Each day for the past two weeks we've been looking back on the year that was from different angles. Today, the biggest hits of 2016 in two different categories (franchise vs original).
It will surprise no one that the year's biggest hits continue to prove Hollywood right (sigh) in pursuing nothing but animated and superhero pictures and franchisable intellectual property and neglecting the nurturing of movies for adults. On the bright side quality pictures do occassionally break through audience resistance to original concepts and voices, often with the help of awards at year's end. So next time you hear people complain about awards season, remind them that we might never get movies made for adults if there weren't shiny gold statues to chase.
How many of these 35 pictures have you seen and which will you hit next?
TOP SIXTEEN OF 2016 THUS FAR
01 Finding Dory $486.2
Though Zootopia was the year's biggest animated hit globally, this significantly less spectacular Pixar sequel was the one US moviegoers cared most about.
02 Rogue One: A Star Wars Story $439 🔺
The Star Wars prequel is still roaring. Though a Force Awakens sized gross is out of the question it could still end up as the year's biggest hit.
03 Captain America Civil War $408
One of the only blockbusters of the summer that people didn't bitch about after spending their money on it.
04 The Secret Life of Pets $368.3
The ad campaign that seemed to last 3 years paid off with a massive gross.
05 The Jungle Book $364
Jon Favreau's remake of the animated musical gave audiences exactly what they wanted: the movie they knew and loved plus CG advances.
06 Deadpool $363
The most "viral" of the blockbusters this year far exceeding anyone's expectations.
07 Zootopia $341.2
Marvelous.
08 Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice $330.3
Embarrassingly dour.
09 Suicide Squad $325.1
Just embarrassing.
10 Doctor Strange $230 🔺
It seems strange that DC superhero movies that are so wildly reviled still manage to outgross the non-team Marvel movies that people theoretically enjoy so much more.
11 Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them $225 🔺
The Harry Potter franchise lives on under a new name.
12 Moana $213 🔺
Frozen was an unrepeatable phenomenon but bless Disney for trying. Without them we'd have so many fewer musicals in the past 20+ years.
13 Sing $180 🔺
14 Jason Bourne $162.1
15 Star Trek Beyond $158.8
16 X-Men Apocalypse $155.4
A textbook case perfect storm of what's wrong with franchise culture. This is the darkest side of franchises, that they have such a massive safety net for risks and original stories (the audience will turn up no matter what) and take none, providing no sustenance to their eager appreciative audiences... just empty calories. The X-Men universe is one of the richest and most multi-faceted in comic book culture and the movies just don't reflect that at all.
TOP SIXTEEN (NON-ANIMATED / NON-FRANCHISE)
The second number listed is their overall rank in the year's box office. If it was clearly a franchise launch (despite no sequel news) or if a sequel has already been announced or heavily inferred by the talent it's not included so goodbye Central Intelligence, Bad Moms, Don't Breathe, and Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children.
01|22 Sully $124.8
Whatever you think of Clint Eastwood's films, he continues to be one of the only filmmakers that doesn't have much difficulty luring audiences to dramas.
02|29 Arrival $92 🔺
One of the year's greatest films. While a marginal hit the public failed it as it should have been much bigger. It's tough out there for adult pictures even when they deliver the genre goods.
03|33 The Accountant $85.4
04|38 The Girl on the Train $75.3
05|44 Passengers $66 🔺
Its massive budget means it's a flop but it's not like audiences ignored it. A lesson to studios to try to keep costs down, surely.
06|46 Hacksaw Ridge $64 🔺
07|48 The Boss $63
Melissa McCarthy doesn't always knock them out of the park but the movies always make decent money.
08|50 Miracles From Heaven $61.7
Christian films regularly do well now. Partially because they keep budgets down.
09|51 Deepwater Horizon $61.4
10|53 Me Before You $56.2
The book's fanbase helped it find ticket buyers
11|55 The BFG $55.4
Another film that wasn't totally ignored but felt like it due to costs to make it.
12|57 The Shallows $55.1
We thought this high-concept thriller would go more viral but $55 isn't bad for a low budget one actor summer actioner.
13|59 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi $52.7
14|60 Office Christmas Party $52 🔺
15|64 How to Be Single $46.8
Not spectacular but perhaps underappreciated for what it did pull off. But it will probably fall off this list soon with the "rising" films below which were released in December.
16|65 Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates $46
...AND THE STILL RISING FILMS
It was a been a dismal year for the mainstream success of originals as you can see from the list above, where even in a "top 16" of hundreds upon hundreds of releases there were films which are regarded as flops or at least significant disappointments. Can some of the soon-to-be Oscar nominated late bloomers save the year? The answer is a happy yes: La La Land is currently at $37 million and likely to earn much more still. Let's hope it becomes a phenomenon to make the world a safer place for daring original ventures AND musicals. The other big 2016 hopefuls that still have much earning potential in them are Fences (currently at $32) and Hidden Figures which goes wide next weekend and could capitalize on real mainstream appeal.
Year in Review
Best Movie Cats | Co-Star Chemistry | Coping Mechanisms | 25 Female Performances | Most Coveted Things | Grief and Letting Go | Ladies Who Lush | #52FilmsByWomen | Foreign Box Office Hits | Biggest Mainstream Hits | Music Videos | Worst of the Year | Red Carpet Looks | Hunkiest Hunks
Highlights of the Blog by Month
Jan | 88th Oscars | March | April | May | June | July | Aug | Sept | Oct | Nov | Dec