It is very difficult to discuss the past month's performance at the box office in light of the tragic event that occurred on July 20 in Aurora, Colorado. Now more than ever, the film community must band together to condemn this and other senseless acts of violence. Film has always been the greatest medium for spreading new ideas and influencing ways of thinking around the world. As a filmmaker one must recognize the power inherent in the medium. I recognize that that the audience will always find varied meanings within the film, many that were unintended by the filmmakers, but there is no place in our society for films that actively promote or even condone this type of violence. Now I haven't yet seen The Dark Knight Rises (so don't send me any spoilers...) but I know from Nolan's other works that he would never condone actions of violence against the innocent.
< / soapbox>
This post is supposed to be about numbers, right? I like numbers. No wibbly wobbly emotional stuff...
What worked:
The Dark Knight Rises
Though it hasn't broken any records and is still lagging behind its predecessor, TDKR has still been quite a successful summer blockbuster. Batman flew past his production budget after only nine days and just passed $300 million domestically, $550 million worldwide. Will it outgross The Dark Knight? I think so. But I doubt it has any chance of getting close to The Avengers' mammoth haul.
The Amazing Spider-Man
Like TDKR, Spidey is having a hard time living up to the box office successes of his previous incarnation. With only $244 million domestically, The Amazing Spider-Man is the lowest grossing film in the franchise by around $80 million. Hopefully these lower returns won't give Sony cold feet about The Amazing Spider-Man #2, because I really enjoyed Andrew Garfield's interpretation of the character (and even preferred it to Tobey Maquire's.)
Ted
If anyone doubted that Seth MacFarlane's crude and usually hilarious brand of humor would translate well from TV to the big screen, they were definitely mistaken. The $50 million comedy starring Marky Mark and Meg from Family Guy has already reached $195 million domestically, which may be enough for it to hold onto its title of highest grossing R rated comedy of 2012.
What didn't:
People Like Us
Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci's attempt to break into the world of heartfelt dramas has unfortunately fallen flat. People Like Us grossed a depressing $9 million in July, bringing its total domestic haul to a mere $12 million, $4 million short of its production budget. Will the goodwill from the Transformers franchise continue to give Bob and Alex chances to pursue pet projects or will they be forever doomed to churn out mindless action drivel with robots in 3D?
The Watch
Here is a classic case of potential break-out R rated comedy gets mixed up in a PR nightmare, has its title and release date changed, and then barely makes more in its opening weekend than Let's watch a fourth movie about people who wish they could dance good so they can be famous like Channing Tatum.
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