This year’s summer movie season was full of high-grossing hits but also huge flops. For the most part, it was ruled by big sequels and reboots. Here are some films which came out strong and others which fell off the face of the earth.
WINNERS
“Iron Man 3” – Marvel’s first post-“Avengers” movie opened at the very start of the summer and it did smashingly, making $409 million domestically and winning over the critics with a 78 percent approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
“Man of Steel” – This superhero movie sharply divided critics and fans over its merits, but audiences still went to see it in droves, earning $290 million in domestic receipts. The sequel, “Batman vs. Superman” with Ben Affleck as Batman, is already in development.
“Despicable Me 2” – This animated sequel managed to avoid being another summer animation disappointment (with “Turbo” and “The Smurfs 2” not being so lucky), earning $351 million and some good reviews.
“Star Trek Into Darkness” – In case you couldn’t already tell, it seemed that sequels were the only things that made money this summer. J.J. Abrams’ second entry in the new “Star Trek” series made $227 million and ended up being the best-reviewed movie of the summer even though “Trek” fans recently named it the worst “Star Trek” film ever.
“Grown Ups 2” – Despite dismal reviews (a whopping 7% on Rotten Tomatoes) and Adam Sandler’s previous two films (“Jack & Jill” and “That’s My Boy”) flopping, this sequel still cleaned up at the box office with $131 million made.
LOSERS
“R.I.P.D.” – Original ideas didn’t do so hot this summer, but calling this obvious “Men in Black” knock-off an “original idea” would be stretching the definition too much. With $33 million made on a $130 million budget, it’s safe to say we won’t be seeing “R.I.P.D.2.” any time soon.
“White House Down” – It didn’t help this film’s case that it was the year’s second “Die Hard in the White House” movie with “Olympus Has Fallen” being released in the spring. People felt they didn’t need to see the same thing twice, and “WHD” suffered for it (to the tune of $72 million).
“The Lone Ranger” – In retrospect, a gritty reboot of a cheesy 50s hero with Johnny Depp playing a Native American probably could never make as much money as “Pirates of the Caribbean.” But “Lone Ranger” was the biggest bomb of the summer, with $88 million made on a $215 million budget.
“Pacific Rim” – Despite very good reviews, Guillermo del Toro’s thoroughly charming robots-versus-monsters tale was a disappointment at the domestic box office, with $101 million made against a $190 million budget. However, the film did far better in foreign markets so a sequel may be on the way.
“After Earth” – Will Smith’s name did nothing to prevent this sci-fi tale from tanking. Director M. Night Shyamalan (who hasn’t had a hit, critically or commercially, in a decade) only made things worse, culminating in a gross of $61 million.
