2013: FIRST QUARTER BOX OFFICE SMACK DOWN!

As usual with the first quarter of the year the Box Office sees a healthy amount of genre releases that tend to disappear just before summer Hollywood Block Buster time.  This year has had a couple of Box Office champs with the success of Mama and the Paranormal Activity spoof A Haunted House as well as the rom-zom-com Warm Bodies.  Early opening weekend success for Texas Chainsaw 3D did not translate to a complete success story nor did it bold well for Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters (although this film has done very well in the International market).  Despite the fact that Dark Skies and The Last Exorcism Part II underperformed they too had a little success if you take into account their meager production costs ($3.5 and $5 million, respectfully  ).  On the limited release front (where many of the films had a VOD release before a limited theatrical release) there was the success of John Dies at the End, Room 237, The Monk, and The ABC’s of Death.  There are also a couple of titles that defy explanation which includes Midget Zombie Takeover (with a production budget of only $2,000!) and Eddie the Sleepwalking Cannibal.  Surprisingly horror hasn’t disappeared yet from the Box Office as the success of the remake of Evil Dead and the re-release of Steven Spielberg’s Jurassic Park 3D so maybe there’s more of the summer horizon than we think.  Below is a list of the Box Office performance of this year’s film (figures gathered from Box Office Mojo – www.boxofficemojo.com).

1. MAMA - $71.6 MILLION

2. WARM BODIES - $65.7 MILLION

3. HANSEL & GRETEL: WITCH HUNTERS - $55.5 MILLION

4. A HAUNTED HOUSE - $40.04 MILLION

5. EVIL DEAD - *$35.2 MILLION

6. TEXAS CHAINSAW 3D - $34.3 MILLION

7. JURASSIC PARK 3D - *$25.5 MILLION

8. DARK SKIES - $17.2 MILLION

9. THE LAST EXORCISM PART II - *$15.2 MILLION

10. STOKER - *$1.7 MILLION

11. JOHN DIES AT THE END - $141,951

12. ROOM 237 - *$113,032

13. THE ABC’S OF DEATH - $21,832

14. THE SORCERER & THE WHITE SNAKE - $18,759

15. THE MONK - *$13,472

16. MIDGET ZOMBIE TAKEOVER - $6,251

17. EDDIE THE SLEEPWALKING CANNIBAL - $1,294

18. STORAGE 24 - $72