BOX OFFICE 2008

I'm not sure if you noticed but 2008 came to a close a few days ago. This means the box office is officially closed and we can tally up what were the biggest hits of the year. Overall, the 2008 North American box office pulled in a staggering $9.6 billion dollars, moving 1.4 billion tickets. Believe it or not, this is actually down from 2007. It is only down by 0.4% mind you. Apparently, no matter what the economic climate, we've always got money for the movies.


Let's see ... what was the biggest box office story of the year? Geez, that's a hard one. Alright, I'll knock it off. The biggest box office story of the year was easily the success of Eddie Murphy's MEET DAVE. OK, now I will seriously knock it off. So, again, the biggest box office story of 2008 was easily the colossal success of Christopher Nolan's THE DARK KNIGHT. For the first time since its release, a film came within reach of sinking TITANIC to become the number one box office hit of all time. This did not come to pass but I'm sure no one really cares. THE DARK KNIGHT, be it because of the Heath Ledger fascination factor or just because it was so darn great, crossed over every single demographic it could to score the biggest opening weekend in history. I knew it was going to be big; I couldn't even get tickets for opening night. However, I didn't think it was going to be that big. You could feel it though. There was a very strong sense of urgency to see this film and it carried over for weeks. THE DARK KNIGHT also played well on IMAX theatres as well as internationally, where it almost topped $1 billion. It is sure to do so in a couple of weeks though when it is rereleased in theatres to push its Oscar chances. The best thing about THE DARK KNIGHT is that it brought people together. It isn't often that a film connects with so many people so congratulations to the whole cast and crew for all their success.


The second and third place films finished very tightly with less than $1 million difference between them. IRON MAN ultimately won out over INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL though. Well, at least domestically. Internationally, INDIANA JONES was the second biggest hit of the year, while IRON MAN finished fifth. These two films are funny to compare as they are both huge money makers but one could describe their domestic takes as both a huge success and a disappointment. IRON MAN opened to nearly $100 million to kick off the summer season. No one expected this one. I also don't think anyone expected to enjoy it as much as they probably did. Meanwhile, INDIANA JONES opened slightly higher but I think the industry was expecting bigger things. I certainly don't think they thought the bat would best them; that's for sure.


Not surprisingly, the Top 10 contains no less than four animated features. While, MADAGASCAR: ESCAPE 2 AFRICA is still tracking, I doubt it will move much higher on the chart and surpass the two biggest kid flicks. When WALL-E opened, it too surpassed expectations. The response was extremely positive as well so prognosticators expected WALL-E to go on to become one of Pixar's biggest triumphs. The public did not follow up though and WALL-E merely went on to just pass last year's RATATOUILLE. And while WALL-E is the animated king domestically, KUNG FU PANDA whooped WALL-E's metal butt internationally, earning over $120 million more to become the third biggest international hit of the year. This may just be because KUNG FU PANDA came first and got the jump on WALL-E. Personally, I did my part as I saw WALL-E in the theatre three times. Yup, I'm that geeky.


Hollywood learned a valuable lesson this year, the value of the female dollar. For so many years, it was assumed that the box office was primarily male driven but three films in particular this year made it very clear that women should never be ignored. The most successful female driven pic was TWILIGHT but that also has a huge book following so it may not be fair to discount that. The other two films have huge built-in followings as well but SEX AND THE CITY and MAMMA MIA! made people take notice. SEX AND THE CITY opened to just under $60 million and went on to pull in $152 million, just missing the Top 10. MAMMA MIA! (which opened opposite THE DARK KNIGHT) pulled in half of the SEX AND THE CITY gals in its opening weekend but showed some very strong legs throughout the summer. Both films are also huge international hits. In fact, MAMMA MIA! did in the UK what THE DARK KNIGHT was not able to do domestically; it surpassed TITANIC as the biggest box office in UK history. I would never have expected that ... ever. Now, all they have to do is start making these female skewed pics better as I didn't care for any of these movies. And yes, I know I'm not a girl.


Speaking of movies I didn't like all that much, two other Top 10 hits need singling out as they were also both huge hits internationally as well. HANCOCK is the fourth biggest international hit of the year, proving that Will Smith is still one of the biggest stars on the planet. He followed that one up with his weakest performer in years, mind you, SEVEN POUNDS. James Bond also returned this year with QUANTUM OF SOLACE. The sequel to CASINO ROYALE just squeaked past its predecessor domestically but still has a ways to go to beat CASINO ROYALE's $594 million international total.


In total, 24 films passed the century mark to gross over $100 million. That total will likely go up to 26 if MARLEY & ME and YES MAN stay on track. And while I hate to end on a negative note, I can't get away with not pointing out what seem to me like the three biggest box office disappointments of 2008. I believe you may know them better as flops. When you take international gross into account though, none of them seem that bad. I mean I wouldn't want to lose that kind of money but I just pay to see movies, not to make them. The first high profile flop of 2008 was the Wachowski's SPEED RACER. Audiences scoffed at this colorful explosion and this lead to an $18 million opening weekend. Given the reported $120 million price tag, the future looked grim. SPEED RACER crossed the finish line with $93 million internationally, losing just under $30 million. I never understood why rival studios decided to open THE LOVE GURU and GET SMART on the same weekend. The Steve Carrell pic easily killed Mike Myers' disaster. THE LOVE GURU opened to a mere $13 million and finished its international run at $40 million. That's $22 million less that what it reportedly cost to make. And finally, I mentioned it first so I guess it is fitting to wrap things up with it. MEET DAVE, a movie about I believe Eddie Murphy's multiple personality disorder, I can't be sure, opened to a horrific $5 million. Luckily for Murphy, his international fans were more forgiving and the film ended up pulling in $50 million total, only $10 million less than its budget.

So that is it for 2008, folks. My prediction for biggest film of 2009 ... BRIDE WARS. That's right. You read that right.

Alright, I'm kidding ... again.

SPEED RACER

Written and Directed by The Wachowski Brothers
Starring Emile Hirsch, John Goodman, Susan Sarandon, Matthew Fox and Christina Ricci


Mom: When I go to the races, I go to watch you make art. It’s beautiful and inspiring and everything that art should be.

A young Speed, as in Racer, sits at the back of his elementary school classroom, his foot practically tapping straight through the linoleum floor. It’s not just that he can’t sit still or focus on anything; it’s worse than that. He may be there in that room but this is in a purely physical sense of the word. Speed is beyond the snail pace of every day life and the majority of the people that shuffle their feet to and from here and there while draped in blandness. Speed knows he’s going to burn past everyone around him and he knows exactly how he’s going to do it. Why then does he have to sit here and wait to figure it all out when he already has? It’s as though the world is holding him back. Fire that starter gun already and get this race underway!


Speed isn’t the only one itching to get out of his seat. As soon as the kaleidoscope of candy coating colors graces the screen, the mysterious and revolutionary directing team known as the Wachowski Brothers (separately they are Andy and Larry), busts their remake of the popular 1960’s Japanese anime, SPEED RACER, out of the gate and into the race. As the opening race erupts into an explosion of every bright color imaginable, it feels as though the Wachowski’s are floating above it all and magically weaving all the elements together – from the extreme close-up’s of wheels spinning to the character profiles wiping across the screen in transition – to create a new live action animation hybrid. The enthusiastic race crowd cheers with fervor as the now grown Speed Racer (Emile Hirsch) cruises past the competition and asserts himself as a genuine talent. Speed is seemingly unstoppable. Only, when the dust settles and the feeling of being immersed in a video game you’ve never played before comes to a halt, you realize the Wachowski’s have gone on ahead without you.


SPEED RACER most certainly solidifies the Wachowki’s, the people who gave the world THE MATRIX – and nothing else since – as two of the most innovative filmmakers working today. Not only do they see things in a way that most of us only see in our dreams and forget once our eyes are open but they know how to put all the pieces together to make their visions a reality. The danger with being ahead of your time is that most everyone else is not. You run the risk then of creating something that may be genius in its own right but is rendered entirely meaningless if no one cares to bask in its glow. While the Wachowski’s strive to get every detail just right, a task that would have been near impossible if it weren’t for the talented cast, they slip off track without realizing. There seems to be more focus on orchestrating the elements that should amount to the appropriate level of fun instead of simple fun being had.


I don’t think the Wachowki’s are the problem though. They truly outdid themselves visually with SPEED RACER. In a time when so many animated films attempt to look as realistic as possible, they decided to go against the traffic and make reality look entirely animated. I think the problem is the content. Recreating a cheaply animated series from another country and another era may be impressive from a visual standpoint but the content itself can be just as hollow as it once was if the translation never moves past the point of literal. Without anything of true substantial value to sink your teeth into, you’re left with an abundance of sugar. While SPEED RACER is certainly sweet to start, your teeth may be slightly rotten by the time you cross the finish line.