2016 End-of-Summer Box-Office Report: 'Sausage' Sizzles, 'Ben-Hur' Falls on Its Sword, and Much More
This summer, most box-office success stories were bittersweet. Suicide Squad entered triumphantly before falling on its face; Ghostbusters made some cash, but not quite enough; and some major international box-office hits (we’re looking at you, Warcraft) bombed in the U.S. But there were a few predictable triumphs (Marvel, Pixar, low-budget horror) as well as some surprises (an R-rated animated hit here, an indie rom-com triumph there). Following up on our mid-season report, here are the winners and losers as the summer of 2016 draws to a close.
WINNER: Suicide Squad
With dynamite trailers and the promise of a new Joker, Suicide Squad easily lured filmgoers into its villainous trap. The film’s $135.1 million debut weekend displaced Guardians of the Galaxy for the biggest-ever August opening. At press time, it stands as the No. 4 movie of the summer.
Watch Margot Robbie talk about Harley Quinn’s costume:
LOSER: The DC extended universe
Even though Suicide Squad was one of the summer’s top films, its box office dropped nearly 70 percent on its second week out. Bad reviews or a confusing (and light-on-the-Joker) storyline may have been to blame, or maybe audiences just couldn’t keep up their enthusiasm for summer franchises by August. Either way, the exact same dip occurred with Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, creating a disturbing trend for Warner Bros.’ burgeoning DC movie universe. (Marvel Studios, whose Captain America: Civil War stands as the No. 2 film of the summer, has no such issue.) They’ll need to work hard to correct course in time for 2017’s Wonder Woman and Justice League.
WINNER: Sausage Party
Who’d have guessed that this adults-only animated comedy would devour the summer box office? Apparently, audiences were dying to watch a bunch of food products have sex, use drugs, and die violently at the hands of hungry humans. The Seth Rogen-penned raunchfest has so far brought in nearly $80 million on a $19 million budget (although some animators have claimed they were exploited in order to complete the film on the cheap).
Watch Seth Rogen talk about how Sausage Party was inspired by Pixar:
WINNER: Jason Bourne
After a nine-year absence, Matt Damon returned to the role of CIA-trained assassin Jason Bourne — and was greeted with a $61 million opening weekend and $150 million total so far. The film is also killing it at the international box office, with a worldwide total gross of $347 million at press time.
WINNER: Cheap scares
Low-budget horror movies thrive during the hottest months of the year. The Conjuring 2, Don’t Breathe, The Shallows, and The Purge: Election Year all easily made more than double their low production budgets, while the exceptionally cheap Lights Out — made for under $5 million — has cleared $125 million at the global box office.
LOSER: Fumbling franchises
When it comes to tentpole films with astronomical budgets, there are hits and bombs — and no room in between. Ghostbusters and Star Trek Beyond brought in sizable audiences, but struggled to make back the money the studios poured into their special-effects-heavy productions. Even X-Men: Apocalypse — right now the summer’s No. 5 movie — didn’t surpass its $178 million budget domestically (though overseas profits put it back in the black).
WINNER: Overseas hits
More than ever, the international market is determining the bottom line for major studios. That’s superobvious in the summer box-office tally, which includes a number of U.S. flops — like Warcraft, Ice Age: Collision Course, Now You See Me 2 — that made hundreds of millions overseas. Don’t be surprised when the sequels arrive at a theater near you.
LOSER: Live-action family films
Pixar’s sequel Finding Dory swam away with the title of summer’s No. 1 movie, but Disney’s nonanimated family fare — including Pete’s Dragon and The BFG — sank.
WINNER: The Secret Life of Pets
Universal’s original CGI-animated comedy nipped at the heels of Captain America: Civil War all summer, ultimately ranking as the season’s No. 3 film with a $353 million take.
Watch The Secret Life of Pets trailer:
WINNERS: Dwayne Johnson and Kevin Hart
Hart and Johnson, two of the rare stars who can single-handedly sell a movie, were a match made in heaven for New Line. Central Intelligence may not have opened at No. 1, but the buddy-cop comedy had legs, working its way up to $127 million (on a $50 million budget) by the end of the summer.
LOSER: Johnny Depp
Johnny Depp’s whimsical performance as the Mad Hatter was a big selling point for the fantasy sequel Alice Through the Looking Glass… until his wife, Amber Heard, filed for divorce and requested a restraining order. The film tanked, and Depp’s days of playing a beguiling man-child are officially over.
WINNER: Comedy with F-bombs
If Sausage Party wasn’t your thing, you still had your pick of funny, not-for-kids flicks: The R-rated Bad Moms and Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates both did solid box office, and the tiny indie comedy Don’t Think Twice played to sold-out theaters on its opening weekend.
WINNER: Paranoia
Right-wing pundit Dinesh D’Souza stoked the political divide this summer with Hillary’s America: The Secret History of the Democratic Party, a “documentary” that paints Clinton’s party as a devious shadow organization responsible for all of America’s ills, including slavery and the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Turns out that an election year is a great time to sell conspiracy theories; though not as successful as his 2012 propaganda film 2016 Obama’s America, D’Souza’s Clinton takedown has grossed $12 million.
LOSER: Ben-Hur
The “epic fail” headlines wrote themselves after this baffling remake — updated from the 1959 Charlton Heston classic with a CGI-enhanced chariot race and a postmodern worldview — crashed at the box office. The $100 million production has made just $20 million domestically.
WINNER: Low-key indie hits
While everyone was busy complaining about the glut of reboots and sequels, the specialty box office was humming along with fun, original summer fare. The highly unconventional romantic comedy The Lobster was a sleeper hit, making nearly $9 million, while films like Café Society, Hell or High Water, Captain Fantastic, and Hunt for the Wilderpeople keep finding new fans.
