Steve’s Box Office Report: October 2014
Top 10 Films for the Month of October:
1. Gone Girl – $167,767,189
2. Fury – $85,817,906
3. Annabelle – $84,273,813
4. Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day – $66,954,149
5. Dracula Untold – $56,280,355
6. Ouija – $50,856,010
7. The Book of Life – $50,151,543
8. The Judge – $47,119,388
9. St. Vincent – $44,137,712
10. John Wick – $43,037,835
Honorable Mentions:
1. Nightcrawler – $32,381,217
2. The Best of Me – $26,766,213
3. Addicted – $17,390,770
4. Left Behind – $14,019,924
5. Whiplash – $13,092,000
October Winners: Gone Girl, Annabelle, Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, Ouija, St. Vincent, John Wick, and Nightcrawler
We continue on through the year of 2014 as we are rapidly approaching the end of the year and the holiday season is closing in, but we do have to get through the month of October which typically is either a slow month or a surprisingly strong month. While at first glance there was nothing from this month that looked to be a potential breakout hit, we did have a few good moments as several of the films from this month that did do very well. The first film that makes it into this category is the thriller film Gone Girl, based on the novel of the same name of a man who becomes the prime suspect in the disappearance of his wife. The film would receive positive reviews from critics who felt it stayed true to the source material, and it would finish with over $167 million making it one of the rare October films to cross the $100 million mark. The next film that makes it into this category is the horror film Annabelle, a spinoff of the 2013 film the Conjuring about a doll owned by Ed and Lorraine Warren. The film would receive negative reviews from critics who felt it was inferior to the Conjuring, but the film would end up making over $84 million which made it easily the highest grossing horror film released this month. The next film that makes it into this category is the comedy film Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, based on the book of the same name about the title character going through a series of mishaps amidst feeling neglected by his family. The film would receive positive reviews from critics who felt it was a fine offering for families, and it would finish with over $66 million which was a fine outing for the film. The next film that makes it into this category is the horror film Ouija, a film which sees a group of teenagers who use the Ouija board to unleash evil spirits. The film would receive negative reviews from critics who considered it one of the worst horror films in recent history, and it would finish with over $50 million which was still a good win despite the negative reviews. The next film that makes it into this category is the dramedy film St. Vincent, a film about a war veteran who becomes a friend to a boy whose parents are going through a divorce. The film would receive positive reviews from critics who felt it was a return to form for star Bill Murray, and it would finish with over $44 million which barely got it into the top 10 for the month. The next film that makes it into this category is the action film John Wick, a film about a former hitman who seeks revenge against the gangsters who murdered his dog. The film would receive positive reviews from critics who felt it was also a return to form for star Keanu Reeves, and it would finish with over $43 million and we will see if this leads to a potential franchise. The last film that makes it into this category is the neo-noir thriller film Nightcrawler, a film about a freelance journalist who searches for violent stories in Los Angeles during the night. 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 $32 million which was a fine showing for the low budget film. This just shows that October ended up being a fairly stronger month than anticipated given that there was no major film released this month, and we will see how that translates to how well the month does.
October Losers: None
I had mentioned the previous month that in the 8 years I have been doing these recaps, it had become very rare that I would have a month where there would be no losers of the month and it had been a rarity to this point. But now for the first time, we actually have back-to-back months where we have no films from the month that make it into this category which is crazy to think about. This was a pretty loaded month in terms of the number of films released and the fact that there were no losers is quite a testament to how they did, and while some of them didn’t do as well as expected, none of them were outright bombs nor even underperformed enough to make it into this category. While I am fairly confident that we won’t have a threepeat with next month having no losers, it will be interesting to see how many more months going forward end up having no losers of the month.
The Surprise/Story of October 2014: “Gone Girl” absconds with the top spot of October 2014
We have seen over the last few years that October has gone from being a month mainly dominated by horror films to being a month that has numerous films catering to all sorts of audiences, and while there are horror films that still do very well during this month, they are no longer the focus of the month especially if there are some award contenders that come out this month. While there were no major blockbusters released this month, the biggest film was easily Gone Girl just due to the star power and that came through here as it easily takes the top spot of the month and it wasn’t even close. While we did have a horror film in the top 3 with Annabelle, there wasn’t much horror representation besides Ouija and the rest of the films were garnered towards other audiences. While the month was primarily dominated by Gone Girl, the rest of the films did fairly well enough to make the month a partial success especially since there were no losers and it was a fine showing to lead into the holiday season.
Overachiever of October 2014: Annabelle
In July 2013, the Conjuring was released and ended up being an unexpected smash hit making over $137 million and it seemed like we were headed for a sequel, but instead a left turn was taken and instead received a prequel to that film with Annabelle. Trying to serve as a standalone film while dropping hints referring to the Conjuring, the film did fairly well by making over $84 million though that was a steep drop from the Conjuring even with Annabelle being released in October and not having stiff competition while the Conjuring had to deal with Despicable Me. Even still, it was still a big winner given the small budget of the film and despite the negative reviews from critics who felt it was inferior to the Conjuring, and it will be interesting to see if we get an actual sequel to the Conjuring or if it’s decided that Annabelle will get a sequel first. But at the end of the day, there is no question that Annabelle does deserve to be the overachiever of the month even if it is a bit of a weaker overachiever.
Underachiever of October 2014: Dracula Untold
As I mentioned, there weren’t many horror films released this month aside from Annabelle and Ouija, but there was another film that came out that looked to be a surprise breakout hit and that was the action horror film Dracula Untold, a film about Vlad Dracula who becomes a vampire to save his empire from invading forces. Serving as a standalone origin story for Dracula and diverting from the source material of Bram Stoker, this had the potential to introduce the legendary character to a new audience even with a slightly lesser known cast. The film would end up receiving negative reviews from critics who felt the film was a disservice to the character, and it would finish with over $56 million which did put it in the top 5 and ahead of Ouija which is a plus. But there is a feeling that the film should’ve done better in that it wasn’t even close to Annabelle which also wasn’t well received, and in the end the film ends up being the underachiever of the month though like Annabelle, it is a fairly weak underachiever compared to other films from the month.
October 2014 Awards Watch: Gone Girl, the Book of Life, the Judge, St. Vincent, Nightcrawler, Left Behind, and Whiplash
As we get into the fall and towards the end of the year, this is the time when the award contenders start to come out and typically October has at least a few films make it into this category, but this month has quite a number of films make it into this category which might be a record for the month of October. The first film that makes it into this category is Gone Girl which was nominated for one Academy Award (Best Actress) which it wouldn’t win, and it was also nominated for 4 Golden Globes (Best Actress – Drama, Best Director, Best Screenplay, and Best Original Score) though it wouldn’t win any of those either. The next film that makes it into this category is the animated film the Book of Life, a film about a bullfighter who goes to the afterlife to fulfill the expectations of his family. The film would receive positive reviews from critics and finished with over $50 million as it was nominated for one Golden Globe (Best Animated Film) which it wouldn’t win. The next film that makes it into this category is the legal drama film the Judge, a film about a lawyer who returns to his hometown to defend his father who serves as a judge in the town. The film would receive mixed reviews from critics and finished with over $47 million as it received one Academy Award nomination (Best Supporting Actor) which it didn’t win, and it also received one Golden Globe nomination (Best Supporting Actor) which it also didn’t win. The next film that makes it into this category is St. Vincent which was nominated for two Golden Globes (Best Picture – Musical or Comedy and Best Actor – Musical or Comedy) though it wouldn’t win either, but it was still a good showing for the film to get a few nods. The next film that makes it into this category is Nightcrawler which was nominated for one Academy Award (Best Original Screenplay) which it didn’t win, and it would also be nominated for one Golden Globe (Best Actor – Drama) which it didn’t win. The next film that makes it into this category is the thriller film Left Behind, based on the novel of the same name where a pilot struggles to survive as the End Times begins with the Rapture. The film was critically panned and considered one of the worst of the year as it finished with over $14 million, and it would be nominated for 3 Golden Raspberry Awards (Worst Film, Worst Screenplay, and Worst Actor) though it wouldn’t win any of them. The last film that makes it into this category is the drama film Whiplash, a film about a promising jazz student who is pushed to his limit by his overbearing and abusive teacher. The film would receive critical acclaim from critics and finished with over $13 million as it would win 3 Academy Awards (Best Supporting Actor, Best Film Editing, and Best Sound Mixing) while being nominated for two more (Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay). It would also win one Golden Globe Award (Best Supporting Actor) as this would be the only film in this category that won any awards as the rest got nominations though didn’t win anything, and this ends up being one of the more loaded months in terms of award contenders.
Overall Thoughts of October 2014:
Overall, the month of October 2014 ended up being a pretty decent month that was significantly better than September, but it does fall a bit short compared to some of the other months from the year. After a pretty hot summer, the box office came to a screeching halt in September though it does get a bit of a rebound here, and that is a positive as we want some momentum going into the holiday season. We did have a film that made over $100 million which is a bit of a rarity for the month of October, and the rest of the films did just well enough to keep the month going with nothing again bombing. 2014 has been quite the year to this point and as we head into the final months of the year, we will see how the holiday season closes things out and if the year ends on a strong note. As for this month, it is a fairly solid month that helps the box office recover from a dismal September.
Final Grade: C+
