Box Office Review: August 2012

August is a very transitional month. Summer changes into fall. Lazy days out in the sun turn into hours of torture (aka learning) at the hands of teachers. And the box office goes from its highest grossing month: July (record of $1.395 billion in 2011); to its lowest grossing month: September (record of $603 million in 2011). The beginning of August historically sees the studios' last attempts to make a buck with B action flicks, but by the end of the month it's clear that the box office frenzy of summer is over.

August 2012 is no different, with an unimpressive total gross of $803 million.

Here is a quick look at the movies that succeeded in spite of the end-of-summer doldrums, and those that didn't.

What worked:

The Dark Knight Rises
The year's number two grossing film is once again the highest grossing film of the month. TDKR grossed $122 million in August for a domestic total thus far of $431 million. It is now the ninth highest domestic grossing film of all time.

The Bourne Legacy
Though the sequel/reboot is the highest grossing film released in August, it is currently the lowest grossing film in its franchise. So far the introduction to Jeremy Renner as Aaron Cross has grossed $90 million domestically, compared to $121 million, $176 million, and $227 million, the final grosses of Identity, Supremacy, and Ultimatum respectively. Fortunately this doesn't yet seem to be hurting the outlook for The Bourne (fill in the blank with a word more intense than Identity, Supremacy, Ultimatum, and Legacy). I was a little disappointed with Legacy, but I'm very excited to see JRen and Matt Damon working together.

2016 Obama's America
Most political documentaries don't play very well at the box office, especially ones with a conservative viewpoint. 2016 is the film that has broken that mold. During the film's six weeks in limited release it grossed an impressive $2.8 million. It expanded nationwide to 1091 theaters in its seventh weekend and grossed $6.5 million, making it the seventh highest grossing film for the weekend, above all three new releases (Premium Rush, Hit and Run, and The Apparition).

What didn't:

Total Recall
The Colin Farrell reboot of the classic Schwarzenegger film from 1990 was supposed to easily fill the void of the late summer wilderness. Instead it turned out to be another case of reboot-itis, and will be lucky to gross half of its $125 million production budget.

Premium Rush
This one makes me a little sad. I very much enjoyed Premium Rush, so I'm going to blame the film's performance on its mediocre marketing job. After a week in theaters, the JGL bike chase/thriller has grossed a mere $9.3 million. Considering its production budget of $35 million, there's no way this can't be considered a flop.

The Apparition
Warner Brothers did a wonderful job of sabotaging this film's release. After a practically nonexistent marketing push, the horror flick opened in only 810 theaters to an opening weekend gross of $2.8 million. So far the film has grossed $3.8 million, and has no chance of getting anywhere close to its $17 million production budget.

How do you think the box office will fare in September? There's potential for some big releases, such as Finding Nemo 3D, Resident Evil: Retribution, The Master, Trouble with the Curve, and Looper. Will they be enough to overcome the black hole that is September? Share your thoughts below!

The Bourne Legacy

The Bourne Legacy (2012)
Directed by Tony Gilroy

How can you have a Bourne film without Jason Bourne? That was my main concern before seeing Legacy. Luckily the film did a good job of establishing how Jeremy Renner's Aaron Cross fits into the Bourne mythos.

Unfortunately, that is one of the few things that the film did well. I think JRen did a good job bringing Cross to life and Rachel Weisz portrayed Dr. Shearing's emotional state quite beautifully, but the rest of the characters felt stiff and underdeveloped. The most disappointing character for me was Edward Norton's Eric Byer. Almost every word that came out of Norton's mouth made me cringe, and I couldn't tell if it was due to bad writing, bad delivery, or both.

I'm not even going to try to explain how I feel about the worst part of the film: the end. The overall structure of the film was acceptable, but the ending was nonexistent. Perhaps it is meant to suggest that Cross and Shearing (and Bourne by extension) are doomed to live forever on the run? Or perhaps the writers just couldn't think of an ending that would cement the transition into the next Bourne film.

I have an idea! What if after Cross and Shearing made their escape on the boat, they discovered that they were being followed by another boat. As it approaches, Cross ninja jumps onto its deck, only to be attacked by.....Jason Bourne! They fight for a moment, until Bourne easily knocks Cross unconscious.

Cut to black.

Roll credits.

Even though Legacy wasn't everything I hoped it would be, I'm still very excited to see JRen and Matt Damon on screen together. How excited are you for the continuation of the Bourne franchise? Or are you secretly hoping Legacy will be a big enough bomb to sink the ship? Share your thoughts below!

3 out of 5 stars
Viewed August 27, 2012 at Denton Movie Tavern in Denton, TX