Summer Movies 2015
It’s time for my yearly round up of the summer’s winners and losers …
WINNER: Furious 7
Paul Walker’s final performance in Furious 7 before his untimely death in 2013 did for the Fast and the Furious series what Heath Ledger’s death did for the Batman one: It took the series to unprecedented levels. The seventh installment of the star-studded action series opened to $147 million, the biggest opening weekend in April of all-time and the franchise’s biggest opening ever. Its final tally came in at $351 million, putting it ahead of the franchise’s top earner, Fast & The Furious 6, which itself finished at $238 million in 2013.
Furious 7 also marks a summer back-to-back hit for actor Vin Diesel, following his turn as voice of Groot in last year’s blockbuster Guardians of the Galaxy and an improvement for the Rock after his disappointing turn as Hercules last summer. A win-within-a-win for the Rock as he was able to regroup this summer with the blockbuster San Andreas, which took in $154 million during its summer run.
LOSER: Terminator: Genisys
It was supposed to be the first installment of a new trilogy. The beginning of a new era that would literally see the rise of these machines. At least that’s what Warner Bros. had hoped for when they released Terminator: Salvation in 2009. But with Salvation recouping only $125 million of its $200 million budget despite the star power of Christian Bale and Sam Worthington and becoming the worst performer in the series, those plans were immediately scrapped. Fast forward to 2015, the Terminator series falls into the hands of Paramount and they too had ambitious plans with the franchise with its latest installment, Terminator: Genisys.
However, Genisys was supposed to be the first installment of a new trilogy. The beginning of a new era that would literally see the rise of these machines. At least that’s what Paramount had hoped for when they released the movie this past summer. Sound familiar? But having recouped only $89 million of its $155 million budget, despite the star power of a returning Arnold Schwarzenegger, the movie fizzled. It’s probably safe to assume that any future plans for the Terminator series have been stalled or very much …terminated!
WINNER: Jurassic World
The biggest weekend opening in history. A global force. Jurassic World was not only able to accomplish the same feat that its original Jurassic Park predecessor accomplished 22 years earlier but also surpass it. During its opening weekend, Jurassic World grossed $208 million of the $273 million that the box office collectively made that weekend. The sci-fi adventure was also able to fend off higher-profile Marvel tentpoles to become the highest-grossing film of the summer. With $639 million and counting, Jurassic World became the third highest-grossing film of all-time, behind only Avatar ($760 million) and Titanic ($658 million). Another win-within-a-win for actor Chris Pratt, who has now appeared in the number one movie of the summer two years in a row. An impressive feat considering both movies, Guardians of the Galaxy and Jurassic World exceeded expectations.
With Jurassic World’s astounding performance, Universal has already greenlit a sequel for a summer 2018 release where reports say that the dinosaurs might head out of their regular enclosure. Stay tuned.
LOSER: Magic Mike XXL
Despite what women may say, bigger isn’t always better. And that was the case with the lukewarm box office reception to Magic Mike XXL, the underperforming sequel to the 2012 hit. While Warner Bros. decided to double the budget of the Channing Tatum sequel, XXL‘s box office cume tallied just a little over half ($66 million) of its predecessor’s final gross ($113). Although the movie’s budget allowed it to make a profit, a franchise comparison puts it in the loser’s column as it failed to live up to expectations.
XXL’s reception, however, doesn’t look like it will have much of an effect on Tatum as his presence in summer movies have often equaled box office gold (G.I. Joe and 21 Jump Street franchises). He’ll next be seen alongside George Clooney and Josh Brolin in Hail, Caesar next year, followed by Marvel’s Gambit.
WINNER: PIXAR / Illumination Entertainment
PIXAR’s unblemished track record at the box office is one of the most amazing accomplishments in box office history. Heading into the summer, every single one of the 14 films the animated studio has released has opened at number one. Although its latest offering this summer with Inside Out opened at number two, several weeks of underperforming competing films (Ted 2, Terminator Genysis and Magic Mike XXL) allowed it to complete a rare feat: climb to number one after its third week of wide release. This despite competition from the juggernaut film, Jurassic World. By the end of its run, Inside Out became the second-highest-grossing Pixar film ever, behind 2010’s Toy Story 3.
While Dreamworks struggles to find a franchise to overtake the mantle its outdated Shrek franchise currently holds (How To Train Your Dragon comes the closest), Illumination Entertainment has found a franchise of its own that has taken the computer- animated world by storm. And they come in the form of Minions. Since debuting at the box office in 2010, the Despicable Me franchise (which includes the 2013 sequel as well as this summer’s release) has grossed close to one billion dollars at the domestic box office combined, putting Illumination Entertainment on the map. The production company’s other two releases, 2011’s Hop and 2012’s Dr. Suess’ The Lorax has also given the studio five straight number one hits, perhaps giving PIXAR a run for its box office money.
LOSER: Marvel
Are we in the midst of superhero movie fatigue? With the explosion of superhero-based TV series and films in the last few years, some would reject that notion. However, a look at Marvel’s three underperforming tentpoles this past summer MAY suggest otherwise. While Avengers: Age of Ultron was the second-highest-grossing movie of the summer with $457 million, it fell almost $200 million short of its 2012 predecessor. Meanwhile, the newest entry to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Ant-Man, opened strong with $58 million, however its final tally came in as the second-worst performance of the MCU movies, just slightly ahead of 2008’s The Incredible Hulk, a franchise quickly abandoned after constant disappointments. The third Marvel film, though, not connected to the MCU, Fantastic Four, limped on arrival with a disappointing $25 million opening weekend after being shredded by fans and critics alike. Its final gross: Only $50 million.
With these three underperforming Marvel films, one would think that spacing the movies out over more years would be a rational business move on the part of the companies distributing these films. However, 2016 will be the most ambitious comic book film year yet with FIVE Marvel-based releases scheduled: Deadpool, X-Men: Apocalypse, Captain America: Civil War, Gambit and Doctor Strange, not to mention DC’s own Batman vs Superman and Suicide Squad releases. Are there too many superhero movies on the plate? According to Steven Spielberg, this genre will one day implode. “We were around when the Western died,” the famous director said. “And there will be a time when the superhero movie goes the way of the Western.”
WINNER: Tom Cruise
Tom Cruise hasn’t had a blockbuster non-Mission Impossible hit since 2005’s War of the Worlds. Perhaps not so ironically, that was the same year when he jumped like a lunatic on Oprah’s couch. In wake of that incident on top of the controversy surrounding his association with the Church of Scientology, Cruise’s Q-rating, a measurement of audience appeal, took a nosedive dive as did his box office reception. A string of box office flops would soon follow: Valkeryie (2008), Knight & Day (2010), Jack Reacher (2012) and Oblivion (2013). About the only thing that has saved Cruise in the last ten years, including this summer, has been the Mission Impossible series: 2006’s third installment, 2011’s Ghost Protocol, and this past summer’s Rogue Nation. Last year’s Edge of Tomorrow, although far short of recouping its budget, was able to muster enough to give Cruise another $100 million notch under his belt. It’s a rare back-to-back summer feat for Cruise, one that he hasn’t seen in years.
LOSER: Adam Sandler
Adam Sandler used to be the box office go-to guy. His movies, although critically bashed, would perform up-to-par with expectations and more often than not justify his $20 million-per-movie payday. Between 1998 and 2012, Sandler produced twelve $100 million+ hits, with half of them having been released during the lucrative summer months. However, in the last few years, Sandler’s films have struggled to connect with audiences: 2011’s Jack and Jill grossed only $74 million and 2012’s That’s My Boy, the dream pair-up between himself and another favorite Saturday Night Live alum Andy Samberg, fared worse with only $34 million.
While doing a rare sequel in Grown Ups 2 helped him get out of his rut in 2013, his third pairing with Drew Barrymore in last year’s Blended also flopped, having only made $40 million. Then there’s of course this past summer’s Pixels film. Though the movie’s trailer gave it generally favorable expectations, the film was not able to fend off summer competition, having grossed only $70 million. The films failure even prompted a New York Post columnist to opine that maybe its time for Sandler to retire. Although that doesn’t appear to be on the table, Sandler recently signed a four-film deal with Netflix, maybe to get back on track it’s time for him to go back to where others have gone to resurrect their careers; a place where he can utter the seven words he’s vowed never to say since his 1995 firing. Those words? Live from New York, It’s Saturday Night!
WINNER: Queens of Comedy
While Adam Sandler is no longer the go-to-guy at the box office, Melissa McCarthy has become the female equivalent. Since her breakout performance in 2011’s Bridesmaids, McCarthy has been in a string of modest to blockbuster hits within the last two years, including Identity Thief, The Hangover Part III, Heat and last summer’s Tammy. This past summer, McCarthy continued her summer dominace with her turn alongside Jason Statham in the rated R comedy, Spy, which grossed a respectable $110 million. Next year, McCarthy will be seen in Michelle Darnell, a comedy about a woman who’s sent to prison for insider trading, as well as the highly anticipated Ghostbusters reboot.
Up-and-coming comedian Amy Schumer’s profile continues to rise as well. The Emmy-nominated actress’ first female leading role at the box office in the Judd Apatow-directed Trainwreck went on to gross $105 million, which was more than could be said about another R rated comedy, Ted 2, which grossed only $68 million, far short of the $218 million the first one made in 2012.
Rebel Wilson is also on a roll as her latest offering in Pitch Perfect 2, alongside Anna Kendrick, outgrossed its 2012 predessor during its opening weekend alone. With $183 million in the bucket, Pitch Perfect 3 was immediately greenlit for a 2017 summer release.
LOSER: TV-to-Film Adaptations
With Mission Impossible being the exception, TV-to-film adaptations failed to spark the box office this summer. While past summers have seen the rise of the Sex and the City and the 21 Jump Street franchises, this summer’s highly anticipated Entourage failed to garner the same success as the TV-to-film adaptations that came before it. Despite cameos by a who’s who list of celebrities, Entourage grossed only $32 during its entire run, far short of Sex and the City’s $152 million take in 2008. Meanwhile, a TV adaptation with lesser publicity and lower expectations, The Man From U.N.C.L.E., starring Man of Steel’s Henry Cavill, actually outgrossed the Jeremy Piven driven vehicle by only two million. But at $34 million, the film wasn’t able to recoup its $75 million budget, thus further putting its genre in this year’s loser column.
WINNER: Straight Outta Compton
The Ice Cube-produced biopic, Straight Outta Compton, blew box office expectations with a strong $60 million opening weekend. The film would go on to gross $134 million, becoming the highest-grossing music biopic and surpass the box office gross of many Academy and Golden Globe winning films in its genre, including 2005’s Walk the Line ($119 million) and 2004’s Ray ($74 million). Compton also become only the third film this summer to top the weekend box office for three straight weeks. The other two: Furious 7 and Jurassic World. It didn’t hurt that the movie had a genius marketing campaign tied to a social media Straight Outta Compton generator that allowed users to replace Compton with their own hometown.
As producer, Ice Cube has had his fair share of hits, including the Friday, Barbershop and Are We There Yet franchises as well as last years’s hit, Ride Along with Kevin Hart. Next summer, Cube will see a continuation of those franchises with Ride Along 2, due in January, followed by Barbershop 3, out next April. With Cube, it doesn’t appear that there’l ever be a moment in his career when he’s straight outta sequels.
Please note that I consider April as part of the beginning of the summer movie season since more and more releases in April are big budgeted summer-like movies. Winners and losers are determined not by the quality of the movie but by various factors, including my very own opinion based on box office numbers and comparisons. All box office grosses are domestic unless otherwise noted. All box office numbers are from Box Office Mojo.
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