Steve’s Box Office Report: September 2013
Top 10 Films for the Month of September:
1. Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 – $119,793,567
2. Insidious: Chapter 2 – $83,586,447
3. Prisoners – $61,002,302
4. Riddick – $42,025,135
5. The Family – $36,918,811
6. Rush – $26,947,624
7. Don Jon – $24,477,704
8. Baggage Claim – $21,569,509
9. Enough Said – $17,550,872
10. Battle of the Year – $8,888,355
Honorable Mentions:
1. The Spectacular Now – $6,854,611
2. Metallica Through the Never – $3,419,967
September Winners: Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2, Insidious: Chapter 2, and Don Jon
We come out of the summer of 2013 and go into the fall as the summer as a whole was a pretty successful one, and now it comes down to whether the next two months can keep the momentum going heading into the holiday season. While the month of September seemed pretty light in terms of big films coming out, we did have a few films from this month do well to make it into this category. The first film from this month that makes it into this category is the animated film Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2, the sequel to the first film where Flint and his friends return to their old hometown to deal with giant food monsters. The film would receive positive reviews from critics who felt it was a good film even though they believed it was inferior to the first one, and it would finish with over $119 million which was a fine number though slightly below the first one. The next film from this month that makes it into this category is the horror film Insidious: Chapter 2, the sequel to the first film where the Lamberts try to uncover the secret that left them connected to the spirit world. The film would receive negative reviews from critics who believed it was inferior to the original film, but it would finish with over $83 million and we will see if this leads to a third film to make it a trilogy. The last film from this month that makes it into this category is the romantic comedy Don Jon, a film about a man who struggles dating women while also dealing with an addiction to porn. The film would receive positive reviews from critics and would finish with over $24 million, which given the small budget of the film was a good win for the film. While the month was pretty much carried by Cloudy 2, the rest of the films in this category did fine enough though it will be interesting to see how much of an impact they really made.
September Losers: None
Something that I have been meaning to do is to go back into the archives to May 2006 when these recaps started and see how many times this category had no films make it, and it feels like it would be a rare occurrence though I seem to remember that there was at least one month a year where this happens. There have also been one or two occurrences where the previous category also doesn’t have any films make it, but it is more of a possibility with this category and that is the case here as no films from this month make it into this category. The majority of the films released this month didn’t have the highest expectations and most of them fell in line with what was expected of them, and nothing was a bomb either and this category is left empty in the end. It will be interesting to see going forward if this happens again given some of the films that will be coming out in the future, but we will keep track of it and see if it does end up happening again.
The Surprise/Story of September 2013: Cloudy days ahead as “Meatballs 2” easily wins top spot of weak September 2013
Going into the month of September, most of the films coming out were clearly geared towards adults which does make sense given that school had started up again and it seemed like one of those films would take the top spot in the end. However, we have seen in the last few years that an animated film usually dominates the month as the first Cloudy showed back in 2009 and it was exemplified last year with Hotel Transylvania which came out in September as well. As a result, when it was announced that Cloudy 2 was coming out this month, that was seen as the film that would take the top spot and sure enough, it does take the top spot with $119 million and it wasn’t even close. The rest of the films clearly divided the audiences with nothing breaking out aside from Insidious 2 which only reached $89 million, and while nothing bombed there was nothing that could help move the needle to the next level. September usually hits or misses and this was a case where this September ended up about in the middle, which is slightly disappointing given how hot the summer was.
Overachiever of September 2013: Insidious: Chapter 2
Back in April of 2011, the first Insidious was released and did pretty well despite some of the bigger films that came out that month, and it did so well it would end up being named the overachiever of April 2011 as it was fairly obvious that a sequel would be released. Now about a year and a half later, we get the release of the sequel which was not as well-liked from critics who felt it was a step down from the first film. However, the good will from the first film plus coming out a month before October gave this film a bit of an edge, and as mentioned it would end up finishing with over $89 million which was a major step up from the previous film and assured that the franchise would continue going forward. As a result, the second Insidious joins the first one in being named the overachiever of the month which is not something that happens, and we will see if there are future films if they have the same luck as the first two.
Underachiever of September 2013: Riddick
Going into the month of September, there were a few films coming out that had some high hopes and looked like they could potentially be breakout hits, but for the most part they didn’t though as mentioned nothing ended up bombing which was a plus in it of itself. There was one film that did have some significant attention on it and that was the third installment in the Riddick series with Riddick, a film where Riddick is left for dead and has to survive being hunted. The film would receive mixed reviews from critics who felt it was an improvement from its predecessor though felt it wouldn’t attract new fans to the franchise, and it would finish with over $42 million which put it ahead of the first film though behind the second one. Given the time difference between the second film and this one, there was a feeling that this film should’ve done a bit better especially since it spawned the potential for a fourth film, but in the end it does end up disappointing slightly and is given the title of underachiever of the month.
September 2013 Awards Watch: Rush, Enough Said, and Battle of the Year
As we come out of the summer and head into the fall, this is the time where the award contenders start coming out though September is typically either hit or miss with regards to how many contenders come out. We could have a few to none and there are times where we have a bunch of contenders come out, but in this case we only have a handful with only three films from this month making it. The first film that makes it into this category is the sports film Rush, based on the rivalry between James Hunt and Niki Lauda during the 1976 Formula One racing season. The film would receive positive reviews from critics and finished with over $26 million, and it would be nominated for 2 Golden Globe Awards (Best Picture – Drama and Best Supporting Actor) though it wouldn’t win either but it was still a fine showing for this film. The next film that makes it into this category is the romantic comedy Enough Said, a film about a masseuse who begins a relationship with the former husband of a former client and friend. The film would receive critical acclaim from critics who called it one of the best of the year and it would finish with over $17 million, and it would be nominated for one Golden Globe Award (Best Actress – Comedy or Musical) which it wouldn’t win. The last film from this month that makes it into this category is the dance film Battle of the Year, a film about a group of dancers who look to bring the World Championship back to the USA. The film would receive scathing reviews from critics who called it one of the worst of the year and it would finish with over $8 million, and it would receive one Golden Raspberry Award nomination (Worst Supporting Actor) which it wouldn’t win. While these three films didn’t receive a ton of nominations, the fact that they got at least a few was a decent plus for the month.
Overall Thoughts of September 2013:
Overall, the month of September 2013 ended up being a slightly below average month as it wasn’t terrible like some previous months have been, but it is a big step down from what we had going in the summer. As mentioned, September was usually a hit-or-miss month as we have had some that have overdelivered while there have been some that have underdelivered, but this one ends up being a bit tepid as it falls somewhere in the middle. We did have a film that broke the $100 million which is not always the case with a September film, but the rest of the films pretty much stayed in their lane with nothing breaking out or bombing. 2013 has been an interesting year to this point as it started fine, got really hot in the summer, but now we seemed to have hit a lull and we will see if October can turn it around right before the holiday season. As for this month, it is a decent month that was about in the middle as you could get though it does trend slightly downward.
Final Grade: C-
