Steve’s Box Office Report: October 2012
Top 10 Films for the Month of October:
1. Taken 2 – $139,854,287
2. Argo – $136,025,503
3. Pitch Perfect – $65,001,093
4. Paranormal Activity 4 – $53,885,000
5. Sinister – $48,086,903
6. Here Comes the Boom – $45,290,318
7. Frankenweenie – $35,291,068
8. Cloud Atlas – $27,108,272
9. Alex Cross – $25,888,412
10. The Perks of Being a Wallflower – $17,742,948
Honorable Mentions:
1. Silent Hill: Revelation – $17,529,157
2. Seven Psychopaths – $15,024,049
3. Fun Size – $9,409,538
4. Chasing Mavericks – $6,002,756
5. Atlas Shrugged II: The Strike – $3,336,053
October Winners: Taken 2, Argo, Pitch Perfect, Paranormal Activity 4, and Sinister
We continue to trek through 2012 and as we hit the month of October, there were quite a bit of films that came out this month that covered all different genres. Aside from the usual horror films that come out this month, there was a little bit of something for everyone and they came out in droves which we will talk about throughout this category. The first film from this month that makes it into this category is the action film Taken 2, the sequel to the first Taken where Bryan Mills and his ex-wife are kidnapped by the father of one of the men he killed saving his daughter. The film would receive negative reviews from critics who felt it was far inferior to the first film, but audiences still came out to see it as it would finish with over $139 million which meant that the series might become a trilogy which we will keep track of. The next film from this month that makes it into this category is the political thriller Argo, based on the true story of the CIA’s covert plan to rescue 6 U.S diplomats during the Iranian hostage crisis. The film would receive critical acclaim from critics who considered it one of the best of the year, and it would finish with over $136 million which was a huge win for this film and star Ben Affleck. The next film from this month that makes it into this category is the musical comedy film Pitch Perfect, a film about a DJ who joins her college’s all-female a cappella group as they train to win the Nationals that year. The film would receive positive reviews from critics and became the month’s sleeper hit as it would finish with just over $65 million, and we will see if this leads to a potential franchise for the film. The next film from this month that makes it into this category is the fourth installment in the Paranormal Activity series, which sees a family deal with paranormal incidents after Katie Featherson moves next to them. The film would receive negative reviews from critics who felt the franchise had finally run its course, and it would finish with over $53 million which was still a good win though we will see if the franchise decides to continue. The last film from this month that makes it into this category is the horror film Sinister, a film about an author who moves his family into a house that was witness to a gruesome murder as he discovers home videos of numerous murders. The film would receive positive reviews from critics who felt it was something different, and it would finish with over $48 million which was a good showing despite coming out against Paranormal Activity 4. October is typically a slow month right before the holiday season, but this October ended up being a lot better than expected and having all these options for moviegoers was the right decision to help that out.
October Loser: Cloud Atlas
With so many films from this month doing really well, the rest of the films that didn’t make it into the previous category all ranged in terms of success to failure. While the majority of them did just enough that they didn’t make it into this category, there usually would be at least only one or two that would make it in this category. The lone film from this month that makes it into this category is the sci-fi film Cloud Atlas, based on the novel of the same name that sees multiple intertwining plots take place over 6 different periods of time. The film would receive polarizing reviews from critics with some saying it was one of the best of the year and others saying it was one of the worst, and it would finish with just over $27 million which made it one of the bigger bombs of the year. While films like this could end up being a surprise hit despite its unusual premises, this was one case where it didn’t happen and it ends up being one of the bigger “what ifs” of the year.
The Surprise/Story of October 2012: “Taken 2” uses its particular skills to overcome horror films and take top spot of October 2012
As we have seen over the last few years, the month of October is not just a film where horror films can be dumped and be expected to carry the month as there have been plenty of genres that have done well during this month, even family films. It just comes down to the film being able to draw people in and build up its cred throughout the month, and we see that in spades here as the top 3 for this month doesn’t feature any horror films. While the top 5 did have two horror films, the top 3 was dominated by Taken 2 and Argo with Taken 2 edging out Argo by a few million and we also had the surprise hit of Pitch Perfect bringing up the rear. While the rest of the films that came out this month didn’t do too much at the end of the day, the top 5 did more than enough to make this a fairly successful month and we now have some momentum going into the holiday season which looks pretty loaded.
Overachiever of October 2012: Taken 2
In January 2009, the first Taken came out and it was an unexpected hit as it would solidify Liam Neeson as a big action star and after the success of that film, it seemed like a sequel was possible to see where they could go from here. Now, over 3 and a half years later, we get that sequel and even though the film was not as loved by critics as the first film was, there was enough excitement from the audience that they came out in mass to see it. While this film didn’t quite pass the first film in terms of money as it misses it by about $6 million, it was still a great success and continued to show the star power and drawing power that Neeson had at that time. Even against one of the more critically acclaimed films in Argo, this film was a major success and now you had to wonder if there was enough juice to turn this into a trilogy or if they decide to stop now while they are on top. Regardless of what the future holds, there is no doubt that Taken 2 was one of the bigger success stories of the year and easily deserving of the overachiever of the month.
Underachiever of October 2012: Frankenweenie
In 1984, Tim Burton created a short film called Frankenweenie and now nearly 20 years later, he comes back to his creation and releases a full length stop-motion animated film which sees a young man bring his dog back to life though ends up causing chaos in his town. The film would receive positive reviews from critics and coming out in October, it looked like it could be a surprise hit as well though it ended up falling a bit flat by finishing with over $35 million. While that was still pretty good for this type of animated film, the fact that it came out shortly after Hotel Transylvania which was still doing very well definitely hurt it in the long run and it wouldn’t last much longer going into November. As a result of that, this film ends up being the underachiever of the month though it is not nearly as bad as some of the underachievers that we have had earlier this year.
October 2012 Awards Watch: Argo, Frankenweenie, Alex Cross, and Atlas Shrugged II: The Strike
As we continue towards the end of the year, the awards contenders start coming out hot and heavy and while most of them really come out over the next two months, there are times when October has some award contenders come out. With this month, we do have some contenders that come out and it looks like it was about even in terms of those nominated for the good awards versus those nominated for the bad awards. The first film from this month that makes it into this category is Argo which would win 3 Academy Awards (Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Film Editing) while being nominated for 4 more (Best Supporting Actor, Best Original Score, Best Sound Editing, and Best Sound Mixing). It would also win 2 Golden Globe Awards (Best Picture – Drama and Best Director) while being nominated for 3 more (Best Supporting Actor, Best Screenplay, and Best Score), and this pretty much solidifies its status as one of the best of the year. The next film from this month that makes it into this category is Frankenweenie which was nominated for one Academy Award (Best Animated Film) which it didn’t win, and it was also nominated for one Golden Globe Award (Best Animated Film) which it didn’t win though getting the nod was a good win for the film. The next film from this month that makes it into this category is the thriller film Alex Cross, the third in the film franchise which sees Alex Cross attempt to stop a serial killer who pushes him to his moral and physical limits. The film would receive negative reviews from critics and finished with over $25 million which led it to being a bomb, and it would receive one Golden Raspberry nomination (Worst Actor) which it wouldn’t win. The fourth and last film from this month that makes it into this category is Atlas Shrugged II: The Strike, the sequel to the first film where Dagny Taggert continues her pursuit of John Gait. The film would receive negative reviews from critics and finished with over $3 million which made it one of the biggest bombs of the year, and it would be nominated for two Golden Raspberry Awards (Worst Director and Worst Screenplay) though it wouldn’t win either as there were worse films than it. While there were only four films from this month that made it into this category, the fact that one of them was as successful as it was helps prop this month up.
Overall Thoughts of October 2012:
Overall, the month of October 2012 ended up being a pretty solid month and while it wasn’t up to the levels of the months over the summer, it was still a pretty good month since this month could be a down month more often than an up month. With the holidays right around the corner and the remaining blockbusters coming out the next two months, October sometimes can be a wasteland for films though this month ends up delivering some good successes. We did have two films from this month make it over $100 million which it pretty rare for October and the rest of the films did very well or moderately well with only one or two being big bombs. 2012 has been a really good year for the most part as it hasn’t all been great, but the films that have done really well have carried the year to lofty heights and we will see if the end of the year can deliver as well. As for the month of October, it is a pretty good month and keeps up some good momentum going into the holiday season of 2012.
Final Grade: C+
