2013 was a dull, dull, dull...dull, dull, dull...dull, wait for it...dull year at the beginning. Attendance was down, records weren't being broken, everything was rated R, true panic mode. Fast forward to July 14 and the year has transformed from dull to "ouch I burnt my hand!". May and June both set gross records, by wide margins, and July should be decent.
June was hot. Out of the oven hot. Out of the volcano hot. Out of the Sun hot. The previous June record was set June 2009 (Hangover, Transformers 2, Proposal) with $1.08 billion. This June? $1.24 billion! That's third in attendance, after 2002 and 2004. June also ranks as the 5th biggest month of all time! We knew June would be big, but not this big, as practically every movie broke out. Strong holdovers from May also offered their services. 2013 is now less than 1% behind 2012.
Man of Steel led the fray with $248 million in June and $281 million so far. Man of Steel's opening was ranging from $80 million to insane. Ultimately it landed at $116 million (minus Wally World) which is excellent. That was enough for a total over $300 million, but Supes faced tough competition and may fall justttt short. Still, a sequel is guaranteed and the DCU has been born, and with over $600 million and counting worldwide, it's a success. The Purge was also a big surprise. Predicted to open in the teens, but thanks to strong social media buzz, it landed at $34 million. I predicted $33 million. As expected, The Purge's strong run in theaters lasted as long as the real purge - it dropped off the Earth and now rests at $63 million. Still, the movie only cost $3 million, so it was already profitable from day 1.
Monsters University opened to a surprising $82 million, after predicted to land in the high 60's to mid 70's. The Pixar smash earned $170 million in June and $237 million so far and will land in Pixar's top 5. Female-driven The Heat opened to a strong $39 million and will end up being the highest grossing comedy of the summer with $112 million in the bank so far with bullets still left in the AK.
The biggest surprise of June and arguably the summer is World War Z. Most had WWZ opening no more than $45 million...and then it goes and does $66 million, even with MU and MOS as competition. There are plenty of reasons why people online were writing off WWZ, but in the end, the zombies, Brad Pitt, Paramount, and the letter "Z" proved everyone, including me, wrong. WWZ made $123 million in its 2 weeks in June and $177 million so far, and can end up over or very close to $200 million when the zombies all die out in the theater.
This is the End and Now You See Me, two smaller, lower budget hits, still knocked it out the park. Now You See Me currently sits at $113 million, which is where very, very few predicted it would end up. TITE also sits at $91 million. $100 million may be out of reach, but its still a huge success nonetheless, especially with the competition it faced.
May holdovers Fast 6, Star Trek, Hangover 3, and Iron Man 3 did their parts. Technically NYSM and After Earff...okay After Earth came out May 31st, but since that's only one day of business, I considered it June. Shout out to Iron Man 3 for also becoming the 17th movie to pass $400 million. At this point, it looks like Tony Stark will stay lounging at #1 for the year, but like Kevin Garnett says, "anything is possibleeee". Speaking of After Earff (that's what I call it), the grassy green field of June of course had its share of turds.
AE was supposed to be Shamayamama's return to prominence, but once that 11% RT score came in...anyway, the movie tanked with only $59 million in receipts, even with star Will Smith. The Internship lost its job with only $43 million, which is degrading for a comedy with this star power. White House Down, though many have seemed to enjoy it, still couldn't bring in the masses or the liberals, jk. Debuting at #4, it has amassed $62 million and won't beat Olympus Has Fallen, which was made for $70 million less.
June was great. I loved it. I want an encore. The first two weeks of July has also been scorching hot, but things may soon cool off. I'll dive into that pool when we get there, but for now I'm fine swimming in this.
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