12 Years a Slave backdrop

12 Years a Slave movie poster

12 Years a SlaveFollow

2013 • R • 2h 14m • Biography, Drama, History • Fox Searchlight Pictures

The extraordinary true story of Solomon Northup.

🍅 95% 90%

96

4.17

8.1

CS A

Box office summary

Opening weekend

$924K

Limited · 19 theaters

Domestic total

$56.70M

Final

Worldwide total

$188.00M

$131.00M international

Domestic legs8.5x from $6.7M first wide weekend

Budget$20.0M

Compare with other movies

Cast & crew

Full McQueen filmography

Steve McQueen

Steve McQueen Director

Chiwetel Ejiofor

Chiwetel Ejiofor Starring

Michael Fassbender

Michael Fassbender Starring

Lupita Nyong'o

Lupita Nyong'o Starring

Benedict Cumberbatch

Benedict Cumberbatch Starring

Paul Dano

Paul Dano Starring

ScreenplayJohn Ridley Produced byBrad Pitt, Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, Bill Pohlad, Steve McQueen CinematographySean Bobbitt MusicHans Zimmer Prod. DesignAdam Stockhausen StudioFox Searchlight Pictures

The run

WkWeekendRankGrossChgTheatersAvgTotal

1 Oct 25-27 8 $2.1M — 123 $17,352 $3.4M

2 Nov 1-3 7 $4.8M +124.5% 410 $11,688 $9.0M

3 Nov 8-10 7 $6.7M +39.3% 1,144 $5,835 $17.4M

4 Nov 15-17 8 $4.6M −31.0% 1,411 $3,263 $24.9M

5 Nov 22-24 9 $2.8M −38.5% 1,474 $1,922 $29.4M

6 Nov 29-Dec 1 13 $2.3M −18.7% 1,165 $1,978 $33.2M

7 Dec 6-8 13 $1.1M −50.2% 1,082 $1,060 $35.0M

8 Dec 13-15 16 $732.8K −36.1% 497 $1,474 $36.4M

9 Dec 20-22 20 $370.1K −49.5% 301 $1,229 $37.1M

10 Dec 27-29 24 $373.0K +0.8% 154 $2,421 $37.8M

11 Jan 3-5 24 $328.7K −11.9% 151 $2,177 $38.5M

12 Jan 10-12 26 $270.8K −17.6% 114 $2,375 $38.9M

13 Jan 17-19 17 $1.5M +468.7% 761 $2,023 $40.6M

14 Jan 24-26 14 $2.0M +31.9% 1,231 $1,650 $43.6M

15 Jan 31-Feb 2 13 $1.4M −29.0% 1,172 $1,230 $45.9M

16 Feb 7-9 16 $816.6K −43.4% 678 $1,204 $47.3M

17 Feb 14-16 21 $562.8K −31.1% 386 $1,457 $48.2M

18 Feb 21-23 19 $522.5K −7.2% 349 $1,497 $49.1M

19 Feb 28-Mar 2 18 $975.9K +86.8% 411 $2,374 $50.3M

20 Mar 7-9 9 $2.1M +116.3% 1,065 $1,981 $53.0M

21 Mar 14-16 14 $1.2M −42.1% 925 $1,322 $55.1M

22 Mar 21-23 18 $439.8K −64.0% 522 $842 $56.0M

23 Mar 28-30 25 $134.1K −69.5% 228 $588 $56.4M

24 Apr 4-6 40 $65.9K −50.8% 128 $515 $56.5M

DateRankGrossDailyWeeklyTotalTheatersAvgDay

Fri Oct 18 #16 $273.9K — $273.9K 19 $14,414 1

Sat Oct 19 #16 $381.7K +39% $655.6K 19 $20,090 2

Sun Oct 20 #14 $268.1K −30% $923.7K 19 $14,111 3

Mon Oct 21 #14 $90.2K −66% $1.0M 19 $4,748 4

Tue Oct 22 #14 $84.8K −6% $1.1M 19 $4,463 5

Wed Oct 23 #14 $83.4K −2% $1.2M 19 $4,387 6

Thu Oct 24 #14 $77.8K −7% $1.3M 19 $4,097 7

Fri Oct 25 #8 $621.9K +699% +127% $1.9M 123 $5,056 8

Sat Oct 26 #8 $926.5K +49% +143% $2.8M 123 $7,532 9

Sun Oct 27 #8 $585.9K −37% +119% $3.4M 123 $4,763 10

Mon Oct 28 #8 $195.2K −67% +116% $3.6M 123 $1,586 11

Tue Oct 29 #8 $213.9K +10% +152% $3.8M 123 $1,738 12

Wed Oct 30 #8 $186.3K −13% +123% $4.0M 123 $1,514 13

Thu Oct 31 #9 $170.7K −8% +119% $4.2M 123 $1,387 14

Fri Nov 1 #7 $1.3M +645% +105% $5.4M 410 $3,103 15

Sat Nov 2 #7 $2.2M +71% +134% $7.6M 410 $5,297 16

Sun Nov 3 #7 $1.3M −38% +130% $9.0M 410 $3,286 17

Mon Nov 4 #7 $448.7K −67% +130% $9.4M 410 $1,094 18

Tue Nov 5 #7 $522.2K +16% +144% $9.9M 410 $1,273 19

Wed Nov 6 #7 $425.8K −18% +129% $10.3M 410 $1,038 20

Thu Nov 7 #7 $396.3K −7% +132% $10.7M 410 $966 21

Fri Nov 8 #7 $1.9M +369% +46% $12.6M 1,144 $1,624 22

Sat Nov 9 #7 $2.9M +55% +32% $15.5M 1,144 $2,509 23

Sun Nov 10 #7 $1.9M −32% +44% $17.4M 1,144 $1,701 24

Mon Nov 11 #7 $1.1M −42% +151% $18.5M 1,144 $985 25

Tue Nov 12 #6 $652.6K −42% +25% $19.2M 1,144 $570 26

Wed Nov 13 #6 $537.4K −18% +26% $19.7M 1,144 $469 27

Thu Nov 14 #6 $509.8K −5% +29% $20.2M 1,144 $445 28

Fri Nov 15 #8 $1.3M +163% −28% $21.6M 1,411 $948 29

Sat Nov 16 #9 $2.1M +56% −27% $23.7M 1,411 $1,477 30

Sun Nov 17 #8 $1.2M −43% −39% $24.9M 1,411 $836 31

Mon Nov 18 #6 $412.6K −65% −63% $25.3M 1,411 $292 32

Tue Nov 19 #6 $530.4K +29% −19% $25.8M 1,411 $375 33

Wed Nov 20 #6 $429.5K −19% −20% $26.2M 1,411 $304 34

Thu Nov 21 #6 $367.3K −14% −28% $26.6M 1,411 $260 35

Fri Nov 22 #9 $803.8K +119% −40% $27.4M 1,474 $545 36

Sat Nov 23 #9 $1.3M +58% −39% $28.7M 1,474 $861 37

Sun Nov 24 #9 $760.7K −40% −36% $29.4M 1,474 $516 38

Mon Nov 25 #9 $301.9K −60% −27% $29.7M 1,474 $204 39

Tue Nov 26 #9 $389.3K +29% −27% $30.1M 1,474 $264 40

Wed Nov 27 #15 $356.6K −8% −17% $30.5M 1,474 $241 41

Thu Nov 28 #13 $375.5K +5% +2% $30.9M 1,474 $254 42

Fri Nov 29 #13 $901.4K +140% +12% $31.8M 1,165 $773 43

Sat Nov 30 #13 $915.2K +2% −28% $32.7M 1,165 $785 44

Sun Dec 1 #12 $488.5K −47% −36% $33.2M 1,165 $419 45

Mon Dec 2 #12 $158.8K −68% −47% $33.3M 1,165 $136 46

Tue Dec 3 #11 $201.3K +27% −48% $33.5M 1,165 $172 47

Wed Dec 4 #10 $176.8K −12% −50% $33.7M 1,165 $151 48

Thu Dec 5 #10 $180.1K +2% −52% $33.9M 1,165 $154 49

Fri Dec 6 #13 $315.8K +75% −65% $34.2M 1,082 $291 50

Sat Dec 7 #13 $525.3K +66% −43% $34.7M 1,082 $485 51

Sun Dec 8 #12 $305.9K −42% −37% $35.0M 1,082 $282 52

Mon Dec 9 #11 $130.4K −57% −18% $35.1M 1,082 $120 53

Tue Dec 10 #12 $165.2K +27% −18% $35.3M 1,082 $152 54

Wed Dec 11 #11 $141.0K −15% −20% $35.5M 1,082 $130 55

Thu Dec 12 #9 $176.1K +25% −2% $35.6M 1,082 $162 56

Fri Dec 13 $205.4K +17% −35% $35.8M 497 $413 57

Sat Dec 14 $302.2K +47% −42% $36.1M 497 $608 58

Sun Dec 15 $225.2K −25% −26% $36.4M 497 $453 59

Mon Dec 16 #15 $93.8K −58% −28% $36.5M 497 $188 60

Tue Dec 17 #16 $100.1K +7% −39% $36.6M 497 $201 61

Wed Dec 18 #16 $77.1K −23% −45% $36.6M 497 $155 62

Thu Dec 19 #16 $74.7K −3% −58% $36.7M 497 $150 63

Fri Dec 20 $92.3K +24% −55% $36.8M 301 $306 64

Sat Dec 21 $152.2K +65% −50% $37.0M 301 $505 65

Sun Dec 22 $125.5K −18% −44% $37.1M 301 $417 66

Mon Dec 23 $83.9K −33% −11% $37.2M 301 $278 67

Tue Dec 24 $73.8K −12% −26% $37.2M 301 $245 68

Wed Dec 25 $85.1K +15% +10% $37.3M 301 $282 69

Thu Dec 26 $102.9K +21% +38% $37.4M 301 $341 70

Fri Dec 27 $117.6K +14% +27% $37.5M 154 $763 71

Sat Dec 28 $145.7K +24% −4% $37.7M 154 $946 72

Sun Dec 29 $109.7K −25% −13% $37.8M 154 $712 73

Mon Dec 30 $84.7K −23% +1% $37.9M 154 $549 74

Tue Dec 31 $67.7K −20% −8% $38.0M 154 $439 75

Wed Jan 1 $123.8K +83% +46% $38.1M 154 $803 76

Thu Jan 2 $68.2K −45% −34% $38.1M 154 $442 77

Fri Jan 3 $97.6K +43% −17% $38.2M 151 $646 78

Sat Jan 4 $147.9K +52% +2% $38.4M 151 $979 79

Sun Jan 5 $83.3K −44% −24% $38.5M 151 $551 80

Mon Jan 6 $32.9K −60% −61% $38.5M 151 $217 81

Tue Jan 7 $41.1K +25% −39% $38.5M 151 $272 82

Wed Jan 8 $44.0K +7% −64% $38.6M 151 $291 83

Thu Jan 9 $43.6K −1% −36% $38.6M 151 $288 84

Fri Jan 10 $69.8K +60% −28% $38.7M 114 $611 85

Sat Jan 11 $127.1K +82% −14% $38.8M 114 $1,114 86

Sun Jan 12 $73.9K −42% −11% $38.9M 114 $648 87

Mon Jan 13 $45.7K −38% +39% $39.0M 114 $401 88

Tue Jan 14 $52.0K +14% +26% $39.0M 114 $456 89

Wed Jan 15 $45.4K −13% +3% $39.0M 114 $397 90

Thu Jan 16 $56.6K +25% +30% $39.1M 114 $496 91

Fri Jan 17 #18 $394.4K +596% +465% $39.5M 761 $518 92

Sat Jan 18 #17 $710.2K +80% +459% $40.2M 761 $933 93

Sun Jan 19 #17 $435.3K −39% +489% $40.6M 761 $572 94

Mon Jan 20 #16 $429.5K −1% +839% $41.1M 761 $564 95

Tue Jan 21 #16 $157.2K −63% +202% $41.2M 761 $206 96

Wed Jan 22 #17 $146.6K −7% +223% $41.4M 761 $192 97

Thu Jan 23 #17 $151.4K +3% +167% $41.5M 761 $198 98

Fri Jan 24 #14 $540.3K +257% +37% $42.1M 1,231 $438 99

Sat Jan 25 #16 $908.2K +68% +28% $43.0M 1,231 $737 100

Sun Jan 26 #13 $582.7K −36% +34% $43.6M 1,231 $473 101

Mon Jan 27 #12 $178.5K −69% −58% $43.7M 1,231 $145 102

Tue Jan 28 #12 $235.3K +32% +50% $44.0M 1,231 $191 103

Wed Jan 29 #10 $211.2K −10% +44% $44.2M 1,231 $171 104

Thu Jan 30 #12 $223.3K +6% +48% $44.4M 1,231 $181 105

Fri Jan 31 #13 $431.2K +93% −20% $44.8M 1,172 $367 106

Sat Feb 1 #13 $734.7K +70% −19% $45.6M 1,172 $626 107

Sun Feb 2 #13 $276.3K −62% −53% $45.9M 1,172 $235 108

Mon Feb 3 #13 $153.0K −45% −14% $46.0M 1,172 $130 109

Tue Feb 4 #13 $203.2K +33% −14% $46.2M 1,172 $173 110

Wed Feb 5 #13 $156.9K −23% −26% $46.4M 1,172 $133 111

Thu Feb 6 #13 $167.7K +7% −25% $46.5M 1,172 $143 112

Fri Feb 7 #16 $194.5K +16% −55% $46.7M 678 $286 113

Sat Feb 8 #16 $382.8K +97% −48% $47.1M 678 $564 114

Sun Feb 9 #17 $239.3K −37% −13% $47.3M 678 $352 115

Mon Feb 10 #17 $73.7K −69% −52% $47.4M 678 $108 116

Tue Feb 11 #17 $96.9K +31% −52% $47.5M 678 $142 117

Wed Feb 12 #17 $64.2K −34% −59% $47.6M 678 $94 118

Thu Feb 13 #18 $69.3K +8% −59% $47.7M 678 $102 119

Fri Feb 14 $131.2K +89% −33% $47.8M 386 $339 120

Sat Feb 15 $233.6K +78% −39% $48.0M 386 $605 121

Sun Feb 16 $198.0K −15% −17% $48.2M 386 $512 122

Mon Feb 17 $140.5K −29% +91% $48.4M 386 $364 123

Tue Feb 18 $72.7K −48% −25% $48.4M 386 $188 124

Wed Feb 19 $63.3K −13% −1% $48.5M 386 $163 125

Thu Feb 20 $63.5K n/c −8% $48.6M 386 $164 126

Fri Feb 21 $121.1K +91% −8% $48.7M 349 $347 127

Sat Feb 22 $241.4K +99% +3% $48.9M 349 $691 128

Sun Feb 23 $160.0K −34% −19% $49.1M 349 $458 129

Mon Feb 24 #18 $56.0K −65% −60% $49.1M 349 $160 130

Tue Feb 25 #18 $75.4K +35% +4% $49.2M 349 $215 131

Wed Feb 26 #18 $71.6K −5% +13% $49.3M 349 $205 132

Thu Feb 27 #17 $80.2K +12% +26% $49.4M 349 $229 133

Fri Feb 28 #18 $223.4K +179% +84% $49.6M 411 $543 134

Sat Mar 1 #17 $523.1K +134% +117% $50.1M 411 $1,272 135

Sun Mar 2 $229.4K −56% +43% $50.3M 411 $558 136

Mon Mar 3 #12 $150.8K −34% +169% $50.5M 411 $366 137

Tue Mar 4 #13 $169.4K +12% +125% $50.7M 411 $412 138

Wed Mar 5 #14 $133.0K −22% +86% $50.8M 411 $323 139

Thu Mar 6 #14 $142.6K +7% +78% $50.9M 411 $346 140

Fri Mar 7 #9 $584.1K +310% +161% $51.5M 1,065 $548 141

Sat Mar 8 #9 $972.5K +67% +86% $52.5M 1,065 $913 142

Sun Mar 9 #10 $554.2K −43% +142% $53.0M 1,065 $520 143

Mon Mar 10 #10 $183.9K −67% +22% $53.2M 1,065 $172 144

Tue Mar 11 #11 $245.8K +34% +45% $53.5M 1,065 $230 145

Wed Mar 12 #10 $200.1K −19% +51% $53.7M 1,065 $187 146

Thu Mar 13 #10 $195.3K −2% +37% $53.9M 1,065 $183 147

Fri Mar 14 #14 $336.6K +72% −42% $54.2M 925 $363 148

Sat Mar 15 #14 $540.2K +60% −44% $54.7M 925 $584 149

Sun Mar 16 #13 $346.1K −36% −38% $55.1M 925 $374 150

Mon Mar 17 #12 $120.9K −65% −34% $55.2M 925 $130 151

Tue Mar 18 #12 $156.1K +29% −36% $55.4M 925 $168 152

Wed Mar 19 #12 $122.0K −22% −39% $55.5M 925 $131 153

Thu Mar 20 #12 $100.6K −18% −48% $55.6M 925 $108 154

Fri Mar 21 #18 $120.9K +20% −64% $55.7M 522 $231 155

Sat Mar 22 #18 $199.5K +65% −63% $55.9M 522 $382 156

Sun Mar 23 #18 $119.4K −40% −66% $56.0M 522 $228 157

Mon Mar 24 #17 $50.1K −58% −59% $56.1M 522 $95 158

Tue Mar 25 #15 $66.6K +33% −57% $56.1M 522 $127 159

Wed Mar 26 #17 $54.2K −19% −56% $56.2M 522 $103 160

Thu Mar 27 $43.1K −21% −57% $56.2M 522 $82 161

Fri Mar 28 $37.8K −12% −69% $56.3M 228 $165 162

Sat Mar 29 $62.5K +65% −69% $56.3M 228 $273 163

Sun Mar 30 $33.9K −46% −72% $56.4M 228 $148 164

Mon Mar 31 $12.1K −64% −76% $56.4M 228 $52 165

Tue Apr 1 $17.3K +43% −74% $56.4M 228 $75 166

Wed Apr 2 $14.8K −15% −73% $56.4M 228 $64 167

Thu Apr 3 $12.5K −15% −71% $56.4M 228 $54 168

Fri Apr 4 $18.4K +47% −51% $56.5M 128 $143 169

Sat Apr 5 $30.2K +64% −52% $56.5M 128 $235 170

Sun Apr 6 $17.4K −43% −49% $56.5M 128 $135 171

Mon Apr 7 $7.7K −56% −36% $56.5M 128 $60 172

Tue Apr 8 $11.1K +44% −36% $56.5M 128 $86 173

Wed Apr 9 $7.1K −36% −52% $56.5M 128 $55 174

Thu Apr 10 $8.0K +14% −36% $56.5M 128 $62 175

Fri Apr 11 $9.5K +18% −49% $56.5M 64 $147 176

Sat Apr 12 $13.8K +46% −54% $56.6M 64 $215 177

Sun Apr 13 $9.7K −30% −44% $56.6M 64 $151 178

Mon Apr 14 $3.6K −62% −53% $56.6M 64 $56 179

Tue Apr 15 $5.7K +58% −48% $56.6M 64 $89 180

Wed Apr 16 $4.7K −18% −34% $56.6M 64 $73 181

Thu Apr 17 $6.7K +44% −16% $56.6M 64 $105 182

Fri Apr 18 $9.4K +40% n/c $56.6M 53 $177 183

Sat Apr 19 $10.6K +13% −23% $56.6M 53 $200 184

Sun Apr 20 $5.9K −44% −39% $56.6M 53 $111 185

Mon Apr 21 $4.2K −29% +16% $56.6M 53 $79 186

Tue Apr 22 $6.0K +42% +4% $56.6M 53 $113 187

Wed Apr 23 $4.7K −22% −1% $56.6M 53 $87 188

Thu Apr 24 $5.3K +13% −22% $56.6M 53 $99 189

Charts show the first 10 weeks · the run above is the full record

Cumulative total$37.4M

Oct 18Nov 4Nov 22Dec 9Dec 26

Weekend grossWk 10 · $373.0K

$2.1M

$4.8M

$6.7M

$4.6M

$2.8M

$2.3M

$1.1M

$732.8K

$370.1K

$373.0K

W1W2W3W4W5W6W7W8W9W10

Theater countPeak 1,474 → 301 −79.6%

19 open301 now

Weekend-over-weekend dropWk 10 · +0.8%

+124.5%

W1→2

+39.3%

W2→3

−31.0%

W3→4

−38.5%

W4→5

−18.7%

W5→6

−50.2%

W6→7

−36.1%

W7→8

−49.5%

W8→9

+0.8%

W9→10

Steepest −50.2%Biggest gain +124.5%

Profitability

Return on Budget

Theatrical breakeven point is approx. 2.5x production budget

Domestic vs International Split

Similar movies

Shame 2011 · McQueen $4M The Post 2017 · Spielberg $81.9M The Other Boleyn Girl 2008 · Chadwick $26.8M Amazing Grace 2007 · Apted $21.2M Widows 2018 · McQueen $42.4M Darkest Hour 2017 · Wright $56.5M

Box office comparisons

Build your own comparison

No head-to-head comparisons featuring 12 Years a Slave yet — build one in seconds.

Build your own comparison →