‘Moonrise Kingdom’ No. 1 On ‘Summer Movie Scorecard 2012’ Despite Poor Gross

By Tom Herrmann | September 10 2012 12:05 PM

Wes Anderson's latest quirky flick, "Moonrise Kingdom," is the highest rated film for the summer of 2012 on the aggregative film rating website Rotten Tomatoes. The "Summer Movies Scorecard 2012" compiles all of the summer films for this year and ranks them based on user rating, with the "Moonrise Kingdom" at 94 percent fresh.

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Kara Hayward as Suzy Bishop and Jared Gilman as Sam Shakusky in "Moonrise Kingdom" as the two love struck pre-teens plan to run away from home.

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"The Avengers" with 92 percent, "The Dark Knight Rises" with 87 percent, "ParaNorman" with 87 percent, and "Magic Mike" with 79 percent, followed the Wes Anderson film to make up the top five movies of this summer. The lowest rated were "Madea's Witness Protection" with 21 percent, "The Watch" with 16 percent, "For Greater Glory" with 16 percent, "Nitro Circus: The Movie 3D" with 7 percent and "The Apparition" with 4 percent.

"Moonrise Kingdom" stars Jared Gilman as Sam Shakusky and Kara Hayward as Suzy Bishop, a pair of misfit preteens who fall in love and run away together. The two 13-year-old actors are accompanied by veteran stars Bruce Willis, Edward Norton, Bill Murray, Frances McDormand, Tilda Swinton and Jason Schwartzman.

"['Moonrise Kingdom] is precious and adorable, but it isn't naïve (these kids are becoming sexually aware), and the movie breathes so deep that Anderson even gets a real performance out of Willis (this is his best work in years)," wrote Rene Rodriguez of the Miami Herald. "Most of Wes Anderson's previous pictures came from the head; Moonrise Kingdom is one from the heart."

Despite the indie-film's flattering reception, its box office performance is dwarfed by other top contenders on the "Summer Movie Scorecard" and even by the lower ranking movies. As of Sept. 9, "Moonrise Kingdom" has an approximate gross of $44.6 million since May 25.

Box Office Mojo estimates that "The Avengers" grossed $621.4 million since May 4; "The Dark Knight Rises" grossed $437.8 since July 19; "ParaNorman" grossed $45 million since Aug. 17; and "Magic Mike" grossed $113.4 million since June 29. All of the top films earned more money at the box office than the No. 1 rated "Moonrise Kingdom." -

Box Office Mojo also estimated that "Madea's Witness Protection" grossed $65.4 million since June 29. Despite having a freshness-rating 73 percent lower than "Moonrise Kingdom," Tyler Perry's latest addition to the Madea franchise was nearly twice as profitable.

"['Madea's Witness Protection's'] general sloppiness is a sign that Perry's hectic production schedule ... may simply have gotten the better of him," wrote Mark Olsen of the LA Times.