April

The first real blockbuster of 2011 arrived on April 29 when Fast Five raced to an $86 million opening weekend on its way to $209.8 million. Looks like the “summer movie season,” which already begins early in May, will now include late April as well. The month’s two other success stories were both aimed at kids. Rio soared to $143.6 million total, while Hop hopped to $108.1 million, thanks to its proximity to Easter. Water for Elephants earned a modest $58.7 million, a bit underwhelming considering the popularity of the book. Insidious finished close behind with $54 million, but with a tiny $1.5 million budget, the horror flick was one of the most successful films of the year, and it outperformed Scream 4, which failed to revive the ghostface franchise with $38.2 million. Tyler Perry’s Madea’s Big Happy Family made a Madea-esque $53.3 million, which was better than the medieval James Franco comedy Your Highness ($21.6 million). April had two outright bombs: Hoodwinked Too! Hood vs. Evil, the first of many underperforming animated sequels, and Disney’s Prom — both films earned $10.1 million. Oh, and to be totally subjective for one second, the totally underrated Hanna made a just-okay $40.3 million. That is a total shame!

November

In what came as a surprise to absolutely no one, November’s top release was the penultimate Twilight movie, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1, which has earned $272.7 million so far, and may finish just below $280 million. That’s a bit short of 2010′s Eclipse, which sucked up $300.5 million, but it’s still huge, and Summit’s not worried — they still have the sure-thing Twilight finale ready for theaters in 2012. No other movies even came close to Breaking Dawn, as November proved to be an exceedingly weak month at the box office. In 2008-2010, November movies pulled in an average of $1.2 billion each year. This year, partially due to a very weak Thanksgiving frame, November films have only earned $855 million. Swords-and-sandals actioner Immortals slashed up $82.2 million, while Eddie Murphy/Ben Stiller comedy Tower Heist stole a middling $76.4 million. Both films carried a $75 million price tag. The Muppets, budgeted at $40 million, proved more successful, although the film fell quickly after its five-day opening of $41.5 million, and it has earned $78.9 million so far. After this point, things get very grim. Adam Sandler made a rare misstep with Jack and Jill, which grossed $71.1 million — well short of his $100 million standard. Happy Feet Two found a chilly $60.3 million, less than a third of the original Happy Feet‘s $198 million cume. Two other family films did even worse. Hugo, which is rumored to have cost about $150 million, has earned $45 million and won’t likely make it much further. Arthur Christmas only unwrapped $44 million against a $90 million budget. J. Edgar couldn’t overcome negative buzz and took in a sad $36.3 million. The film will be passed in no time by The Descendants, which has platformed all the way to $35.2 million and has ample life remaining. Fellow Oscar-bait limited releases haven’t fared as nicely, but its a bit too soon to rule out My Week With Marilyn ($7.8 million), The Artist ($3.4 million), Melancholia ($2.4 million), or A Dangerous Method ($1.1 million).

Top 10 Highest Grossing Movies in 2011

1. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 – $381.1 million
2. Transformers: Dark of the Moon – $352.4 million
3. The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1 – $272.7 million
4. The Hangover Part II – $254.5 million
5. Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides – $241.1 million
6. Fast Five – $209.8 million
7. Cars 2 – $191.5 million
8. Thor – $181 million
9. Rise of the Planet of the Apes – $176.7 million
10. Captain America: The First Avenger – $176.7 million

Comments (0)

No comments yet.

RSS feed for comments on this post.

Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.