<Li> "Mediocre comedies", as Scott Meslow of The Atlantic puts it, referring to films like Tooth Fairy, Bride Wars and Hotel for Dogs, all of which had tepid critical receptions but did better than they might have at other times of year . In the 2010s, these films have been doing even better, with Paul Blart: Mall Cop and Identity Thief both vaulting past unimpressed critics to gross over $100 million in consecutive years; the former is the all - time top - grossing January release . </Li> <Li> "Mediocre action movies". Meslow points to The Book of Eli and Underworld: Evolution as films that, like their comic counterparts, succeeded commercially due to their January release . In 2011, he adds, rescheduling The Green Hornet to January from its originally intended release the previous summer proved to be a very lucrative decision . A decade earlier, in a piece about his general complaints with August, Slate editor David Plotz included "egregious action movies" dominating movie screens during the month ." </Li> <Li> Low - cost rereleases: In 2011, Meslow recounts, Disney rereleased The Lion King in 3 - D to test whether its core audience would be amenable to the format . The experiment wound up becoming the highest - grossing September release ever . It followed it up with Beauty and the Beast in 3 - D, released the following January . George Lucas primed audiences for the Star Wars prequel trilogy by releasing the enhanced "Special Edition" of the original trilogy during the winter dump months, Meslow recalled . </Li> <Li> Low budgets, generally: Taken and Paul Blart's stars, Liam Neeson and Kevin James respectively, are not considered A-listers, bankable enough to open a major movie on the strength of their names alone . Therefore, Meslow writes, they work for lower salaries, which helps keep budgets low enough for the film to be profitable with a smaller potential audience amid minimal competition . </Li>

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