August is over, the Fall Oscar season is ahead of us, and in between we have a month of leftovers and early award season hopefuls. But before we move into the future, let's take a look back on the final month of the summer season. August historically doesn't have any blockbusters; they are generally confined to mid-May through early July. What August does have are those last minute sleeper hopefuls, and perhaps one or two, early in the month, with higher aspirations for box office success.
The month started out with the last of the potential summer hits, the Will Ferrell comedy Talladega Nights. This was the last best chance for a $100 million grosser for the summer period, and it did it with ease. Also opening that weekend were the UK horror flick The Descent and the kiddie movie Barnyard. Both of them achieved success, but at different levels. The former is quite possibly the scariest film so far this year, while the latter showed surprising legs at the box office.
As we move to the second week of the month we have a rare August mid-week opener. Oliver Stone's 9/11 tribute, World Trade Center was unleashed on the world. It ended up being the strongest film of the month, in spite of the rather generic direction. Two days later the J-horror remake, Pulse, the dance drama, Step Up, and the family superhero fantasy, Zoom, were released to your friendly neighborhood multiplex. None of them were expected to be hits, and in some cases, rightly so.
Now, according to the promotional campaign, New Line cinema would have you believe the weekend of 8/18 was when summer began. It brought the release of internet sensation Snakes on a Plane, and while being a fun cheese-fest, probably showed the upper limit of internet hype. We also were graced with the presence of the Duff sisters in their first movie together, and the surprisingly decent college comedy, Accepted.
The final weekend of August brought beer, football, worms, and dancing. Everything you need for a late summer party. None of them proved to be all that great, but generally there were no outright disappointments either.
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