So, did this cheesy little slasher really outgross FRIDAY THE 13TH PART II in 1981 (FRI13-2: http://www.the-numbers.com/movies/1981/0FFTW.php / GRADUATION DAY: http://www.the-numbers.com/movies/1981/0GDAY.php). It seems strange to me that it could've grossed nearly $24 million! However, everywhere I look it has the same figure. Anyone shed any light on this?
I find that hard to believe, but who knows, it was a sequel (which sometimes can deter folks) and maybe Graduation Day had some hype when it first hit the theater. I bet if it were Graduation Day 2 vs. F13 2 things would have been different
well you have to take into consideration how many weeks both films were in the theaters as well as how many theaters across North America showed both movies. One might have been in the theater longer than the other, and one might have had a wider showing (never mind, I can see some more data at the bottom of the screen on "the numbers" websites that i didnt a couple minutes ago)
It seems crazy to think about it, but really, the Friday the 13th machine didn't really kick in until the third. At that point it was just your usual law of diminishing returns for sequels. It's the mask that's iconic, not the potato sack.
Played a week in Reno and a week in San Francisco (with nil repeat showings nor co-featured with newer films later in '81). I find the-near $24 million impossible to believe.
Obviously a mistake, like Katatonia said, they must mean 2.5 million. I used to read Variety in those days, trust me, if this did this kind of numbers, it would have been in the news in a big way, and would have been in their annual list of top 50 box office hits from Indy studios of all time. I highly doubt it outgrossed non studio films like ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK in 1981, as GRADUATION DAY would have been talked about, and the studio who released it, IFI SCOPE, would not gone broke, but would have been a key player in those days like MPM, American Cinema, etc. I recall James Bryan telling me he knows the guys who used to run IFI SCOPE, so I can ask him how GRADUATION DAY really performed.
Thanks everyone! Bill: if you could check that would be brilliant. It'd be good to get a definitive answer to this once and for all. Now, all I need to do is find out how much THE BURNING made at the box office ...
Graduation day is a worthy slasher film,so is the very underrated Mortuary of the same year(no respect)Come on fans you have to admit the creep meter is up there i don't know there is something about funeral homes,bodies,and embalmers that send chills up my spine.The movie had everything seances,stalking,mysterious deaths and creepy Paul,did you see that costume?
It would be nice to have a definitive list of slasher grosses, but the way movies were platformed and re-released back then, it's probably impossible at this point to get definitive numbers, especially since most slashers are from independents who probably had less than honest book keepers to keep all those tax write-offs intact.
