It wasn’t a blockbuster year for sports-themed films, and perhaps the best work again was the ESPN 30 For 30 series put together by Bill Simmons, which brought us inside the lives of everyone from Steve Bartman to Marcus Dupree and beyond. Now sports product placement in film again thrived, and in a year when traditional advertising in categories like automotive is still rebounding, cross promotions with action films and video games grew, a great sign for those who sell the space for the teams we watch.
Going into the final days of 2011, here is a look at the top grossing sports-themed films of the year (data as of 12/26 per boxofficemojo.com):
1- Cars 2 ($191.4 million). The animated sequel again helped lift auto racing and merch with kids.
2- Real Steel ($89 million). Another Disney-inspired story looked at the future of boxing, with robots filling in for humans, and Hugh Jackman (trained by Sugar Ray Leonard) training the robots.
3- Moneyball ($74.4 million). The Brad Pitt/Oakland A’s drama brought casual fans in to find out more about analytics and baseball.
4- Soul Surfer ($43.8 million), The story of teenage surfer Bethany Hamilton, who lost her arm in a surfing incident with a shark, but overcame her fears and returned to the water.
5- Warrior ($13.6 million). A boost for Mixed Martial Arts with perhaps the best MMA-themed movie to date, the brother vs. brother story was a little “Rocky,” a little “Champ,” and a good story overall. Two big box office draws for 2012 headlined the film Joel Edgerton (will be in The Great Gatsby) and Tom Hardy (Bain in The Dark Knight Rises)
6- The Mighty Macs ($1.9 million). A limited release, the uplifting story of Immaculata College and their rise to the top of women’s hoops in the 1970’s.
