THAT'S A WRAP: THE 2013 AMERICAN SUMMER MOVIE SEASON IN REVIEW

It was the Summer Season that drew more attention for its misses than its hits. US audiences took to the studio chum, as expected of them, but they were also merciless in their ambivalence if the film gathered a stink and generous in their love if something felt fresh. SCREEN-SPACE takes an analytical eye to the US summer movie season to see what worked and what didn’t (all figures in US$, as of August 27)…. 

BLOCKBUSTERS: The top 6 films at the American summer box office were, not altogether surprisingly, five sequels and one reworking of an old property. The crown for the season went to Iron Man 3 ($408.6m/#1), followed by Despicable Me 2 ($350.7m/#2, which surged after what was considered by many an underperforming $83.5m opening), the Superman reboot Man of Steel ($290.3m/#3), Monster’s University ($261.8m/#4), Fast & Furious 6 ($238.5m/#5) and Star Trek Into Darkness ($227.4m/#6). Numbers 7 through to 10 represent the real achievers; these were fresh, untested visions that had troubled production histories, up-and-down pre-release tracking and shifted release dates. But World War Z (Brad Pitt’s biggest box office hit ever, with $199m/#7), the Sandra Bullock/Melissa McCarthy vehicle The Heat ($156.3m/#8) and The Great Gatsby ($144.9m/#9) defied the odds. The greatest achiever, however, would have to be James Wan’s chilling The Conjuring ($131.7m/#10), which proved the word-of-mouth sleeper hit of 2013’s warmer months, despite no A-list stars and its embracing of the horror genre (often considered a niche market sector). Sony Pictures had their toughest box-office summer in years, their top-grosser the number eleven title, Adam Sandler’s low-brow safe-bet Grown Ups 2 ($128.9m/#11; pictured, right).

SURPRISES: An early-season opening slot allowed the high-concept adventure Now You See Me enough time to grow legs, ultimately conjuring up $116.4m/#13. Alternatively, the late-summer slot for Lee Daniel’s The Butler is proving a very savvy bit of late-season programming, with the Forrest Whittaker film at $51.7m/#28 after only 2 weeks. The Wolverine ($125m/#12) and The Hangover Part III ($112m/#14) maxed out the current potential of their respective franchises, in all fairness. Studios love it when relatively inexpensive properties hit big, with returns on such mid-range investments as Sony’s This is The End ($96.8m/#17), Warner’s We’re The Millers ($91.2m/#18), Universal’s The Purge ($64.4m/#24) and the Lionsgate/Summit stand-up concert pic Kevin Hart: Let Me Explain ($32.2m/#33) helping to offset huge tentpole budgets. The arthouse sector found no breakout smash hit this year, but still secured a share of the season takings with The Way Way Back ($18.6m/#35), Fruitvale Station ($15.2m/#36), Blue Jasmine ($14.5m/#37) and the music-doco 20 Feet from Stardom ($4.3m/#48) all solid performers.

DISAPPOINTMENTS: Much has been written about The Lone Ranger since its limp opening and there is no escaping the fact that Disney will take a bath given its cost, but it did manage to creep up to an ok $90m/#19. Same thinking applies for wannabe blockbusters that underperformed, such as Pacific Rim ($99.2m/#16, though home-vid will be a boon for Warners), White House Down ($72.4m/#21), Elysium ($69m/#22) and The Internship ($44.6m/#31). The audience answered the question, “Do we really need sequels to these films?” with Red 2 ($51.6m/#29) and Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters ($48.4m/#30) finding little love. Apart from the two Top 10 animated sequels, family audiences weren’t impressed with the summer offerings, with Epic (#107.3m/#15) Turbo ($78.7/#20), The Smurfs 2 ($62.5m/#25) and Planes ($59.6m/#27) all below par. And much buzzed-about prestige titles that sputtered along but found no traction included Before Midnight ($8.1m/#42), The Bling Ring ($5.8m), Frances Ha ($4m/#49), The East ($2.2/#52; pictured, right) and What Maisie Knew ($1m/#65)

BOMBS: We cut The Lone Ranger some slack, but there is no defending the financial black holes that were After Earth ($60.5m/#26) and RIPD ($32.7m/#32). The last few weeks of summer are traditionally not a happy launching ground; this year, the Harrison Ford/Gary Oldman thriller Paranoia ($6.2m/#44) felt the sting of audience apathy and final figures for several still-in-release films, such Kick-Ass 2 ($22.5m/#34) and The World’s End ($8.7m/#41), could go either way. DOA titles in the summer of 2013 were Only God Forgives ($775k/67; pictured, right), The Hunt ($540k/#72), Lovelace ($334k/#78) and Prince Avalanche ($118k/#93).

All figures with thanks to Box Office Mojo.