What boxoffice runs are unbelievable in retrospect?

[Master Scottb]

- The Hunger Games: might surprise some to see it listed here, but it made over $400m when few predicted it to make over $200m. It had a relatively small budget ($78 million), it had no 3D and it opened in March. 

 

- The Avengers: A $207m opening weekend followed by a $103m 2nd weekend? How is that not unbelievable?

 

- Shrek 2: I remember when this opened and people were somewhat disappointed by the opening Wednesday and Thursday grosses thinking it would disappoint, but then it exploded with a $108m OW, and went onto make $441m. 

 

- Avatar: James Cameron does it again with another Titanic like run in 2009 which ushered in the era of 3D.

[BadAtGender]

It was mentioned before, but Home Alone. Seriously.

 

It was the third biggest movie of all time after its release. That's crazy. It remained in the top 10 until Star Wars Episode 1 bounced it down to 11th in '99.

 

(Fun fact: Until The Lion King broke in there in 1994, all of the 5 biggest films had scores by John Williams: ET, Jurassic Park, Star Wars, Home Alone, and Return of the Jedi. Jaws was 6th, too.)

[acab]

Μost of the really impressive ones have been mentioned. But i would add one more from Cameron (behind Titanic and Avatar of course).

Terminator 2. R rated, a sequel to a mid size hit and it adjusts to 395m.

Edited January 13, 2015 by acab

[baumer]

3 men and a little lady isn't a female lead.  It's a token female role.  Ghost might be a female lead.  Maybe.  Seemed like they spent the majority of the movie focusing on Patrick Swayze's character.  Demi and Whoopi kind of have to share the female screen time at different times.  Then there are a couple of supporting roles for dudes.  

 

Don't be ridiculous.  

[grim22]

A somewhat under-the-radar hit and box office run would be Bridesmaids. This isn't on the same level as most of the other movies mentioned, but Bridesmaids never fell more than 35% until weekend 18. It opened with 26M and ended with 170M. One of the leggiest movies in recent memory.

[tommycruise]

In retrospect of this weeks box office how about taken? It made 145m off a 24m OW in January on 25m dollar budget.

[Ando918]

 

It was the third biggest movie of all time after its release. That's crazy. It remained in the top 10 until Star Wars Episode 1 bounced it down to 11th in '99.

 

(Fun fact: Until The Lion King broke in there in 1994, all of the 5 biggest films had scores by John Williams: ET, Jurassic Park, Star Wars, Home Alone, and Return of the Jedi. Jaws was 6th, too.)

Remember to adjust for ticket price inflation.  After adjusting for ticket inflation it would probably have been about 25th biggest movie all of time when it was released.  Yeah, it was a huge hit, but it wasn't one of the biggest ever.

 

http://www.boxofficemojo.com/alltime/adjusted.htm

[DAJK]

I wasn't around at the time, but was anyone expecting Jurassic Park to be the biggest movie of all time (unadjusted) at the time of it's release? Also, Sherlock Holmes. It opened against Avatar and grossed over 200DOM and 500+WW.

[Mattrek]

Titanic made its run before the Internet went wrong and crazy.

A run like Titanic could not even happen today because of the leak issue.

Avatar just happened 6 years ago.

Edited January 13, 2015 by Mattrek Loves Del Toro

[Jonwo]

It was mentioned before, but Home Alone. Seriously.

 

It was the third biggest movie of all time after its release. That's crazy. It remained in the top 10 until Star Wars Episode 1 bounced it down to 11th in '99.

 

(Fun fact: Until The Lion King broke in there in 1994, all of the 5 biggest films had scores by John Williams: ET, Jurassic Park, Star Wars, Home Alone, and Return of the Jedi. Jaws was 6th, too.)

 

Aladdin is another one which had a fantastic run, outgrossing Home Alone 2 which was expected to be the holiday hit that year. It did 10 times its OW. 

[filmlover]

In retrospect of this weeks box office how about taken? It made 145m off a 24m OW in January on 25m dollar budget.

Taken's run was crazy impressive considering a DVD-quality copy was floating around the Internet about a year before the film hit the States.

[The Futurist]

2015 was crazy.

 

3 500m + movies and 2 600m + movies

 

508 for Mockingjay Part II

 

610 for Age of Ultron

 

640 for the Force Awakens

 

Sick year, bro'.

[Mattrek]

Slumdog Millionaire for such a strange movie to catch on in limited and then go on to make 141m for my pick. Mrs. Doubtfire also, that adjusts to 425 million dollars today.

[Lumos]

I'm surprised no one has mentioned the original Spider-Man. First movie to open over 100m, a 70m second weekend and a DOM gross that adjusts to 550m without 3d.

[filmlover]

I'm surprised no one has mentioned the original Spider-Man. First movie to open over 100m, a 70m second weekend and a DOM gross that adjusts to 550m without 3d.

It really benefited big time from being the first superhero movie after 9/11. As much as I hate that Chad Kroeger song, the ads that used it so close to release probably did wonders.

[forg]

Liong King 3D run, I mean to make  90M+ for a mid 90s movie re-release in September 2011 shocked me

Edited January 13, 2015 by forg

[John Marston]

XXX- $198,596,000   - If an action movie came out whose sole draw was one actor and it did 200m, we'd call that person the biggest draw today and be utterly shocked if they didn't make a sequel two years later with the same actor.

 

 

 

 

Liar Liar adjusts to $322 million. I know Jim Carrey was really big back then,but it is virtually IMPOSSIBLE to imagine a straight-up comedy nowadays performing like that.

[BadAtGender]

Remember to adjust for ticket price inflation.  After adjusting for ticket inflation it would probably have been about 25th biggest movie all of time when it was released.  Yeah, it was a huge hit, but it wasn't one of the biggest ever.

 

http://www.boxofficemojo.com/alltime/adjusted.htm

 

Umm... Home Alone certainly was one of the biggest ever.

 

If I meant to check its adjusted marks I would have done that. I didn't, because the box office run was fucking amazing.

 

Home Alone was #1 at the box office from its opening until February: almost three months where it was on top. It was in the Top 10 until April. And showed up in the top 10 as late as June.

 

It is, I will note, a film with a Christmas setting. Such things usually die on December 26. That did not happen here.

 

The box office run of Home Alone is unbelievable. Just like it says in the title.

 

Do other films adjust above it? Sure. But so the fuck what?

[grim22]

XXX- $198,596,000   - If an action movie came out whose sole draw was one actor and it did 200m, we'd call that person the biggest draw today and be utterly shocked if they didn't make a sequel two years later with the same actor.

 

 

 

 

Liar Liar adjusts to $322 million. I know Jim Carrey was really big back then,but it is virtually IMPOSSIBLE to imagine a straight-up comedy nowadays performing like that.

 

That is a huge number and puts into somewhat of perspective the star-driven box office of the 90s. I mean a movie that was named "Jerry Maguire" made 154M (275M adjusted) in the 90s. Tom Cruise, Jim Carrey, Mel Gibson, Julia Roberts etc. were able to open movies just on the strength of their names. The 2000s slowly started moving away from the star-driven box office to the IP and brand name driven box office of the 2010s.

 

Looking at Jim Carrey's box office history made me realize that Bruce Almighty made 242M domestic and 242M worldwide, and this was despite releasing a week after Matrix Reloaded opened huge.

Edited January 13, 2015 by grim22

[Moviedweeb]

I think Silver Linings Playbook performed phenomenally and it was also one of the most intelligent releases in recent years (in terms of box office strategy). The way they adapted the theater count to the market and award's season was very impressive. TWC scratched plans to go wide shortly after the initial release and opted to wait for the film to build a huge amount of momentum and for anticipation to reach peak levels. There were still many times to go wide before the academy award nominationS and the film would have still been very successful. But they really held onto their cards until the best possible moment and as a result, it had incredible legs and an amazing multiple and sits in rarified company in those terms. Also, it's an amazing film imo.