Steve’s Box Office Report: 2008
So we have finally reached the end of the year and I believe that it is only fitting that we do a final recap of the year in general. The way this will work is that I will first take all the films that were number one in their respective month and rank them by the amount of money that they made. I will then include a list of films that all made over $100 million in their run into a separate list that will be considered honorable mentions. Next, I will list all the winners and losers from each respective month and after calculating the profits and net losses, I will rank the top 10 winners and losers of the year. Next, I will list all the stories/surprises from the year and list my top 3 for the year, and then I will list the overachievers and underachievers before forming a top 5 of the year for both based on box figures and personal opinion. After that, I will list all the films from each month that were nominated for the big 3 awards (Academy, Golden Globe, and Golden Raspberry) and then list the films that won each of those awards (number of awards won by number of awards nominated for). Finally, I will give my overall thoughts of the year in general and rank the months by grade before giving a final grade for the year.
The Number One Films of 2008:
- The Dark Knight – $533,345,358 (July)
- Iron Man – $318,412,101 (May)
- WALL-E – $223,808,164 (June)
- Twilight – $192,769,854 (November)
- Dr. Seuss’ Horton Hears a Who – $154,529,439 (March)
- Marley and Me – $143,153,751 (December)
- Tropic Thunder – $110,515,313 (August)
- Eagle Eye – $101,440,743 (September)
- Beverly Hills Chihuahua – $94,514,402 (October)
- The Bucket List – $93,466,502 (January)
- Jumper – $80,172,128 (February)
- Forgetting Sarah Marshall – $63,172,463 (April)
Honorable Mentions:
- Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull – $317,101,119 (May)
- Hancock – $227,946,274 (July)
- Kung Fu Panda – $215,434,591 (June)
- Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa – $180,010,950 (November)
- Quantum of Solace – $168,368,427 (November)
- Sex and the City – $152,647,258 (May)
- Mamma Mia! – $144,130,063 (July)
- The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian – $141,621,490 (May)
- Slumdog Millionaire – $141,319,928 (December)
- The Incredible Hulk – $134,806,913 (June)
- Wanted – $134,508,551 (June)
- Get Smart – $130,319,208 (June)
- The Curious Case of Benjamin Button – $127,509,326 (December)
- Four Christmases – $120,146,040 (November)
- Bolt – $114,053,579 (November)
- Bedtime Stories – $110,101,975 (December)
- The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor – $102,491,776 (August)
- Journey to the Center of the Earth – $101,704,370 (July)
- Step Brothers – $100,468,793 (July)
- You Don’t Mess with the Zohan – $100,018,837 (June)
Winners:
January: The Bucket List, Cloverfield, 27 Dresses, and Atonement
February: Vantage Point, Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert Tour, Step Up 2 the Streets, and Definitely, Maybe
March: Dr. Seuss’ Horton Hears a Who, 21, College Road Trip, and Tyler Perry’s Meet the Browns
April: Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Baby Mama, Prom Night, and Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay
May: Iron Man, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Sex and the City, What Happens in Vegas, and The Strangers
June: WALL-E, Kung Fu Panda, Wanted, and Get Smart
July: The Dark Knight, Hancock, Mamma Mia!, Journey to the Center of the Earth, and Step Brothers
August: Pineapple Express, the House Bunny, and Star Wars: The Clone Wars
September: Eagle Eye, Burn After Reading, Tyler Perry’s The Family That Preys, and Fireproof
October: Beverly Hills Chihuahua, High School Musical 3: Senior Year, Saw V, the Secret Life of Bees, and Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist
November: Twilight, Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa, Four Christmases, and Role Models
December: Marley and Me, Slumdog Millionaire, Bedtime Stories, and Yes Man
The Top 10 Winners of 2008:
- The Dark Knight (July)
- Iron Man (May)
- Twilight (November)
- Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (May)
- Slumdog Millionaire (December)
- Mamma Mia! (July)
- Sex and the City (May)
- Kung Fu Panda (June)
- Marley and Me (December)
- High School Musical 3: Senior Year (October)
Losers:
January: In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale
February: Semi-Pro
March: None
April: Leatherheads
May: The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian and Speed Racer
June: The Love Guru
July: Meet Dave
August: The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, and Babylon A.D.
September: Bangkok Dangerous and Miracle at St. Anna
October: Body of Lies, the Express, and City of Ember
November: Quantum of Solace, Bolt, Australia, and Soul Men
December: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, the Spirit, Punisher: War Zone, and Delgo
The Top 10 Losers of 2008:
- The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian (May)
- Australia (November)
- Speed Racer (May)
- Semi-Pro (February)
- In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale (January)
- Meet Dave (July)
- Babylon A.D. (August)
- City of Ember (October)
- The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon (August)
- The Spirit (December)
Stories:
January: Aging stars overcome monster destruction to take January 2008
February: Overstuffed slate of films lead to bloated February 2008
March: Horton hears his way to the top of March 2008
April: Audiences forget about movies as “Sarah Marshall” leads weak April
May: The Marvel Cinematic Universe blasts off as Iron Man wins May 2008
June: WALL-E earns Pixar its third straight June win
July: Why so serious? The Dark Knight easily claims July 2008
August: Tropic Thunder leads bloated August and ends the summer of 2008 on a low note
September: Eagle Eye spies its way to the top of weak September 2008
October: Family films dethrone horror king Saw to claim loaded October 2008
November: Twilight sparkles its way to the top of November 2008
December: Marley brings “dog days” to award contenders to close year out on a solid note
The Top 3 Stories of 2008:
- Why so serious? The Dark Knight easily claims July 2008
- The Marvel Cinematic Universe blasts off as Iron Man wins May 2008
- Twilight sparkles its way to the top of November 2008
Overachievers of:
January: Cloverfield
February: Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert Tour
March: 21
April: Forgetting Sarah Marshall
May: Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
June: Kung Fu Panda
July: The Dark Knight
August: Pineapple Express
September: Fireproof
October: Beverly Hills Chihuahua
November: Twilight
December: Slumdog Millionaire
The Top 5 Overachievers of 2008:
- The Dark Knight (July)
- Twilight (November)
- Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (May)
- Slumdog Millionaire (December)
- Beverly Hills Chihuahua (October)
Underachievers of:
January: Rambo
February: The Spiderwick Chronicles
March: 10,000 B.C.
April: Nim’s Island
May: The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian
June: The Incredible Hulk
July: Hellboy II: The Golden Army
August: Tropic Thunder
September: None
October: Changeling
November: Bolt
December: The Day the Earth Stood Still
The Top 5 Underachievers of 2008:
- The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian (May)
- Bolt (November)
- The Incredible Hulk (June)
- Tropic Thunder (August)
- Changeling (October)
Awards Watch:
January: Atonement, There Will Be Blood, Meet the Spartans, The Kite Runner, and In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale
February: Fool’s Gold, The Eye, and Witless Protection
March: None
April: 88 Minutes
May: Iron Man, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, What Happens in Vegas, and Speed Racer
June: WALL-E, Kung Fu Panda, Wanted, The Happening, and The Love Guru
July: The Dark Knight, Mamma Mia!, Hellboy II: The Golden Army, and Meet Dave
August: Pineapple Express, Tropic Thunder, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Vicky Cristina Barcelona, and Disaster Movie
September: Burn After Reading, Righteous Kill and the Women
October: Max Payne, Changeling, the Duchess, and Rachel Getting Married
November: Bolt and Australia
December: Slumdog Millionaire, the Curious Case of Benjamin Button, the Day the Earth Stood Still, Doubt, and Cadillac Records
Awards Winners:
Academy Awards: Atonement, (1 out of 6), There Will Be Blood (2 out of 8), Slumdog Millionaire (8 out of 10), the Curious Case of Benjamin Button (3 out of 13), the Dark Knight (2 out of 8), WALL-E (1 out of 7), Vicky Cristina Barcelona (1 out of 1), and the Duchess (1 out of 2)
Golden Globe Awards: Atonement (2 out of 7), There Will Be Blood (1 out of 2), WALL-E (1 out of 2), the Dark Knight (1 out of 1), Vicky Cristian Barcelona (1 out of 4), and Slumdog Millionaire (4 out of 4)
Golden Raspberry Awards: In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale (1 out of 5), Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (1 out of 1), the Love Guru (3 out of 7), Mamma Mia! (1 out of 1)
Overall Thoughts of 2008:
So overall, the year of 2008 ended up being a pretty solid year though it ended up being a bit more down the middle than it probably should’ve been. This was an interesting year in that the good films from the year were excellent and did very well, but the bad films from this year did very poorly and ultimately balanced things out a lot more than you would expect. In fact when you compare this year to 2007, there are a lot of similarities between the two years in that it was mainly dominated by the summer though unlike last year where just December carried the end, December 2008 had some momentum from November to end on a strong note. The lower end months from this year were a bit better than last year’s low end months though like last year, we had a month that garnered a failing grade which sticks out like a sore thumb. In an interesting twist, 2008 had the exact same number of films that made over $100 million that 2007 had which was 28 in total, and it is a bit unusual since it seemed like 2008 had more than that. At the end of the day, 2008 had a great run and finished with a lot of money though it unfortunately did not finish ahead of 2007 which ended up beating it by just over $30 million though that is a very slight margin. 2008 was definitely an interesting year as we did some big films come out with made a lot of money, and as we head into 2009 we will see if that year can top 2007 or end up behind it as well. As for the year of 2008, it is a pretty solid year that falls about in par with what 2007 did.
Final Rankings of Months of 2008:
- July – A+
- June – A
- May – A-
- November – B+
- December – B
- October – C+
- March – C-
- August – C-
- September – D+
- January – D
- February – D-
- April – F
Final Grade of 2008: C+
