The 10 Highest Grossing Films Set in Boston

By Dustin Rowles | Film Reviews | July 1, 2012 | Comments ()

It was a huge weekend at the box office, especially for older moviegoers, as two R-rated films placed number one and number two in what is now the highest grossing June weekend on record. Those first of those films was Seth MacFarlane’s Ted, which racked up $54 million to become the 8th highest opening ever for an R-Rated film, and the third highest opening weekend for an R-Rated comedy. Also, it was funny. It still stings to acknowledge that.

More painful is the fact that Ted, a movie that I hated to love, will probably also go down as the highest-grossing Boston-set movie in box-office history, too. Right now, $138 million is the mark to beat, and after one weekend, Ted already has $54 million. If you’re curious, these are the 10 Highest Grossing Boston-set films (and I don’t mean films where the Boston setting was incidental, nor do I mean movies that were set in Boston but not filmed in Boston. I mean, films where the Boston setting played some significant role in the film.)

1. Good Will Hunting ($138 million)

2. The Departed ($132 million)

3. Shutter Island ($128 million)

4. The Social Network ($96 million)

5. The Town ($92 million)

6. Mystic River ($90 million)

7. 21 ($81 million)

8. A Civil Action ($56 million)

9. Ted ($54 million — and counting*)

10. The Verdict ($53 million)

———

Meanwhile, the number two film, Magic Mike, racked up an impressive $39 million on only a $5 million budget ($3 million of which went to Charming Potato’s fluffers) to become Steve Soderbergh’s highest-grossing opener ever (ahead of even the Ocean’s films). The bad news, however, is that the box-office was very front-loaded (much of its gross came on Friday) and like Soderbergh’s last film, Haywire, it didn’t score that well on Cinemascore. Audiences really just wanted to see male strippers and were turned off by all the actual, heavy drama in the film, it seems. Their loss.

Brave dropped to third, and despite a lack of competition, had a steep decline of 49 percent to $34 million, though it is still in line for a $200 million domestic gross. Tyler Perry’s latest, Madea’s Witness Protection, took fourth place with $24 million while Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted landed in fifth.

Good news for Wes Anderson: His Moonrise Kingdom rolled out into nearly 900 theaters, added over $4 million, and with $18 million so far, looks to become Anderson’s second highest grosser behind The Royal Tenenbaums.

Also, for the second week in a row, fairly well reviewed, modest dramas (both of which l liked a great deal) suffered from being released during the summer. Last week, Steve Carell’s Seeking a Friend at the End of the World opened with only $3.8 million while this week, Chris Pine and Elizabeth Banks could only squeeze $4.3 million out of People Like Us (and as someone who saw Magic Mike, Ted and People Like Us on the same day, the latter was actually my favorite, though the margin of error is my sentimental streak). Both films would’ve been better position in the fall.

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First Born

"Highest Grossing Boston-set films (and I don’t mean films where the Boston setting was incidental, nor do I mean movies that were set in Boston but not filmed in Boston. I mean, films where the Boston setting played some significant role in the film.) "
Good Will Hunting is a double edged sword, then because its Boston-ness is absolutely the point but it was also shot in Toronto (large chunks of it, anyway).
I just like to remind people of that very true thing since Matty and Benny seem to want to pretend it never happened. I have paystubs to prove it! lol

john

How did Magic Mike only cost $5 million? What was Matthew's take? Did they get percentage of final gross or what?

Devil Child

I've hated Seth MacFarlene since I was in seventh grade. Even at that age I couldn't believe how clumsily his punchlines were executed.

His plots would be flimsy by Nick Jr standards, let alone actual timeslots. His characters are either completely unlikable, blatant mouthpieces, or some combination of the two. He gets paid enough money by FOX to purchase the Federated States of Micronesia and pour saffron oil on Eliza Dushku's tits, and his cartoons still look like they were done in a Belarusian basement.

But I loved Ted. I loved the eighty piece jazz orchestra Seth MacFarlene put in where every other R Rated comedy would call up Tone Loc and Flo Rida, then call it a day.

I loved how Ted's fur faded over the years, and how his paws became permanently black, as if MacFarlene actually spent time thinking about how a teddy bear looks after three decades of use.

I loved how the plot managed to feel completely plausible even though it's about a stuffed animal coming to life from a Christmas wish. Those last two words by themselves are usually enough to do to a plot what Jason Russel does to a San Diego intersection.

I was disturbed by the fact that I actually felt really sad, even cried a little, during a Seth MacFarlene movie: and I wasn't doing it out of shame for the human race, but because I liked the characters.

Admittedly, from the second I saw the trailer, I knew this'd be the best thing Seth MacFarlene's made in years. The concept was inventive, and Mark Walberg's chemistry with Mila Kunis and Seth MacFarlene was evident in seconds: But if a timetraveler told me I'd be more touched in 2012 by the debut feature of the asshole who created Family Guy than a Pixar film about a Celtic girl with a one legged father who fights a bear unarmed in the climax, I would probably tell them "sure, and we finally cap Bin Laden and Gaddafi," while I quietly text the nearest mental institution.

zeke_the_pig

Now that's a helluva thesis

Fredo

...waiting for TDKR. All else is ignored.

AudioSuede

Saw Magic Mike at an absolutely packed multiplex, and the crowd was going nuts. I'm not ashamed to admit it was a man-blast.

I mean a blast! A regular, heterosexual-but-not-sexual-but-you-know-what-I-mean blast.

The Only New Zealander

Lame.. Gone Baby Gone only made $20m domestically.

What's up with that.

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The 10 Highest Grossing Films Set in Boston