes it into this category is Tangled which was nominated for one Academy Award (Best Original Song) which it wouldn’t win, and it was nominated for two Golden Globe Awards (Best Animated Film and Best Original Song) which it wouldn’t win as the year was really dominated by Toy Story 3 in terms of animated films. The next film from this month that makes it into this category is the musical film Burlesque, a film about an aspiring singer and dancer who joins a burlesque show run by a former dancer. The film would receive negative reviews from critics who felt it was too campy and wasted the talent of its stars, but it would end up winning one Golden Globe Award (Best Original Song) while being nominated for two more (Best Picture – Musical or Comedy and Best Original Song). The film would also be nominated for one Golden Raspberry Award (Worst Supporting Actress) which it didn’t win, but the fact it was nominated for the Golden Globes was a good win for the film given the negative reviews. The final film from this month that makes it into this category is the romantic comedy Love and Other Drugs, a film about a medicinal salesman who falls in love with a woman suffering from Parkinson’s Disease. The film would receive mixed reviews from critics yet despite this, it would receive two Golden Globe nominations (Best Actor – Comedy or Musical and Best Actress – Comedy or Musical) though it wouldn’t win either one. This ended up being a pretty light month in terms of the number of films that were nominated for awards and we will see how December ends up doing in this category.
Overall Thoughts of November 2010:
Overall, the month of November 2010 ended up being a pretty solid month with some big numbers being made, but it did feel like a slight step down from the previous year. November is an interesting month in that it is the start of the holiday season and usually the big releases that don’t come out in the summer come out around this time, and this month saw a few big releases that ended up doing fairly well in the grand scheme of things. 2010 has been an interesting year in that while the top level films have done extremely well, most of the mid-level films have either been hits or misses with a few doing really bad and it has made the year a bit unstable though we will see how December ends up finishing the year off. As for this month, it is a solid month with some big hits and a few misses which keeps it from reaching the next level in terms of success.
Final Grade: B+
