November Box Office Down 10 Percent from Last Year
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1, Big Hero 6 and Interstellar led the way in November, but their collective strength wasn't enough to take the month to record levels.
During the second-to-last month of the year, aggregate domestic box office totaled $965 million, which is off 10 percent from last year. It's also down from the 2012 record ($1.09 billion).
The year-to-year drop can be attributed to a weaker late-month line-up. While Mockingjay earned a massive $225.7 million during November, that's significantly lower than Catching Fire's $282 million last year.
Also, the Thanksgiving openers (Horrible Bosses 2, Penguins of Madagascar) combined for just $58.2 million over the five-day frame, while Frozen alone grossed $78.4 million over the last four days of November in 2013.
At the end of November, year-to-date box office was down four percent to $9.45 billion. Even if December box office is above-average—likely, but not a guarantee—the best-case scenario is that 2014 winds up around $10.6 billion, which would be off around three percent from last year.
Mockingjay was only in release for 10 days, though it was by-far the biggest movie of the month in November. Still, its $225.7 million 10-day total is off 24 percent from Catching Fire, and it's likely that this winds up taking second place for the year behind Guardians of the Galaxy ($331 million and counting).
In second place, Disney Animation's Big Hero 6 earned an impressive $167.2 million. The movie is pacing ahead of Wreck-It Ralph—which opened on the same weekend in 2012—and should eventually pass $200 million.
Christopher Nolan's Interstellar wrapped up the month in third place with $147 million. That's a good result for an original movie, though it still doesn't compare favorably to Nolan's Inception and last year's Gravity (both of which wrapped up with over $270 million). While it's a slight disappointment in the U.S., it is doing exceptional business overseas: by the end of November, it had earned nearly $400 million, and is on track to wrap up with around $500 million.
Dumb and Dumber To took fourth place with $72.2 million. That's after opening to an impressive $36.1 million, then falling off quickly in the following weeks; the long-awaited sequel will likely wind up below $90 million.
The rest of the November line-up was fairly weak. Penguins of Madagascar earned $35.4 million through its first five days, which is barely above DreamWorks Animation's 2012 flop Rise of the Guardians ($32.3 million). It will make up some ground overseas, but this is still a poor result for a franchise title.
Meanwhile, Horrible Bosses 2 missed with $22.8 million over five days—lower than the first movie's three-day haul—while Beyond the Lights racked up just $12.7 million through 17 days.
Discuss this story with fellow Box Office Mojo fans on Facebook. On Twitter, follow us at @boxofficemojo, and follow author Ray Subers at @raysubers.
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During the second-to-last month of the year, aggregate domestic box office totaled $965 million, which is off 10 percent from last year. It's also down from the 2012 record ($1.09 billion).
The year-to-year drop can be attributed to a weaker late-month line-up. While Mockingjay earned a massive $225.7 million during November, that's significantly lower than Catching Fire's $282 million last year.
Also, the Thanksgiving openers (Horrible Bosses 2, Penguins of Madagascar) combined for just $58.2 million over the five-day frame, while Frozen alone grossed $78.4 million over the last four days of November in 2013.
At the end of November, year-to-date box office was down four percent to $9.45 billion. Even if December box office is above-average—likely, but not a guarantee—the best-case scenario is that 2014 winds up around $10.6 billion, which would be off around three percent from last year.
Mockingjay was only in release for 10 days, though it was by-far the biggest movie of the month in November. Still, its $225.7 million 10-day total is off 24 percent from Catching Fire, and it's likely that this winds up taking second place for the year behind Guardians of the Galaxy ($331 million and counting).
In second place, Disney Animation's Big Hero 6 earned an impressive $167.2 million. The movie is pacing ahead of Wreck-It Ralph—which opened on the same weekend in 2012—and should eventually pass $200 million.
Christopher Nolan's Interstellar wrapped up the month in third place with $147 million. That's a good result for an original movie, though it still doesn't compare favorably to Nolan's Inception and last year's Gravity (both of which wrapped up with over $270 million). While it's a slight disappointment in the U.S., it is doing exceptional business overseas: by the end of November, it had earned nearly $400 million, and is on track to wrap up with around $500 million.
Dumb and Dumber To took fourth place with $72.2 million. That's after opening to an impressive $36.1 million, then falling off quickly in the following weeks; the long-awaited sequel will likely wind up below $90 million.
The rest of the November line-up was fairly weak. Penguins of Madagascar earned $35.4 million through its first five days, which is barely above DreamWorks Animation's 2012 flop Rise of the Guardians ($32.3 million). It will make up some ground overseas, but this is still a poor result for a franchise title.
Meanwhile, Horrible Bosses 2 missed with $22.8 million over five days—lower than the first movie's three-day haul—while Beyond the Lights racked up just $12.7 million through 17 days.
Discuss this story with fellow Box Office Mojo fans on Facebook. On Twitter, follow us at @boxofficemojo, and follow author Ray Subers at @raysubers.
Related Stories
• Holiday 2014 Forecast
• 'Gone Girl' Leads Record-Setting October
• September 2014 Box Office is Lowest in Six Years
• 'Guardians,' 'Turtles' Lead August to Record $1 Billion Haul
• July Box Office Falls Short of $1 Billion
• June Box Office Down 16 Percent From Last Year's Record
• May Box Office Hits Lowest Level Since 2010
• 'Captain America' Dominates Strong April at the Box Office
• March Reaches $800 Million, Fall Short of 2012 Record
• 'LEGO' Leads Not-So-Awesome February
• 'Lone Survivor' Leads Best January in Four Years
• Strong November Box Office Falls Just Short of Record
• Holiday 2013 Forecast
Related Charts
• November Calendar Grosses
• 2014 Grosses (2014-only releases)
• Year-to-Date Comparison
