Steve’s Box Office Report: October 2013

Steve’s Box Office Report: October 2013

Top 10 Films for the Month of October:

1. Gravity – $274,092,705

2. Captain Phillips – $107,100,855

3. Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa – $102,003,019

4. Carrie – $35,266,619

5. Escape Plan – $25,135,965

6. Runner Runner – $19,316,646

7. The Counselor – $16,973,715

8. Machete Kills – $8,008,161

9. All is Lost – $6,263,670

10. Pulling Strings – $5,842,961

Honorable Mentions:

1. The Fifth Estate – $3,255,008

2. Grace Unplugged – $2,507,201

3. Blue is the Warmest Colour – $2,199,787

October Winners: Gravity, Captain Phillips, and Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa

We continue on through the year of 2013 and we now come to October as we inch closer to the holiday season, and October has always been an interesting month in that there are years where there is no major film released and it is a dumping ground for lower films. However, there are times where we do get some big films come out this month and they do very well as we get that here with a couple of major films coming out this month. The first film from this month that makes it into this category is the sci-fi film Gravity, a film about an astronaut who is left stranded in space and must work to return back to Earth safely. 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 $274 million which is unheard of for an October release. The next film from this month that makes it into this category is the action thriller film Captain Phillips, based on the true story of Richard Phillips and his capture by Somalian pirates. The film would receive positive reviews from critics who also considered this one of the best films of the year, and it would finish with over $107 million which was a big win given the competition that Gravity gave it. The third and last film that makes it into this category is the Jackass spinoff Bad Grandpa, a film about the character Irving Zisman as he struggles to navigate through life after the death of his wife. The film would receive mixed reviews from critics who felt it was a step down from the Jackass films though it still had charm, and it would finish with over $102 million which was a good win for the franchise and showed it still had some juice. Just these three films alone were enough to carry the month to a good level because as we will see, the rest of the films from this month did nothing much to help carry the weight.

October Losers: Escape Plan and the Fifth Estate

Aside from the three films mentioned in the previous category, the rest of the films released this month just seemed to be there to fill out the month as most of them had very little expectations going in. While most of the films did just enough to avoid keeping out of this category, there were a few that do land here and they were films that already had low expectations going in. The first film from this month that makes it into this category is the action film Escape Plan, a film about a prison security tester teaming up with an inmate to try and escape the world’s most secure prison. The film would receive mixed reviews from critics who felt it didn’t live up to the pairing of Slyvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger, and it would finish with over $25 million which was enough to put it in the top 5, but still felt pretty weak. The other film from this month that makes it into this category is the thriller film the Fifth Estate, a film loosely based on the founding of the website WikiLeaks. The film would receive mixed reviews from critics who felt it was not a film for the general audience, and it would finish with over $3 million as it would pretty much disappear from theaters not long after. While these two films did end up in this category, there wasn’t much anticipation behind them to the point that if they failed, it would tank the month as there was enough here to keep the month strong.

The Surprise/Story of October 2013: “Gravity” dominates the competition as it easily takes the top spot of October 2013

As I mentioned earlier, October can typically either be a dumping ground for lower end films while also being mostly dominated by horror films, or it can have one or two blockbuster films that come out to help carry the month and the box office going into the holiday season. This month ends up being the latter as there were a few films from this month that were seeing as major films, and horror ended up being an afterthought this month as there was only one horror film released this month which I will get into in a bit. In the end, there ended up being no real competition as Gravity destroyed the other films by pulling in a number that is rarely, if ever seen in October to this point, but with two films this month also making over $100 million, it was strong enough to carry the month and we have some good momentum going into the holiday season which looks to be pretty loaded.

Overachiever of October 2013: Gravity

Going into this month, there were a lot of eyes on Gravity as it was pretty much a one-woman show with Sandra Bullock as the star and it basically all her, and the idea of the film also seemed like an interesting one and it was unsure how it would play with the mainstream audience. The film was receiving critical acclaim from critics and was being considered as a strong awards contender, and coming out in the beginning of October seemed like the best option as it could gain some good traction before the holiday season and the bigger blockbuster films come out. Ultimately, the film would gain a strong following from the mainstream and a lot of that was due to the visual effects as well as the star power that Bullock provided, and while taking the top spot was not a surprise, the fact that it made as much as it did in over $274 million was insane for an October release. It will be interesting to see going forward if more blockbusters come out in October or if this was just an anomaly, but there is no question that this film is easily deserving as the overachiever of the month and we will see how it stacks up against the other overachievers of the year.

Underachiever of October 2013: Carrie

As mentioned earlier, there was one genre that was conspicuously underrepresented this month and that is horror, and that is a shock given that October has Halloween and has been typically loaded with a bunch of horror films. However, this month does only have one horror film and that is the film Carrie, a remake of the classic 1976 film based on the Stephen King novel of a girl who discovers she has telekinetic powers as she deals with bullies in high school as well as her religious mother. The film would receive mixed reviews from critics who felt it was an unnecessary remake though praised the performances of the stars, and being the only horror film released this month it should’ve cornered the market and do very well. Sadly, it would be crushed under the weight of Gravity as well as Captain Phillips and only finished with over $35 which was a major disappointment, and as a result this film deserves the title of underachiever of the month and we will see how it stacks up against the other underachievers.

October 2013 Awards Watch: Gravity, Captain Phillips, Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa, Escape Plan, Machete Kills, All is Lost, and Blue is the Warmest Colour

As we continue through the fall and into the winter, we now see the award contenders come out and October can typically have either a lot of contenders or a few contenders, and this month actually has a great number of films come out that were strong contenders for all three of the big awards. The first film that makes it into this category is Gravity which would win 7 Academy Awards (Best Director, Best Original Score, Best Sound Editing, Best Sound Mixing, Best Cinematography, Best Film Editing, and Best Visual Effects) while being nominated for 3 more (Best Picture, Best Actress, and Best Production Design). It would also win one Golden Globe Award (Best Director) while being nominated for 3 more (Best Picture – Drama, Best Actress – Drama, and Best Original Score), and it is clear that this was one of the more successful films released this year. The next film that makes it into this category is Captain Phillips which would be nominated for 6 Academy Awards (Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Sound Editing, Best Sound Mixing, and Best Film Editing) though it wouldn’t win any, and it would also be nominated for 4 Golden Globe Awards (Best Picture – Drama, Best Actor – Drama, Best Supporting Actor, and Best Director) though it wouldn’t win any as it was just a victim of being in a strong year for contenders. The next film that makes it into this category is Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa which was nominated for 1 Academy Award (Best Makeup and Hairstyling) which it wouldn’t win though getting a nod was a great showing for the Jackass franchise. The next film that makes it into this category is Escape Plan which was nominated for one Golden Raspberry Award (Worst Actor) which it wouldn’t win, and then the next film that makes it into this category is the action film Machete Kills, the sequel to the first Machete which see the titular antihero recruited by the President to stop an arms dealer. The film would receive negative reviews from critics who felt it was far inferior to the first film and would finish with over $8 million, and it would be nominated for one Golden Raspberry Award (Worst Supporting Actress) though it wouldn’t win. The next film that makes it into this category is the drama film All is Lost, a film about a man who is lost at sea and struggles to survive, and the film would receive positive reviews from critics and finished with over $6 million as it was nominated for one Academy Award (Best Sound Editing) which it didn’t win and it would win one Golden Globe Award (Best Original Score) while being nominated for one more (Best Actor – Drama). The last film from this month that makes it into this category is the romantic drama Blue is the Warmest Colour, a film about a teenage girl who begins a relationship with a female painter. The film would receive positive reviews from critics and finished with over $2 million as it would be nominated for one Golden Globe Award (Best Foreign Language Film) though it wouldn’t win. It is quite interesting in that there were a bunch of contenders, but only Gravity would walk away with a bunch of awards as the rest of the films this month came up empty handed and it just shows the dominance that Gravity had as well as the competition from other films.

Overall Thoughts of October 2013:

Overall, the month of October was a fairly solid month as it was pretty much carried by three films and they were so dominant that they held the month up despite some of the other films that underperformed this month. As mentioned a few times, October is typically a dumping ground for lower films though may occasionally have one or two blockbusters, and we see that releasing a blockbuster this month can work given how the top 3 films of the month did with two of them reaching $100 million and one getting over $200 million. 2013 has been an interesting year to this point as it started a bit weak, then we would have a very strong summer, and this month regains some momentum that the last month lost and we will see how the year ends with the last two months. As for this month, it is a slightly above average month that is solely carried by the top 3 films of the month.

Final Grade: C+