Steve’s Box Office Report: November 2012
Top 10 Films for the Month of November:
1. Skyfall – $304,360,277
2. The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2 – $292,324,737
3. Wreck-It Ralph – $189,422,889
4. Lincoln – $182,207,973
5. Life of Pi – $124,987,023
6. Rise of the Guardians – $103,412,758
7. Flight – $93,772,375
8. Red Dawn – $44,806,783
9. The Man With the Iron Fists – $15,634,090
10. Killing Them Softly – $15,026,056
Honorable Mentions:
1. Anna Karenina – $12,816,367
2. The Collection – $6,842,058
3. Hitchcock – $6,008,667
4. Rust and Bone – $2,062,027
November Winners: Skyfall, the Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2, Wreck-It Ralph, Lincoln, and Flight
We now come to the penultimate month of 2012 and to say that this month was loaded would be an understatement, and there were plenty of films coming out this month that had all the potential to make a lot of money. There was a little bit of something for everyone and with some award contenders also thrown in the mix, you knew that this month was going to be more of a success than a failure. The first film from this month that makes it into this category is the latest in the James Bond franchise with Skyfall, which sees Bond investigate a series of coordinated attacks on MI6 by a cyberterrorist. The film would receive critical acclaim from critics who considered the best Bond film starring Daniel Craig and it would finish with over $304 million which was a major success and showed that Bond was not done yet. The next film from this month that makes it into this category is the final film in the Twilight Saga with Breaking Dawn: Part 2, which sees Bella adapt to her new life as a vampire while she and Edward look to protect their newborn daughter from a vampire war. The film would receive mixed reviews from critics who felt it was the best of the franchise though the bar was pretty low, and it would finish with over $292 million which was a strong finish to this franchise despite the negative reviews it received. The next film from this month that makes it into this category is the animated film Wreck-It Ralph, a film about a video game villain who wishes to be loved as a good guy which leads to him nearly having his game unplugged. The film would receive positive reviews from critics who felt it was a breath of fresh air and continued Disney’s recent revival, and it would finish with over $189 million which was a major win for Disney and would begin a major hot streak for them. The next film from this month that makes it into this category is the historical drama film Lincoln, which sees President Abraham Lincoln look to bring an end to the Civil War while working to have the 13th Amendment passed by Congress. The film would receive critical acclaim from critics who considered one of, it not the best film of the year, and it would finish with over $182 million which was a huge win and I will delve into this more later in the review. The final film from this month that makes it into this category is the drama film Flight, a film about a pilot who makes a miraculous save of a flight and is hailed a hero though an investigation may destroy his reputation. The film would receive positive reviews from critics who felt it was carried by Denzel Washington, and the film would finish with over $93 million which was a good haul for this film given the bigger films that came out against it. These five films did extremely well throughout the month and would continue to help carry the box office going into the end of the year, and there is no question that 2012 looks like it is going to end on an extremely high note.
November Losers: Rise of the Guardians, Red Dawn, and Anna Karenina
Even though there was a lot of successes throughout this month, it wasn’t without some slipups as there were a few films that do end up making it into this category. While the successes of the winners was more than enough to overshadow the losers that end up in this category, you can’t ignore that these films were looked at to do well and ultimately fell flat. The first film from this month that makes it into this category is the animated film Rise of the Guardians, a film that sees Jack Frost team up with other holiday figures to fight off Pitch Black and his nightmares. The film would receive positive reviews from critics and did end up finishing with just over $103 million, but there was a feeling it should’ve done better as I will discuss later in the review. The next film from this month that makes it into this category is the war film Red Dawn, a remake of the 1984 film of the same name which sees a group of people protect their hometown from a North Korean invasion. The film would receive negative reviews from critics who felt it was an unnecessary remake and it would finish with over $44 million which wasn’t terrible, but there was no doubt that it was crushed under the weight of bigger films that came out this month. The last film from this month that makes it into this category is the romantic drama film Anna Karenina, based on the novel of the same name of the socialite and her torrid affair with Count Vronsky. The film would receive mixed reviews from critics and would finish with over $12 million which was a disappointment for the film that was probably looked at as a major award contender, but was no match for Lincoln. Again, while these three films weren’t bad enough to drag the month down especially given how well the winners did, you can’t ignore how poorly these films did and prevented the month from being a perfect month.
The Surprise/Story of November 2012: James Bond outshines vampires as Skyfall takes the top spot of loaded November 2012
Going into the month of November, the film that had the most eyes on it was Breaking Dawn: Part 2 as it was the final installment in the Twilight Saga and after the Harry Potter franchise ended on a strong note, there was a feeling that the Twilight Saga would do the same. They had pretty much dominated November since the first Twilight came out back in 2008 aside from Eclipse which was released in June of 2010, but it seemed like a lock that Breaking Dawn: Part 2 would finish at the top of the month. However, something unexpected happened and that was Skyfall which would garner great reviews with many calling it one of the best Bond films in history as well as putting it up there with some of the classic Bond films from the past. Coupled with what ended up being a slightly weaker showing for Breaking Dawn: Part 2 than what was expected, and Skyfall would end up stealing the thunder and taking the top spot for the month by over $12 million which proves that Skyfall was not a fluke. Coupled with strong performances from some of the other films that came out this month, and November 2012 was a great month and set the table perfectly for the films of December to end the year on an incredible note.
Overachiever of November 2012: Lincoln
Going into the month of November, there was a lot of focus on the big films coming out this month and in addition to that, there were going to be a few award contenders that would come out this month to try and stake their claim going into the new year. At the top of the list was Lincoln which was getting critical acclaim from critics who praised it for the performances of the actors in the film, and it was also being considered one of the best films of the year so it was going to be interesting how it did when it came out. Coming out on the same weekend as Breaking Dawn: Part 2 and on the heels of the unexpected success of Skyfall, Lincoln would end up overperforming expectations especially over Thanksgiving weekend and while it never reached the number one spot of a week, it did end up finishing with over $182 million which was a huge success and thus makes the film more than deserving of being the overachiever of the month. I almost did a tie by including Skyfall because I do think it did a lot better than I think anyone ever expected, but the success of Lincoln was more than enough to have it be the only overachiever of the month.
Underachiever of November 2012: Rise of the Guardians
For the last few years, this category has seemingly been dominated by Disney as their last few films (Bolt, Tangled, Winnie-the-Pooh) were put in this category as even though they did well when they came out, there was a feeling they should’ve done better as the quality of the films were getting better. But that changes here as the Disney offering Wreck-It Ralph did very well and avoided being put in this category, and instead it is Dreamworks that lands in this category with their offering Rise of the Guardians. Despite the film having a holiday tie-in with Santa Claus and Jack Frost being in the film, the fact that the film wasn’t really marketed as a Christmas film did hurt it a bit and even though it came out on Thanksgiving weekend, it didn’t do as well as it should’ve and was easily crushed by Wreck-It Ralph. Sadly, it wouldn’t gain any footing in December and despite finishing with over $103 million, it was a step backwards for Dreamworks and one of their bigger losses in recent memory which means there is no question that this film deserves to be the underachiever of the month.
November 2012 Awards Watch: Skyfall, the Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2, Wreck-It Ralph, Lincoln, Life of Pi, Rise of the Guardians, Flight, Anna Karenina, Hitchcock, and Rust and Bone
As I have mentioned before, it is around this time that the award contenders start coming out and they stake their claim into making a lot of money, and this month was no exception as we have an amazing 10 films from this month make it into this category. This might be one of the first times that the entire slate of films that come out this month get nominated for one of the big 3 awards, and not only that but a few films from this month notch quite a number of wins to go with the nominations. The first film from this month that makes it into this category is Skyfall which would win 2 Academy Awards (Best Original Song and Best Sound Editing) while being nominated for 3 more (Best Original Score, Best Sound Mixing, and Best Cinematography). It would also win one Golden Globe Award (Best Original Song) and it just cemented the film as one of the best Bond films in history. The next film that makes it into this category is Breaking Dawn: Part 2 which would win 7 Golden Raspberry Awards (Worst Picture, Worst Supporting Actor, Worst Actress, Worst Screen Couple, Worst Director, Worst Prequel, Remake, Ripoff, or Sequel, and Worst Screen Ensemble) while being nominated for 4 more (Worst Actor, Worst Supporting Actress, Worst Screen Couple, and Worst Screenplay), and this sadly can lay claim to being one of the worst reviewed films of the year. The next film from this month that makes it into this category is Wreck-It Ralph which would be nominated for one Academy Award (Best Animated Feature) which it didn’t win, and it was also nominated for one Golden Globe Award (Best Animated Film) which it didn’t win and that was just the bad luck of having to go against Brave. The next film from this month that makes it into this category is Lincoln which would win 2 Academy Awards (Best Actor and Best Production Design) while being nominated for 10 more (Best Picture, Best Director, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Original Score, Best Sound Mixing, Best Cinematography, Best Costume Design, and Best Film Editing). It would also win one Golden Globe Award (Best Actor – Drama) while being nominated for 6 more (Best Picture – Drama, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best Director, Best Screenplay, and Best Original Score), and it solidifies the film’s spot as easily one of the best of the year. The next film that makes it into this category is the adventure-drama film Life of Pi, based on the novel of the same name of a young man who is stranded at sea with a Bengal tiger. The film would receive positive reviews from critics and would end up making over $124 million, and it would win 4 Academy Awards (Best Director, Best Original Score, Best Cinematography, and Best Visual Effects) while being nominated for 7 more (Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Original Song, Best Sound Editing, Best Sound Mixing, Best Production Design, and Best Film Editing). It would also win one Golden Globe Award (Best Original Score) while being nominated for 2 more (Best Picture – Drama and Best Director), and this was another big winner for the year. The next film that makes it into this category is Rise of the Guardians which was nominated for one Academy Award (Best Animated Feature) which it didn’t win, and it was also nominated for one Golden Globe Award (Best Animated Film) which it wouldn’t win as like Wreck-It Ralph, it had bad luck going against Brave. The next film that makes it into this category is Flight which was nominated for 2 Academy Awards (Best Actor and Best Original Screenplay) though didn’t win either, and it was also nominated for one Golden Globe Award (Best Actor – Drama) which it didn’t win and it was a win for the film to get these nominations in a loaded field. The next film that makes it into this category is Anna Karenina which would win one Academy Award (Best Costume Design) while being nominated for 3 more (Best Original Score, Best Production Design, and Best Cinematography), and it would also be nominated for one Golden Globe Award (Best Original Score) which it didn’t win and again it was good to get these nods in a loaded year. The next film that makes it into this category is the biographical drama film Hitchcock, which sees the director’s relationship with his wife explored during the filming of “Psycho”. The film would receive mixed reviews from critics and ended up finishing with over $6 million, and it would earn one Academy Award nomination (Best Makeup and Hair Styling) which it didn’t win and it would also be nominated for one Golden Globe award (Best Actress – Drama) which it also didn’t win. The last film from this month that makes it into this category is the romantic drama film Rust and Bone, a film about based about a young man who falls in love with a woman who trains killer whales. The film would receive positive reviews from critics and finished with just over $2 million, and it would be nominated for 2 Golden Globe Awards (Best Actress – Drama and Best Foreign Language Film) though it wouldn’t win either. Again, this award season might be one of the most loaded we’ve had in quite awhile and amazingly enough, it’s not over as we will see how the next month delivers in terms of contenders.
Overall Thoughts of November 2012:
Overall, the month of November 2012 ended up being a fantastic month as the big films of the month delivered and any film that did underdeliver wasn’t poor enough to drag the month down completely. November can be a hit-or-miss month for the year as sometimes it is a great month though sometimes it is a disappointing month, but there was no question that this month was a major hit and keeps the strong year of 2012 going. We had 6 films from this month making over $100 million with 2 going over $200 million and 1 even hitting $300 million which was crazy even for a November release, and the rest of the films did just well enough with nothing being a complete bomb that dragged the month down. 2012 has been a great year with a lot more highs than there have been lows and as we head into the final month of the year, we will see if the box office ends on a strong note or ends up being a slight disappointment. As for the month of November 2012, it ends up being a great month though just missed the mark ever so slightly of being a perfect month.
Final Grade: A-
