The Outliers Of 2016: Smaller Movies With Big Profits
Each year when Deadline runs its Most Valuable Blockbuster film profitability countdown, readers understandably ask about certain wildly profitable films that for one reason or another, didn’t crack the Top 20. But that doesn’t mean these films don’t tell compelling stories in their own right. Here are snapshots of three overachieving pictures. The final four films in our tournament will roll out tomorrow and Monday.
BAD MOMS
STX Entertainment
THE FILM
STX’s first $100 million domestic grosser, Bad Moms, just missed the Top 20 list. That doesn’t mean it’s not memorable. The black comedy, directed and written by Jon Lucas and Scott Moore, stars Mila Kunis as a working mother who collides with Christina Applegate’s uptight perfectionist PTA chief. The stakes keep building in the battle. Kristen Bell, Kathryn Hahn, Jay Hernandez, Annie Mumolo and Jada Pinkett Smith also star. STX found a seam in the market by opening it July 29 against Jason Bourne. Now, STX is working on a sequel and a spinoff for its first franchise play. That is about all you can hope from a $20 million budget comedy. Let’s see how the numbers looked.
THE BOX SCORE
Here are the costs and revenues as our experts see them:
THE PURGE: ELECTION YEAR
Universal
THE FILM
While The Purge: Anarchy didn’t crack the $100 million domestic gross barrier, the bloody premise continues to murder the box office in its third outing. The Purge: Election Year‘s same idea — murder is legal for one day — seemed not a lot uglier than what was seen in the election season in which it was released. The third one in the trilogy turned in the highest gross so far with $118 million worldwide on a $10 million budget. The original The Purge cost $3 million and grossed $89 million worldwide, and the sequel Anarchy cost $9 million and turned in a global gross of $111 million. There is every reason to expect Universal, with Blumhouse and Platinum Dunes producing, to keep tapping this well. As long as they keep the budget down, they’ll continue to make a killing. Here are the numbers.
THE BOX SCORE
Here are the costs and revenues as our experts see them:
SAUSAGE PARTY
Sony
THE FILM
Sausage Party also stopped just shy of the $100 million domestic gross mark that is the price of entry into the Top 20 of this tournament, but it sure deserves honorable mention and a tip of the hat. After all, mad geniuses Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg carried out their ambition to mount a Pixar-like 3D animated film that featured the lovable inanimate objects you find in those movies, spiced up by the R-rated language and a finale orgy that you would never find in those movies. They got Greg Tiernan and Shrek director Conrad Vernon to direct it and had a stellar voice cast that included Edward Norton, Salma Hayek, Jonah Hill, Bill Hader, James Franco, Paul Rudd and Kristen Wiig. Annapurna financed and Sony released the film, including a straight-faced campaign for Best Animated Film Oscar. That didn’t happen, but there has to be some kind of award. If you look closely here, the financial bottom line might be reward enough.
THE BOX SCORE
Here are the costs and revenues as our experts see them:
Related stories
No. 4 'Finding Dory' Box Office Profits - 2016 Most Valuable Movie Blockbuster Tournament
No. 5 'Zootopia' Box Office Profits - 2016 Most Valuable Movie Blockbuster Tournament
No. 6 'The Jungle Book' Box Office Profits - 2016 Most Valuable Movie Blockbuster Tournament
Get more from Deadline.com: Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Newsletter
