Steve’s Box Office Report: March 2013
Top 10 Films for the Month of March:
1. Oz: The Great and Powerful – $234,911,825
2. The Croods – $187,168,425
3. G.I. Joe: Retaliation – $122,523,060
4. Olympus Has Fallen – $98,925,640
5. Jack the Giant Slayer – $65,187,603
6. Temptation: Confessions of a Marriage Counselor – $51,975,354
7. The Call – $51,872,378
8. The Host – $26,627,201
9. 21 and Over – $25,682,380
10. The Incredible Burt Wonderstone – $22,537,881
Honorable Mentions:
1. The Place Beyond the Pines – $21,403,519
2. Admission – $18,007,317
3. The Last Exorcism Part II – $15,179,302
4. Spring Breakers – $14,124,284
5. Dead Man Down – $10,895,295
March Winners: The Croods, Olympus Has Fallen, and the Call
We continue on through the year 2013 as we head into March where the first of the big blockbusters of the year come out, and there were a few big films that were released this month and looked to stake their claim in earning a lot of money. While there weren’t as many winners as I thought there would be just based on looking at the numbers at face value, we did have a few big winners that do make it into this category. The first film from this month that makes it into this category is the animated film the Croods, a film about a prehistoric family who search for a new home while the patriarch is threatened by a charismatic inventor. The film would receive positive reviews from critics who felt it was a fine entry from Dreamworks though doesn’t quite reach the heights of their previous franchises, and it would finish with over $187 million which was a major win and opens up the probability of a new franchise being born. The next film from this month that makes it into this category is the action film Olympus Has Fallen, a film about a former Secret Service agent who must save the President from a North Korean militant group who takes over the White House. The film would receive mixed reviews from critics who felt it was unoriginal though was carried by a strong performance by Gerard Butler, and it would finish with over $98 million which was a huge win for this film and we will see if it impacts another film coming out later this year with a similar premises. The third and final film from this month that makes it into this category is the crime thriller film the Call, a film about a 9-1-1 operator who attempts to help a teenager girl who was kidnapped by a serial killer. The film would receive mixed reviews from critics who felt it was a fine thriller that was hampered by a poor ending, and it would finish with over $51 million which makes it the most successful film for WWE Studios though the bar was pretty low to begin with. Even though it does seem like a bit of a disappointment that there were only 3 films that made it into this category, these 3 films did very well and helped carry the month above the previous two months.
March Losers: Jack the Giant Slayer
This category is always an interesting one as when it comes to the month of March, we can have either a few or even no films that make it into this category though there are times where we could have numerous films make it. This is one of those occasions where it is the latter as we only have one film from this month that makes it into this category though it could be one of the bigger bombs of the year. That film that makes it into this category is the fantasy adventure film Jack the Giant Slayer, loosely based on “Jack and the Beanstalk” where Jack must save a princess from a race of giants. The film would receive mixed reviews from critics who felt it was a unique re-telling of the classic story that was weighed down by its special effects, and it would finish with just over $65 million which was just enough to put it in the top 5, but it was still one of the bigger bombs of the year. While there was only one film that made it into this category, the fact that it was such a bomb doesn’t help the month out and keeps it from getting a bit higher than it could’ve potentially gotten.
The Surprise/Story of March 2013: Audiences return to the Magical Land of Oz as “Oz: The Great and Powerful” takes the top spot of March 2013
Going into the month of March, there were a few films coming out this month that had potential to be major blockbusters and at the top of the list was the fantasy film Oz: The Great and Powerful, loosely based on the “Oz” novels which sees a struggling magician named Oscar Diggs travel to the Land of Oz as he looks to resolve the conflict between 3 witches. The film would receive mixed reviews from critics who felt that while it was visually stunning, it lacked the same heart that “The Wizard of Oz” had though they did praise the performances of James Franco and Mila Kunis. The film would end up finishing with over $234 million which was a major win for the film and it easily took the top spot of the month, and coupled with strong performances by the Croods and G.I. Joe: Retaliation, and the month of March had some good successes and brought some much needed juice to the box office for 2013.
Overachiever of March 2013: Olympus Has Fallen
Going into the month of March, most of the focus was on the major films like Oz: The Great and Powerful, the Croods, and G.I. Joe: Retaliation and how well they would end up doing, and the remaining films from this month had either modest to low expectations. On paper, Olympus Has Fallen looked like another generic action film especially given the reviews it was getting, and similar to the situation with Armageddon and Deep Impact back in 1998, there was another film with a similar premises coming out in the summer called White House Down that looked like a far bigger film than Olympus. However, Olympus ended up being good counterprogramming to the bigger films that came out this month and came just shy of hitting the $100 million which was a major feat for this film, and despite the mixed reviews from critics the mainstream audience liked what they saw and did prop it up against some of the other smaller films that came out this month. As a result, it wouldn’t be that much of a surprise if a new action franchise is born out of the success of this film, and because of that, there is no question that the film deserves to be the overachiever of the month and has a good chance to be a contender for overachiever of the year.
Underachiever of March 2013: The Host
As we have seen the last couple of years, there always seems to be the need for the next big YA film to fill the void that is left behind by other franchises wrapping up, and at this point Harry Potter ended about a year and a half ago while Twilight finished up back in November of 2012. Even though the Hunger Games launched successfully one year ago, there was a need to have another one and after a few YA films released this year have failed, the next big one that had high expectations was the romance sci-fi film the Host, based on the novel of the same name of a group of aliens who take over the human race and one girl’s consciousness battles back against the “Soul”. Coming from the mind of Stephanie Meyer who struck gold with the “Twilight” series, it seemed like this film could be the one to be the next big hit especially after getting a prime trailer spot before the Hunger Games a year ago, and despite the negative reviews from critics there was a feeling it could still do well much like the Twilight series. However, that did not come to fruition as the film ended up finishing with over $26 million which was a major disappointment as it didn’t even debut in the top 5 of its opening weekend and it wouldn’t fare much better after that especially against the bigger films released during the month. As a result, there is no question that this film deserves to be the underachiever of the month and we continue the search to find the next big YA film adaptation to fill the void left behind.
March 2013 Awards Watch: The Croods, Temptation: Confessions of a Marriage Counselor, and the Call
As we get to this month, the previous award season has officially ended and now we kick off the new award season as we see which films manage to make it into this category. March is usually a hit-or-miss month in terms of the number of award contenders that come out, and this March ends up having a decent amount of films that do end up making it into this category. The first film from this month that makes it into this category is the Croods which was nominated for 1 Academy Award (Best Animated Film) which it wouldn’t win, and it was also nominated for one Golden Globe Award (Best Animated Film) which it wouldn’t win and it was a good nod for the film to get the nomination though it was a case of bad timing which we’ll discuss later in the year. The next film that makes it into this category is the romantic drama film Temptation: Confessions of a Marriage Counselor, based on the play of the same name about a married woman who becomes tempted by a billionaire. The film would receive negative reviews from critics and finished with over $51 million, and it would win one Golden Raspberry Award (Worst Supporting Actress) while being nominated for one more (Worst Director). The third and final film from this month that makes it into this category is the Call which was nominated for one Golden Raspberry Award (Worst Actress), but it wouldn’t win and it is fairly obvious that the month of March had a few more films that were not well-regarded as opposed to ones that were.
Overall Thoughts of March 2013:
Overall, the month of March 2013 was a pretty solid month that saw a good amount of successes, but it does feel like the month was held back a bit and didn’t hit the full potential that it had. As I mentioned, March is usually when the first big blockbusters of the year come out and while the blockbusters that came out this month did well, the rest of the films that weren’t blockbusters had a mixed range of success to failure. We did have three films this month make over $100 million with one making well over $200 million which you don’t see a lot of in March, and the rest of the films ranged from very good to below average with at least one major bomb. 2013 has been an interesting year for the box office as it started on a bit of a weak note, but it did definitely pick up thanks to this month and we will see how the next month does right before we get to the summer. As for the month of March 2013, it is a solid month that is so far easily the best of 2013 though was a bit of a step down from 2012.
Final Grade: B-
