Was It Worth It - The Films of December

[Shrykespeare]

Some obvious hits in December, and one hugely awesome sleeper pick.


NG

Cheap PTA picks that failed to net a single point:

Nuclear Nation ($3U) - 5.8 UR. Guess nobody cares about China right now.




F

Believe ($6U, $6BO) - 0 T5, 0 PTA, 1.5 UR, $6M. A complete and utter train-wreck. Kind of like Justin's career right now.

Walking With Dinosaures ($15U, $14BO) - 0 T5, 0 PTA, 5.0 UR, $34M. Well, not every kids' movie can succeed, but this was BAD.



D-

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty ($20U, $10BO) - 0 T5, 0 PTA, 7.6 UR, $57M.
47 Ronin ($10U, $11BO) - 0 T5, 0 PTA, 6.6 UR, $38M.
Grudge Match ($9U, $9BO) - 0 T5, 0 PTA, 6.7 UR, $29M.

Yes, they came up empty in two categories, but at least they had a 3X multiplier, which puts it out of the league of failure that Believe is in. Just.



C-

Out of the Furnace ($7U, $6BO) - 3 T5, 4 PTA (Dec only), 7.0 UR, $11M. Fair numbers in two cateoriges, miserable in the other two.



C

Last Days on Mars ($3U) - 3 PTA (Dec only), 5.5 UR, $54M. Meh.

Tyler Perry's A Madea Christmas ($11U, $11BO) - 3 T5, 1 PTA, 4.0 UR, $53M. I didn't get shut out, but that UR is pretty much non-negotiable when picking a Perry film.



B-

Anchorman: The Legend Continues ($24U, $24BO) - 7 T5, 2 PTA, 7.1 UR, $125M. Good numbers, to be sure, but for that much money, you expect more.

Saving Mr. Banks ($15U, $13BO) - 1 T5, 4 PTA, 7.8 UR, $82M. A great BO pick, but only fair in Ultimate. (This will be a recurring theme.)



B

Inside Llewyn Davis ($7U, $5 BO) - 8 PTA, 7.9 UR , $12M. Well, I think we all expected more from this film, including Oscar noms.

The Wolf of Wall Street ($19U, 19$BO) - 5 T5, 0 PTA, 8.6 UR, $108M. This was a PHENOMENAL pick in Box Office, to be sure, but their lack of productivity in two important categories means I can't give them an A as an overall pick.

The Invisible Woman ($4U) - 5 PTA, 6.7 UR. A solid pick for little money.



B+

American Hustle ($13U, $11BO) - 6 T5, 6 PTA, 7.7 UR, $138M. Same as Wolf, but with slightly more bang.



A-

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug ($8U) - 18 T5, 5 PTA, 8.2 UR, 255M. Did what the most expensive film of the month was supposed to, but there were still better picks out there.



A

Her ($7U, $5BO) - 11 PTA, 8.4 UR, $22M. Not as many people took this as I thought they would, but it turns out just fine for those who did.

August: Osage County ($6U, $6BO) - 12 PTA, 7.4 UR, $34M. Another solid Christmas Day pick. Meryl Streep just doesn't make bad films.



And the best picks of December:

A++

The Past ($4U) - 12 PTA, 8.1 UR. The best indie pick of the month, earning three PTA per dollar spent. You'll take that any day of the week.

Lone Survivor ($12U, $11BO) - 20 T5, 15 PTA, 7.9 UR, $113M. Wow, did anyone figure this level of success for this film? Hoo-rah.



Here's how my box office predictions fared this month:

HITS
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug - Predicted $77/$270, Actual $74/$255
Anchorman: The Legend Continues - Predicted $49/$115, Actual $40/$125
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty - Predicted $16/$55, Actual $13/$57
47 Ronin - Predicted $10/$35, Actual $10/$38

NEAR MISSES
The Wolf of Wall Street - Predicted $24/$96, Actual $18/$108
Tyler Perry's A Madea Christmas - Predicted $30/$72, Actual $16/$53

EGREGIOUS MISSES
Out of the Furnace - Predicted $10/$34, Actual $5/$11
Walking with Dinosaurs - Predicted $15/$62, Actual $7/$35
Grudge Match - Predicted $14/$50, Actual $7/$30
Believe - Predicted $7/$25, Actual $2/$6
Lone Survivor - Predicted $21/$80, Actual $38/$113


I actually did not make any predictions for American Hustle or Saving Mr. Banks, but I think I would have been way off on the former and very near the latter if I had.

[BanksIsDaFuture]

Nobody expected Out of The Furnace to break the curse, but wow the post-Thanksgiving weekend racks up another for its body count.

I had no idea Lone Survivor did that well, of course I didn't put it on a single thing. Hell, I might have even put it on a Bankrupts slate somewhere...

But I did well in anchoring Wolf + Hustle, at least box office wise.

[JohnErle]

Here's your Box Office ROI report for December:



AMERICAN HUSTLE was the best pick of December, and one of the best picks of the entire year, delivering a 12:1 ROI already, and it's not quite done yet. With the Oscars coming on March 2nd, American Hustle has a few more weeks of buzz to take advantage of and still has a chance to pass The Conjuring and Gravity as the second best wide-release BO pick of 2013. In case you're wondering, Frozen is firmly entrenched in the #1 spot with a 15.65 ROI, and I seriously doubt American Hustle will be fast enough to catch it.

LONE SURVIVOR was the other must-have pick of December (USA! USA!) while THE HOBBIT: THE DESOLATION OF SMAUG delivered a very strong ROI for a high-priced blockbuster, proving that there's still a healthy appetite for Peter Jackson's take on Middle Earth.

December delivered a lot of solid BO picks, but only one high-priced slate-killer in THE SECRET LIFE OF WALTER MITTY. WALKING WITH DINOSAURS was also a colossal bomb, but one that most of us saw coming a mile away and managed to avoid.

For fans of schadenfreude, Justin Bieber was The Invisible Pop Star at the box office in December, finishing barely above Ralph Fiennes' limited-release period piece in terms of ROI. While The Invisible Woman probably deserved more attention, the utter failure of Believe couldn't have happened to a bigger douchebag.

[Chienfantome]

December is always a delicate month to handle in terms of Ultimate competitions. With the overdose of films coming at the middle of the month up until the end of it, there are always way too many casualties in terms of Top 5 points. It's always about betting on the right horse and avoiding the bad ones. I really didn't think August Osage County would do that good. And Her was pretty solid too.

[BrocksterDuex]

I'm horrible around the Xmas season and have always been ever since I started playing this game. It pisses me off

[numbersix]

What was interesting this December was the fight for T5 and PTA points, as there were so many movies. It seems the ones that open later reap the benefits of a quiet January. If August Osage County opened in early Dec it would have made a few points at best.

My slate got hurt by a reliance on Anchorman 2. I expected more from all categories.

And I'm still annoyed that Inside Llewyn Davis underperformed. It was never going to be huge, but considering the reviews and general response I was expecting way, way more.

[BrocksterDuex]

My slate got hurt by a reliance on Anchorman 2. I expected more from all categories.

This KILLED me...on the OCT-DEC, NOV-JAN, & DEC-FEB leagues... along w/ Wolf and Llewyn in ULT just killed me.