But that wasn't the only
holdover from 2001 that made big money
in January. Another 2001 release
expanded into more theaters and went on
to make about $80 million during
January, and eventually went on to make
around $155 million in 2002 (it made
about $15 million in 2001) without ever
being the number one movie on a weekend
during its run! Need another clue as to
which movie it is? Well, it also won
Best Picture at the Academy Awards this
year. Yes, and A Beautiful Mind ended
with about $170 million in total
domestic box office.
Black Hawk Down opened
in limited release in 2001 for Oscar
contention, but when it went into wide
release on the 18th of January, the film
made an unbelievable $33 million in its
first weekend (a four day weekend) and
went on to make over $100 million.
Ocean's Eleven also made
about $50 million of its over $180
million total in 2002.
January Releases
Okay, so the biggest
money makers in January were movies that
were actually released in 2001. But
there was one small hit that premiered
in January as well. And no, Impostor
wasn't it. Snow Dogs made an impressive
debut going up against Black Hawk Down
in its first weekend of wide release.
The Disney film starring Cuba Gooding
Jr. opened with $23 million over the
four day Martin Luther King Jr. weekend
and went on to make $81 million. But
there were two big flops for the month;
Kung Pow ($16 million) and Impostor ($6
million).
February Releases
This was an ugly
month as far as box office grosses are
concerned. Sure, there were a few small
hits but some of Hollywood's biggest
stars (Bruce Willis, Nicole Kidman and
Arnold Schwarzenegger) and some of the
most expensive movies (Rollerball) had
some truly embarrassing box office
returns. The only real hit for the month
was the Denzel Washington drama, John Q,
and that was just a minor hit. The movie
had a pretty good opening, making $23
million over the four day President's
Day weekend and went on to make $71
million.
Three movies that cost
close to $100 million to produce fared
less than average; bad and worse.
Although Collateral Damage opened with
$15 million, the movie went on to make
only $40 million. I loved Hart's War,
but the movie made a dismal $19 million.
Rollerball was doomed long before it
even opened, getting caught in post
production problems and went on to get
terrible reviews, making only $18.9
million in theaters. And after having a
stellar 2001, Nicole Kidman's Birthday
Girl made a pathetic $4.9 million at
theaters. Britney Spears' Crossroads
opened impressively with $17 million,
but fizzled out at $37 million.
March Releases
After a pathetic
month like February, you'd think
Hollywood might just want to give up.
But March would turn their fortunes
around. Every one of the five weekends
in March would turn out to have a movie
opening with $20 million and above. The
month started off with a $20 million
premier weekend for the Mel Gibson war
movie, We Were Soldiers. The movie went
on to make $78 million, making it an
average hit considering that it was Mel
Gibson.
The following weekend
the $80 million budgeted, The Time
Machine, opened very impressively but
fell quickly after word of mouth spread
on how bad the movie was. Time Machine
finished with $56 million.
So the month started off
average-to-good, but in the third
weekend a little family movie hit it
really big. Okay, so Ice Age wasn't so
little but that $46 million opening in
March was simply unbelievable. The movie
stayed in the top ten grossing movies
for nine weeks, and went on to make
about $175 million. But the big openings
didn't stop with Ice Age.
The very next weekend
Blade II opened at number one with $32.5
million. The movie dropped quickly in
the weeks after and the movie made $81
million.
The weekend after Blade
II opened, Panic Room premiered with $30
million, making it three weeks in a row
that a movie premiered with $30 million
or more. Although the movie made a good
showing in its second weekend, the Panic
ended $5 million short of the century
mark ($95 million).
A sleeper hit during the
month of big hits was The Rookie,
grossing $74.9 million. Not bad for a
movie that cost $22 million to make.
Three disappointments
for March were Showtime ($37 million),
E.T. ($35 million) and Death to Smoochy
($8 million).
April Releases
Well, you knew it
would happen. After a month like March,
there was bound to be a let down. Only
one movie managed to make more than $20
million on its opening weekend.
Actually,
The Scorpion King opened much bigger
with $36 million. It seemed poised to
make the $100 million mark, but it
dropped big and ended with $90 million.
Still, it was a star making turn for The
Rock.
A small hit for April
was the excellent drama,
Changing Lanes. The movie went on to
make $66 million. However, big
disappointments were
Life or Something Like It ($14
million), Murder by Numbers ($31
million) and Big Trouble ($7 million).
May Releases
In case you haven't
heard,
Spider-Man opened with an
unprecedented $114 million on its
opening weekend. It's true, I tell ya,
and that's not all, as Spidey went on to
make $395 million by the end of the
first half of the year (end of June - it
has since passed the $400 million mark
since). Okay, so everyone already knows
that Spider-Man is one of the biggest
movies of all time. The movie was
supposed to be just another hit, not a
$400 million hit! It set records for all
kinds of things including biggest
opening weekend, fastest to $100, $200,
$300 and in early July, $400 million. By
the end of June, Spider-Man had already
established itself as the fifth biggest
grossing movie of all time.
Meanwhile, the movie
that was supposed to be number one for
the summer and year (and is better than
Spider-Man) fell way below expectations.
Although it had a great four day opening
of $110 million, the movie (Attack
of the Clones) fell faster than
Spidey and had grossed $286 million by
the end of June. The movie most likely
won't make it to the $300 million mark.
The other $100 million+
hit from the month of May was the
political thriller,
The Sum of All Fears. Although it
made most of its money in June, it did
premier on the last day of May. Fears
had $105 million at the end of June.
Other smaller hits for
May were
Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron
($70 million by the end of June) and
Insomnia ($63 million). The biggest
disappointments were
Enough ($39 million) and
Deuces Wild ($6 million - and
whoever came up with the idea to premier
it on the same weekend as Spider-Man
should see a psychiatrist. Of course the
movie probably wouldn't have done much
better on any other weekend).