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Summer at the Box Office (A Look at the Last Five Years)

ted a slew of fine horror features during the summer of 2009, but the irregularities of their commercial performances left a whole lot to the imagination.

Sam Rockwell carried the absolutely stellar sci-fi horror mindfuck, Moon with seeming ease, but the film never earned the wide release it genuinely deserved, and was forced to settle for a $5 million take at the domestic box office. In contrast, the miserable fourth film in the Final Destination franchise pulled in $66 million; you’ve got to love the power of the Hollywood hype machine.

http://youtu.be/2ywOPNNii9w

Jaume Collet-Serra’s, Orphan surprised at the box office, selling over $41 million in box office tickets (it probably should have performed even better, condering the fact that it’s one of the finest genre efforts to come our way in recent memory), but it was District 9 ($115 million) and Paranormal Activity ($107 million) that really stunned critics and fans alike upon release.

A series of other mediocre genre pieces saw release in the same window, but most missed the mark. Pandorum ($10 million), Jennifer’s Body ($16 million), A Perfect Getaway ($15 million) and Sorority Row ($11) all proved to be unimpresve efforts financially (I did quite enjoy Pandorum and A Perfect Getaway). Perhaps the season’s biggest dud (The Collector is a contender after drawing only $7 million in ticket sales, though the feature only hit roughly 1,300 theaters) was Rob Zombie’s Halloween follow up, which did earn $33 million, which certainly can’t be called an utter failure, though it’s unquestionable that Dimenon anticipated gnificantly higher numbers. 2010

If there’s a summer to gnify constency, it was the summer of last year, as numerous genre efforts were issued, and surpringly, a respectable majority of them performed quite well at the box office.

With the exception of Splice ($17 million), and Buried (which took in only $1 million thanks to an incredibly limited release that saw the film land in only 107 theaters), the genre thrived. The Twilight saga: Eclipse (it’s a bit tough to conder this a horror flick, but that’s probably unmasked hatred speaking) raked in a staggering $300 million to emerge the summers front running genre flick, and while no other horror release could pretend to rival those numbers, a series of fine films followed, and the majority of them performed admirably.

http://youtu.be/9u8vZwvP57Y

The Robert Rodriguez produced Predators took in $52 million, The Last Exorcism surprised with a $41 million take and the M. Night Shyamalan produced, Devil drew a respectable crowd, selling $33 million in tickets. Redent Evil: Afterlife proved that the franchise still holds serious appeal, as the latest franchise installment sold $60 million in tickets.

Interestingly enough, one of the season’s most enjoyable (though certainly flawed) flicks was the perfect summer shocker, Piranha 3D, which drew some of the summer’s smaller numbers, selling (a still fair) $25 million.

2011

It’s been a tumultuous year for horror. In all honesty we haven’t been treated to too many superb genre offerings, and this summer in particular has produced a long series of stinkers.

J.J. Abrams’ throwback monster affair Super 8 and the recent reboot, Rise of the Planet of the Apes are the only genre flicks (Rise is obviously a hybrid of action, science fiction and horror) to genuinely impress this summer at the box office, earning $126 million and $171 (and growing) respectively.

Contagion opened just two weeks ago, and has already earned $44 million, ensuring it will be one of the summer’s horror stars, and the fifth Final Destination film managed to sell $42 million in ticket sales, but the remainder of the genre lot has proven remarkably disappointing.

http://youtu.be/txgGhyjPZGg

Fright Night and Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark served as two miserably received remakes, taking in $18 million and $22 million (thus far) respectively, while the latest re-imagining, Straw Dogs just opened to an abysmal $5 million debut. Shark Night 3D has lived up to expectations, failing miserably, pulling down $17 million thus far, Apollo 18, which appeared remarkably proming pulled a bona fide nose-dive, earning an onslaught of miserable reviews and an equally bleak $16 million (thus far) commercial take.

All that negativity however, can’t touch the absolutely horrifying reception taken on by the poorly handled monster flick, Creature. The film debuted in roughly 1,500 theaters, and took in less than $330,000. After two weeks the underwhelming offering from Fred Andrews has barely surpassed the $500,000 mark. If you want to discuss what an absolutely miserable marketing campaign can do to a film, spark up a conversation about Creature.

As you can see, and as I mentioned earlier, there is just absolutely no sure-fire bets when it comes to summer releases; especially horror pieces. Sometimes we win, sometimes we lose, and it really is that mple.
Matt_Molgaard Tuesday 9/20/2011 at 02:43 AM | 82999
If there's anyone to give a high five to, as far as horror movies go, in the last five years, it's James Wan and Leigh Whannell for Indious.

Masterful writting, crafty directing and it was done with very little money spent.

The top nod would go to Super 8, buts thats more scifi then horror.
MOWDEReeL Tuesday 9/20/2011 at 03:40 PM | 83025
If there's anyone to give a high five to, as far as horror movies go, in the last five years, it's James Wan and Leigh Whannell for Indious.

Masterful writting, crafty directing and it was done with very little money spent.

The top nod would go to Super 8, buts thats more scifi then horror.

Indious is definitely, definitely worthy of a nod, but it was released on April 1st, so it doesn't really qualify for this piece, as it wasn't a summer release. Great flick regardless.
Matt_Molgaard Tuesday 9/20/2011 at 04:12 PM | 83027