Steve’s Box Office Report: November 2013
Top 10 Films for the Month of November:
1. The Hunger Games: Catching Fire – $424,668,047
2. Frozen – $400,738,009
3. Thor: The Dark World – $206,362,140
4. The Best Man Holiday – $70,525,195
5. Last Vegas – $63,914,167
6. Ender’s Game – $61,737,191
7. Free Birds – $55,750,480
8. 12 Years a Slave – $56,671,993
9. Philomena – $37,709,979
10. Delivery Man – $30,664,106
Honorable Mentions:
1. Dallas Buyers Club – $27,298,285
2. The Book Thief – $21,488,481
3. Homefront – $20,158,898
4. About Time – $15,322,921
5. Black Nativity – $7,018,189
6. The Christmas Candle – $2,258,620
7. Oldboy – $2,193,658
November Winners: The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, Frozen, Thor: The Dark World, the Best Man Holiday, Last Vegas, 12 Years a Slave, Philomena, and Dallas Buyers Club
We are getting close to the end of 2013 and it has been a very interesting year to say the least, and we go into November and what promises to be quite the loaded holiday season between the films released this month and next month. With the number of films just released this month, we did have a lot of films that did great and wound up being a part of this category in one of the most filled in recent memory. The first film that makes it into this category is the second installment in the Hunger Games franchise with Catching Fire, which sees Katniss be forced to compete in the 75th Hunger Games while a rebellion begins to rise within the Districts. The film would receive positive reviews from critics who consider it the best film of the franchise, and it would finish with over $424 million which crushed the overall take of the first film and now all eyes were on how Mockingjay closed out the franchise. The next film that makes it into this category is the animated film Frozen, a film which sees Elsa struggle to contend with her powers and goes into exile as her sister pairs up with a mountain man, his reindeer, and a snowman to save her. The film would receive positive reviews from critics who considered it one of Disney’s greatest works since the Renaissance, and it would finish with over $400 million as I will dive into it further later in the review. The next film that makes it into this category is the next film in the MCU with Thor: The Dark World, the sequel to the first film which sees Thor try to save Jane Foster who is consumed by the Aether while teaming up with Loki to save the Nine Realms from the Dark Elves. The film would receive mixed reviews from critics who felt it was a fine film despite being a weaker entry in the MCU, and it would finish with over $206 million which I will delve into later in the review. The next film that makes it into this category is the comedy-drama film the Best Man Holiday, the sequel to the 1999 film where the college friends reunite after 15 years to celebrate Christmas. The film would receive positive reviews from critics who felt it was good counterprogramming to the blockbusters from that month while also tying in the holiday season, and it would finish with over $70 million which was a solid win for the film. The next film that makes it into this category is the comedy film Last Vegas, a film which sees three retirees take their friend to Las Vegas for his bachelor party. The film would receive mixed reviews from critics who felt it was a just a rehash of the Hangover with older actors, and it would finish with over $63 million which was enough to put it in the top 5 of the month ahead of some bigger films. The next film that makes it into this category is the drama film 12 Years a Slave, based on the true story of Solomon Northup who is sold into slavery and works to regain his freedom. The film would receive critical acclaim from critics who considered it one of the best films of the year, and it would finish with over $56 million which was a huge win for this award contender. The next film that makes it into this category is the drama film Philomena, based on the true story of Philomena Lee who spends 50 years looking for her long lost son. The film would receive critical acclaim from critics who considered it one of the best of the year as well, and it would finish with over $37 million which was enough to get it in the top 10 for the year. The last film from this month that makes it into this category is the drama film Dallas Buyers Club, based on the true story of an AIDS patient who smuggles illegal drugs into the country while facing opposition from the FDA. The film would receive critical acclaim from critics who consider it also one of the best of the year, and it would finish with over $27 million which was a solid win for this film. It is always a good sign for a month when it has that many films that make it into this category, and already the month is off to a great start as is the holiday season of 2013.
November Losers: Ender’s Game and Oldboy
While the majority of the films that were released this month made it into the previous category, the month wasn’t without a few slipups as we did have two films from this month make it into this category. It is always a good thing when there are far more winners in a month than losers, but it doesn’t deny the fact that the month is hurt somewhat by the films that are in this category. The first film that makes it into this category is the sci-fi action film Ender’s Game, based on the novel of the same name of a gifted young teenager who is brought to a military academy to prepare for an alien invasion. The film would receive mixed reviews from critics though it would later gain a cult following, but it would finish with just over $61 million which made it one of the bigger bombs of the year. The other film that makes it into this category is the neo-noir thriller Oldboy, based on the manga of the same name of a man who is searching for his captors after being imprisoned for 20 years. The film would receive negative reviews from critics who felt it added nothing to the source material, and it would finish with over $2 million as it would quickly fall out of theaters. Fortunately, the successes of the films in the previous category was more than enough to drown out the failures of the two films in this category, and the month is still going on a pretty strong note.
The Surprise/Story of November 2013: Fire and Ice overtake the month as “Catching Fire” and “Frozen” dominate November 2013
Coming off what was a pretty strong October carried by a few dominant films, November was looking to keep that momentum going as there were quite a number of films coming out this month that had potential to be very strong. Obviously, nearing the top of the list was Catching Fire as it was building off the major success of the first Hunger Games and you also had the MCU represented here as well with the second Thor, and bubbling under the surface was Disney’s newest entry in Frozen which would end up taking the world by storm, no pun attended. In the end, Catching Fire and Frozen provided a perfect 1-2 punch to dominate the month as both made over $400 million which was not seen a lot in previous Novembers, and coupled with a strong, if somewhat disappointing showing by the Dark World and a couple of smaller films, and this month has a great showing and now it comes down to December to end the year on a strong note.
Overachiever of November 2013: Frozen
Since I started doing these recaps, one of the few constants that I have had is that year’s entry from Disney always ends up being the underachiever of the month, and even though the films have gotten progressively better since the 2010s started, those films also landed as the underachiever though that streak did break with last year’s Wreck-It Ralph. This year, that changes as Frozen would end up exceeding even the highest of expectations by finishing with over $400 million, and not just that it would end up becoming a cultural phenomenon as Elsa and Anna were everywhere, the songs became mainstream hits, in particular “Let It Go”, and many critics compared this film to the all-time greats that came out during the Disney Renaissance. After suffering through a malaise during the 2000s, these last few years with the Princess and the Frog, Tangled, and now Frozen has shown that Disney was back with a vengeance, and there is no doubt that Frozen is the overachiever of the month and we will see if this begins a new trend for Disney where their films land in this category going forward.
Underachiever of November 2013: Thor: The Dark World
Since the MCU began back in May 2008, they have been consistently strong and usually come out on top of the month they are released in, and to this point many felt the Incredible Hulk was the weakest entry as Phase 1 ended strong with the Avengers and Phase 2 started strong with Iron Man 3. With the release of the second Thor, there was hope that this film could build off the first film which did well, but was a bit on the lower end of the origin films and that this film would continue Thor’s story. Unfortunately, a combination of mediocre reviews from critics and coming out against films like Catching Fire and Frozen hurt the film, and while it did finish with over $206 million it was a bit of a disappointment and this film ends up being the underachiever of the month as we see how the next entry in the MCU fare when it comes out next April.
November 2013 Awards Watch: The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, Frozen, 12 Years a Slave, Philomena, Dallas Buyers Club, and the Book Thief
As we come to the end of the year, we now start seeing the major award contenders come out as November typically has a bunch of films that make it into this category, and this year ends up being no different as we have 6 films from this month make it into this category. The first film from this month that makes it into this category is the Hunger Games: Catching Fire which would be nominated for one Golden Globe award (Best Original Song), but it wouldn’t win as this series doesn’t get some of the love it should. The next film that makes it into this category is Frozen which would win both Academy Awards it was nominated for (Best Animated Film and Best Original Song), and it would also win one Golden Globe Award (Best Animated Film) while being nominated for one more (Best Original Song) as it cemented its status as one of the best animated films of the year. The next film that makes it into this category is 12 Years a Slave which would win 3 Academy Awards (Best Picture, Best Supporting Actress, and Best Adapted Screenplay) while being nominated for 6 more (Best Director, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor, Best Production Design, Best Costume Design, and Best Film Editing). It would also win 1 Golden Globe Award (Best Picture – Drama) while being nominated for 6 more (Best Actor – Drama, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best Director, Best Screenplay, and Best Original Score) which solidifies its spot as one of the best of the year. The next film that makes it into this category is Philomena which would be nominated for 4 Academy Awards (Best Picture, Best Actress, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Original Score) though it wouldn’t win any, and it would be nominated for 3 Golden Globe Awards (Best Picture – Drama, Best Actress – Drama, and Best Screenplay) though it wouldn’t win any again as it just went up against stronger films. The next film that makes it into this category is Dallas Buyers Club which would win 3 Academy Awards (Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor, and Best Makeup and Hairstyling) while being nominated for 3 more (Best Picture, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Film Editing). It would also win both Golden Globe Awards it was nominated for (Best Actor – Drama and Best Supporting Actor) which solidified its status as also being one of the best films of the year. The last film that makes it into this category is the war drama film the Book Thief, a film about a girl who shares books with a Jewish refugee being sheltered by her foster parents during the reign of the Nazis. The film would receive mixed reviews from critics and finished with over $21 million as it would receive one Academy Award nomination (Best Original Score) which it didn’t win, and it would also receive one Golden Globe Award nomination (Best Original Score) which it didn’t win. This is one of the rare instances where we had no film get a Golden Raspberry nod which goes to show the acclaim that the films released this month got that it was all Academy Award or Golden Globe nominations.
Overall Thoughts of November 2013:
Overall, the month of November 2013 ended up being a very strong month and one of the better Novembers that we’ve had in quite a while, and coming off what was a pretty solid October the momentum we had going into this month is kept strong. As I’ve mentioned before, the holiday season is usually one of the biggest times of the year aside from the summer season, and this season can typically make or break a year though it does look like it is going to make this year a strong one. We had 3 films make over $200 million with two crossing over $400 million which again is unheard of for November, and the rest of the films this month did just enough to keep the month strong even with a bomb included. 2013 has been a really good year for the most part as it started ok, had a strong summer, and now we will see if the year ends on a high in December. As for the month of November 2013, it is a great month and easily one of the best of the year.
Final Grade: A-
