Robots and Aliens and Wizards, Oh My!
The Yearly Box-Office Round-Up /
William Goss
Box Office Round-Ups | January 4, 2010 | Comments (36)
OK, so James Cameron might fuck this up yet, as his Avatar takes down records left and right in its climb towards Titanic’s all-time gross, but as of right now, it’s only the second-biggest movie of 2009. Granted, number one — Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen ($402 million domestic) — had all summer to work its magic, while number two Avatar ($352 million as of this writing) cracked a billion bucks worldwide in just over two weeks (T:ROTF never even made it that high).
Third place went to the sixth Harry Potter film with $301 million, only failing to top the very first one in its success. Fourth place was Pixar’s Up with $293 million, besting last year’s WALL-E (hey, kids love ‘em some Ed Asner). And fifth place went to New Moon with $287 million, although I can’t help but wonder how this sequel might’ve done if the above-mentioned Potter sequel didn’t move from last Thanksgiving and effectively give the original back its fan base.
Surprises are in store hereafter, as the sixth-ranking The Hangover took in a remarkable $277 million to become the biggest R-rated comedy of all time. I may not think the flick’s all that, but hey, it was cheap to make, had a hell of a hook and was powered throughout the summer by good old-fashioned word-of-mouth. (I fully expect this spring’s Hot Tub Time Machine to lift its marketing campaign in coming months out of hopes of emulating its success. I can just see the blurbs comparing the two now…)
In eighth place was the biggest sports drama of all time (Rocky inflation notwithstanding), The Blind Side, with $209 million. Star Sandra Bullock also boasted the sixth-biggest rom-com of all time with The Proposal ($163 million), as well as the 107th-biggest with All About Steve ($33 million, what-WHAT!).
On the low-budget sleeper-success end of things, District 9 and Paranormal Activity were each cleverly marketed to grosses above $100 million, while some would argue that the hastily-assembled This is It was the biggest concert film ever with its $72 million domestic/$252 million worldwide take. I never did see the film, but I think that a film cobbled together from outtakes and fundamentally intended to never be released beyond the man’s own collection constitutes some sort of exception.
But maybe that’s just me.
Comments
Posted by: Kballs at January 4, 2010 9:23 AM
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Speaking of "Avatar," I finally saw "Terminator: Salvation" over the weekend. What the fuck, man?! That story sucked ass. "McG?" More like "McF-minus!" Dick.
"The Hangover" came up just short of classic status for me. There weren't enough unforgettable scenes for me. And Gilifinakalapus? Overrated. Funny, but not worth the blogger knob-slobbing he's been getting.
"Up" was predictably touching. "Paranormal Activity" has to be seen in a packed theater or a room full of jumpy women to get the full effect. "Harry Potter" ended up fully exploring all the boring parts of the book while the kick-ass sections were crammed in sideways or removed entirely. Needed to be two movies or 3 hours and 52 minutes with an intermission. You know, to take a dump and get a BJ. Didn't see the rest. "District 9"? If I wanted to see aliens get tortured, I'd hang out at the border of Texas and Mexico with binoculars and a police scanner.