Box Office: Hollywood Queen Beats Disney Princess
Sunday, December 1, 2013 at 7:55PM Amir here, bringing you Thanksgiving weekend’s box office report.
It’s a testament to the popularity and success of The Hunger Games series that Frozen, in its own right a breaker of multiple records this weekend, could not displace it as the number one film. Catching Fire has banked almost $300m in just ten days, leaving virtually no doubt that it will trump Iron Man 3 as the best selling film of the year. One can only imagine how much a Katniss vs. Tony Stark mash-up film would sell, though I struggle to think of any way in which Jennifer Lawrence is not superior to Robert Downey Jr. at the moment. Frozen, meanwhile, is now firmly positioned as the frontrunner for the animated film Oscar, what with positive reviews, strong word of mouth and incredible sales that guarantee every voter will be tempted to pop this screener in.
BOX OFFICE
01 THE HUNGER GAMES: CATCHING FIRE $74.5 (cum. $296.5) Review
02 FROZEN $66.7 *expanded* (cum. $93)
Review | Like Wicked? | Snow Queen History | Jonathan Groff Interview
03 THOR: THE DARK WORLD $11.1 (cum. $186.7) Review
04 THE BEST MAN HOLIDAY $8.4 (cum. $63.4) Discussion
05 HOMEFRONT $6.9 *new* (cum. $9.7)
06 DELIVERY MAN $6.9 (cum. $19.4)
07 THE BOOK THIEF $4.8 *expanded* (cum. $7.8)
08 BLACK NATIVITY $3.8 *new* (cum. $5)
09 PHILOMENA $3.7 *expanded* (cum. $4.7)
10 LAST VEGAS $2.7 (cum. $58.7)
None of the other new films fared even remotely as well as Frozen. You can now put Homefront in your DVD box of indistinguishable Jason Statham flicks right next to Chaos, Safe, The Mechanic and your pre-ordered copy of Heat. Black Nativity has roughly the same per screen average, and Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom proved that audiences are not hungry to see yet another generic political biopic, especially one so generic that the title literally spells out Name: Dull Greatest Hits Version of Life Events Ending in Triumph. Without a doubt the biggest flop of the weekend was Spike Lee’s Oldboy remake though. I have no desire to see it, mostly because I adore the Korean original, but I can’t help but feel a bit excited about Lee’s misfortune with this one. Yes, yes, I’m petty. Look down on me all you want! But after a series of “incidents” such as this and this, I’m sure I’m not the only person who feels gleeful schadenfreude.
I’ve had a great weekend so far. I didn’t have to leave the house but I caught up with Ain’t Them Bodies Saints, The Grandmaster, The Dirties, At Berkeley and Viola, and with varying degrees of enthusiasm, I can recommend them all. What did you watch this weekend?
Frozen, Hunger Games, Oldboy, box office
Reader Comments (19)
Magazine editors will be using the Girl On Fire tag for Jennifer all through Oscar season. Her rise just writes itself.
I saw "Philomena," and despite the humorous posters and marketing, it is heavy stuff. Dame Judi was perfect. I think it will be a three way race between Dench, Blanchett and Bullock.
I watched Frozen and Homefront. I like Frozen, but curiously not as much as Get a Horse. Though I agree it's not a frontrunner for the Oscars.
By the way, I like the title of this post, though I thought you would go with something something including fire and ice. Perhaps that's too obvious LOL. But I like the unexpected Hollywood Queen vs. Disney Princess though.
Oops typo. Supposed to say "I agree it's now a frontrunner for the Oscars".
What a big different one alphabet can make.
1. ABSOLUTELY MODERN (new Phillippe Mora mockumentary - a bit bizarre but, now that I am in a relationship with a woman who is an art curator, I got to meet the man himself)
2. LE WEEKEND - loved it, although it's a lot darker than the trailer suggests. It's like we just jumped straight to the 5th installment of Linklater's BEFORE... series. (And, after the atrocious CLOSED CIRCUIT and FILTH, it's good to see Broadbent in a decent film again)
3. ROMEO AND JULIET - the Hailee Steinfeld version. The first time I've actually hated a Shakespeare film adaptation. Mercutio's laughable dying speech was the last straw, and I left the cinema.
4. TINY FURNITURE - even better than GIRLS (which I didn't anticipate)
5. PATRICK - the Aussie remake. Actually surprisingly not bad.
6. PHILOMENA - it's a close call between her and Blanchett but, if Dench gets nominated, I'm backing her for the win. Also hope Coogan (and the other guy) get a screenplay nomination.
The Tarnished Angels- Excellent, beautiful black & white Sirkian melodrama that has 3/4s of the cast from Written on the Wind, except Malone and Stack are an unhappy married couple while Hudson is a journalist pursuing a story and Malone.
Love & Death- Had to watch a Woody Allen film for Woody's birthday. Short and sweet comic Bergman/Russian literature pastiche, and an excellent performance by Diane Keaton. My only issue is I wish Jessica Harper had more screen time. Her explaining the various unrequited loves of her inner circle to Keaton was a delight.
Brute Force- Eh..... It's like Dassin's career when he became an expat was much more interesting. Lancaster has nice moments, though the movie is actually more of an ensemble piece, but it bounces between procedural to polemic to action film a little too clumsily.
Re-watched Point Blank. Love it. Arty, stealth, and short! Shame John Boorman is best known for the back-to-black flops of Zardoz and The Exorcist II.
I saw Philomena and agree that it's much heavier than its ads suggest. It was a very well-made movie, but I'm not sure I enjoyed it. Excellent screenplay, though.
I was planning to see Dallas Buyers Club but didn't get there so am hoping that it sticks around another week.
I finally screened "The Best Man Holiday," which is everything I assumed it would be for better and worst -- not to say that I didn't enjoy it. It could have been tighter and more focused with less exposition and set up, but seeing it was like putting on a comfortable pair of sweats that you had forgotten were way in the back of the drawer.
You're so right about the title of the Mandela movie! Who wants to watch a Long Walk? My brain pretty much re-writes it as "Freedom: Long Movie About Mandela."
I saw Blood Simple this weekend, so I did pretty well.
In fairness, that's the name of Mandela's autobiography, which is pretty much essential reading, imo.
Jennifer Lawrence isn't anymore responsible for the success of Hunger Games than Kristen Stewart is for Twilight. It really doesn't matter who the leads are of those films.
This girl still hasn't sold a film on her own. I like her, but let's not get carried away. She's been smart to attach herself to big franchises (X-Men and Hunger Games) and work in big ensembles (particularly DOR's) but she's not really had to carry anything on her shoulders. Hunger Games would have made money with or without her.
I saw Philomena but I think it might be too light to really register with AMPAS. A nomination, sure, but a win I don't see.
Lisa - Agreed. And I don't think she's the sole reason (or in fact, a significant reason) that the film did well, though I know of at least one person whose only reason for watching the film is Jennifer Lawrence. *raises hand*
However, the fact that she can hold her own, win notices for her performances within both franchises and combine them with a wide range of other films, makes that comparison seem a bit one dimensional. Sure, they're both female stars leading YA adaptations, but the only place where they're equated is that nonsense Forbes list of actors making the most money. I think we can make a real comparison when The Hunger Games wraps up completely and Jennifer Lawrence enters her post-franchise career, but on the evidence of Winter's Bone, Silver Linings Playbook and American Hustle, I'm willing to bet it turns out differently than Stewart's.
The House at the End of the Street did pretty decent at the box office and let's be honest, Lawrence was the only reason to see that. She's the main reason I care about Hunger Games. This girl is a star and right now I think everything she's in will perform well. Will that last after Hunger Games is over? We shall see.
I only managed to see Catching Fire, which I liked a smidge less than the first one, if only because the first act is so dour and plot-y. It gets very good eventually, and Lawrence is spectacular. Whether she is responsible for getting people in the seats, she's absolutely the reason these movies work as well as they do. If people haven't made that association yet, they will soon enough. Comparisons to Twitchy Stewart and Twilight seem pretty well off point.
Catching Fire: I avoided every review, article and the trailer about this movie so I did not know anything. That was a good trick cause I really enjoined this. Lawrence is good and so was Josh and the rest of the cast. Im pumped for the third one now
Is It Just Me: a crappy funny gay movie about a nerdy looking guy who wants to find true love. Gross. An online flirt gets hotter with hours of conversation over the phone. But the thing is: the nerdy guy has used his hot roomie photo as a profile picture. Just guess what happens in the end. Bllaaahhh but I laughed. On Hulu
Adam & Steve: another gay movie. Two guys in the 80s hook up and never see each other again. 20 years later the viewers get to see them hook up again by accident when gay umbrella's dog is hurt and gay handsome to the rescue because he is a doctor. They don't recognize each other but feel this strong bond between then…blablablba. I fell asleep On Hulu
Nikita final season episode 2: Gooood daaaamn this series is sooooo amazing! Only 4 more eps to go! On Hulu
I saw The Book Thief and Philomena, and liked them both.
I took a 92 year old to see Philomena. From experience, we prepped beforehand, I explained the main characters and the plot. I only had to answer 2 questions during the movie. 1) "who's that woman?" ("That's Philomena, the main character, who has the baby that's adopted") and 2) "Who's that other woman, and what's their relationship?" ("That's Philomena's daughter. She got married later on and had other kids".)
We all liked the movie. So, a successful outing. And that is actually quite a feat.
adri -- that is awesome. especially prepping beforehand. smart move. i wish people here on the UWS in manhattan would do that ;)
We saw Philomena. Judi Dench cements her legacy. Wonderful, moving time at the movies. Still, Cate is my pick so far for the Oscar.
Catching Fire is one of the biggest blockbuster of 2013.