Here are the Top 10 films of the Summer season (domestically):
Narrowly making it to #10 is surprise horror hit The Conjuring. After opening to a massive $41.9 million, it has shown incredible strength for a horror film, earning over three times that amount ($134.2 million so far). The opening weekend was the biggest ever for an original R-rated horror film, and was the second-biggest debut for a paranormal-themed horror flick behind Paranormal Activity 3. The audience reaction was strong, with a "A-" CinemaScore and great reviews. Conjuring should finish with roughly $140 million domestically and over $250 million worldwide, a huge result for a movie that cost just $20 million to make. A sequel is in the works.
In ninth place is another surprise hit, Baz Luhrmann's The Great Gatsby, which despite a second-place debut took in a huge amount of money for a second-weekend-of-May opener. Its' $50.1 million opening ranks as the third-biggest second place opening of all-time, and it went on to earn close to three times that amount at $144.8 million (it closed last week). Reviews were mixed and audiences gave it a mixed "B" CinemaScore. Considering the films' tricky subject matter, no one knew this would earn this much. Gatsby has earned $330 million worldwide against a $105 million budget, and was released on DVD and Blu-ray this past week.
Finishing in eighth was the biggest comedy of the summer, The Heat, starring two of the now most-consistent ladies in the business, Melissa McCarthy and Sandra Bullock. The film took advantage of a marketplace devoid of female-driven movies and opened to a fantastic $39.1 million and has earned over four times that amount over the summer ($157.4 million so far). Coming within spitting distance of McCarthy's 2011 hit Bridesmaids ($169 million), analysts always expected this to perform hugely thanks to the starpower and track record for these kinds of movies. Reviews were mixed-to-positive, while audiences gave it an "A-" CinemaScore. A rare win for Fox, Heat is on track to finish at $160 million domestically and $230 million or more worldwide. The film will be on DVD October 15. A sequel could is in the "talks" stage.
Coming in at #7 is Brad Pitt's zombie apocalypse World War Z. Originally expected to only do respectable business, it turned in Brad Pitt's most successful box office gross yet, with a huge $66.1 million opening and over three times that amount, a $200.2 million gross-to-date. That gives Pitt his biggest-grosser yet ahead of Mr. and Mrs. Smith (though its' not his most-attended movie). With a hefty marketing campaign, Paramount was the rare studio to pull an original success in the midst of a very crowded schedule. Good reviews and a "A-" CinemaScore boded well for it. The film will likely close with around $550 million worldwide, a massive blockbuster-like result for a tricky genre. It will hit your local Target and Wal-Mart in two weeks (September 17). A sequel is in development.
Paramount's other entry for the summer, Star Trek into Darkness, soars in at #6. While not performing up to the lofty expectations of some ($84 million four-day start), the film did come within reasonable distance of its' predecessor, with $228.5 million just a week ahead of its' DVD release. Altogether a solid performance, it did come $25 million shy of 2009's Star Trek, even with 3D surcharges added in. But considering the incredibly competitive month May 2013 was, its' still a strong performance by all means. Into Darkness did way better than its' predecessor overseas, with an expected worldwide finish of $470 million. The film garnered great reception from audiences and critics. With J.J. Abrams getting ready to start work on Star Wars: Episode VII, it may be a while before we see another return to the U.S.S. Enterprise (though some say it may be out in 2015, which probably won't happen).
At #5, we have Fast and Furious 6 which was a blockbuster with an amazing run. The sixth installment in the world-famous franchise picked up $117 million over its' first four days and has gone on to earn $238.7 million so far. That's $30 million ahead of Fast Five, and without 3D (even better!). It appears this franchise is still riding the waves of intense popularity, and overseas has been huge. Fast 6 will finish with nearly $800 million worldwide (against a , and its' sequel has already started filming. Reviews were good and audiences gave it an "A" CinemaScore. Fast 7 is already on the calendar for a July 11, 2014 release, and it could very well be a $1 billion earner. As for fans waiting for the DVD, October 1 is the day you can get your hands on it.
Scaring its' way to fourth place was Disney and Pixar's prequel Monsters University, which kept the animation studio's brand strong. 11 1/2 years after the first Monsters Inc. was a huge hit, the prequel debuted to a huge $82.5 million, an went on to earn $264.2 million so far. Its' also been huge overseas, with the worldwide tally expected to hit $750 million against a $200 million budget. It is Pixar's fourth-biggest movie ever, behind Toy Story 3, Finding Nemo and Up, and further enhances Pixar's decision to make sequels every two years (starting in 2015). Monsters U is the tenth-biggest animated movie ever domestically and is expected to reach 10th place for animation worldwide. The prequel earned solid reviews and a "A" CinemaScore. It will be released on DVD and Blu-ray just in time for Halloween on October 29.
Taking the bronze medal for the summer was Zach Snyder's take on Superman, Man of Steel. While settling for second place on superhero movies this year, the DC Comics film still successfully rebooted the classic franchise with a huge $116.6 million opening weekend, and going on to earn $290.3 million so far. While front-loaded despite solid audience reception ("B+" CinemaScore), the film easily outpaced Superman Returns and earned strong results overseas as well, with an expected worldwide finish of $670 million against a $220 million budget. Reviews were mixed. Warner Bros. has created a lot of headlines with the sequel set for July 17, 2015, which will have Superman teaming up with Batman (played by Ben Affleck!). Man of Steel will debut on DVD and Blu-ray on November 12.
Embarrassing all other animated titles this summer (and year) was the season's runner-up, Despicable Me 2. Having one of the most successful runs of all-time for an animated film, the critically and audience-liked sequel ("A-" CinemaScore) debuted to an incredible $143 million in five days (the biggest five-day tally ever for an animated movie), and had the third-biggest 4th of July debut ever. Despicable Me 2 is at a huge $355.7 million so far, a full $100 million ahead of its' predecessor. The latest animated blockbuster is the fifth-biggest animated movie ever, the 24th biggest-grossing movie of all-time, and distributor Universal's most profitable film of their 101-year history (and their 2nd-biggest movie ever behind Jurassic Park) The film should earn $365 million here and between $850-$900 million worldwide (against just a $76 million budget!), a fantastic performance. No Despicable Me 3 is in the works, but Universal and Illumination Entertainment are already well into production on a spin-off, Minions, which will debut on December 19, 2014, with Sandra Bullock leading the voice cast. The DVD/Blu-ray is expected in December.
But even the Minions couldn't stop Tony Stark (though they came awfully close). Technically a successor to The Avengers, the movie that kicked off the summer season was the top-grossing flick of the season. Iron Man 3 had the second-biggest opening of all-time at $174.1 million, going on to becoming the 13th-biggest movie ever domestically, at $408.6 million so far. Overseas, the threequel nearly outpaced Avengers with over $800 million overseas, for a $1.2 billion pick-up worldwide, ranking as the fifth-biggest movie of all-time, behind Avatar, Titanic, The Avengers, and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part II. The DVD will be out on September 24. No Iron Man 4 has been scheduled, but Robert Downey, Jr. is far from finished with the Marvel universe, with appearances in Guardians of the Galaxy, The Avengers 2, and even a cameo in the TV series Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. over the next couple of years.
Other winners this summer include Now You See Me ($117.1 million), We're The Millers ($112.9 million), This is the End ($96.8 million), Lee Daniels' The Butler ($79.3 million), Planes ($73.8 million), The Purge ($64.5 million), and Kevin Hart: Let Me Explain ($32.2 million).
Middlers include The Wolverine ($128.4 million), The Hangover - Part III ($112.2 million), Epic ($107.4 million), Pacific Rim ($100.3 million plus $300 million overseas), Elysium ($80.4 million plus $100 million overseas), Blue Jasmine ($21.8 million in limited release), One Direction: This is Us ($18 million) and The World's End ($16.6 million plus $20 million overseas).
Losers include The Lone Ranger ($88.4 million against $215 million budget), Turbo ($80.1 million against $145 million budget), White House Down ($72.4 million against $150 million budget), 2 Guns ($70.1 million after $29 million opening), The Smurfs 2 ($66.9 million against $105 million budget, but $170 million overseas), After Earth ($60.5 million against $130 million budget), Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters ($56.6 million despite nearly $100 million overseas), RED 2 ($52.2 million), The Internship ($44.6 million), R.I.P.D. ($33.1 million), Kick-*** 2 ($27 million), The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones ($24.3 million), Jobs ($14.8 million), You're Next ($14.3 million) and Peeples ($9.2 million).
And now, the Top 10 biggest movies of the summer worldwide.
#1: Iron Man 3 ($1.2 billion)
#2: Despicable Me 2 ($822 million)
#3: Fast and Furious 6 ($787 million)
#4: Monsters University ($714 million)
#5: Man of Steel ($657 million)
#6: World War Z ($531 million)
#7: Star Trek into Darkness ($462 million)
#8: Pacific Rim ($404 million)
#9: The Wolverine ($358 million)
#10: The Hangover - Part III ($351 million)
To date, 2013 has picked up $7.668 billion so far, with still Thor: The Dark World, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire and The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug still yet to release. Right now, there's a chance 2013 beats 2012's $11 billion year record, but its' going to take more than those three to accomplish that feat.
For studios, the big winners were Universal and Warner Bros. this summer. Universal had most of its' movies open at #1, while all seven of Warner Bros. pre-Labor Day releases earned over $100 million domestically. Disney is smack in the middle with a couple of major successes and a major loser. Paramount only had two movies this summer, but they each earned over $200 million. Fox and Sony struggled with just one or two major hits this summer, and majority of their releases being either disappointments or outright flops.
For the year, Warner Bros. is on top with nearly $1.25 billion so far, followed by Universal in second with $1.224 billion and Disney with $1.13 billion in third. Fox is on the verge of reaching $1 billion with $922 million so far, while Sony narrowly edges out Paramount for fifth place with $731 million VS. $722 million. Lionsgate is sitting at the bottom with $479 million so far, but will get a huge boost from The Hunger Games: Catching Fire in November.
Will Fall keep 2013's robust comeback up?? Tune in tomorrow to see what I think...
