Box Office Update: "Devil" Brings in the New Year

And cue the hordes of analysts trying to figure out the secret behind the surprise success of "The Devil Inside" this weekend. You rarely expect a new release on the first weekend of the year to bring in the business that the recent horror disaster has. Never mind the fact that it grossed more in its first weekend than any film in my top 20 of 2011, save "Rango". There was no buzz going for the film, or at least none that I saw. Is it maybe that this is the only horror film in the market that drove people to see it? Frankly, I don't care. In the one sense, it brings up the box office heading into this year. In the other, it's an abysmal film, and it's become clear very quickly that nobody here cares about filmmaking.

In holdovers, "Mission: Impossible" continued its victory loop on the way to $200 million and its inevitable sequel pickup. "Sherlock Holmes" is still doing quite well, despite the relatively soft opening it had. It's a kind of reminder of how prosperous the January frame can be for films coming out of the holiday fray, as well as Oscar pics. "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy" expanded well, hopefully making the Academy regret not paying as much attention to it before. Overall, this weekend was a strong 37.2% above the same frame last year, when "Season of the Witch" produced an equal product as "The Devil Inside", but yielded much weaker results.

Films to See in 2012: January

We're now straight out of 2011, and you know exactly what that means. It means we're stuck with a month of January, which is the most pathetic month of the year. People just stop trying to make good movies, and that's sad. I suppose they're making room for people to catch up with the Oscar films of this year, but for us film addicts, it's not a fun time for new releases. The first weekend of the year always provides us something in the way of awful horror thrillers, this year being in the form of "The Devil Inside". I'm worried that people might actually see it. This seems to have the exact same plot as "The Rite" from last year, except without Anthony Hopkins. I wouldn't know for sure, as I try to keep a general distance from either film.

Is it worth noting that one of the best films coming out this month is a 3D re-release of "Beauty and the Beast"? Not the Jean Cocteau film. The Disney version that was inexplicably nominated for Best Picture. Also releasing that week is Queen Latifah's "inspirational family film", as it's described in the trailers, "Joyful Noise", or more appropriately titled "Just Noise". Add to that a Mark Wahlberg action film called "Contraband" and you might be able to expect a half decent weekend at the box office this month. And I would be prone to saying it drops off from there, but it doesn't quite.