A Look at The Biggest Box Office Stories from 1972-present (THABOS: The History of Amazing Box Office Stories) | IT'S FINALLY COMPLETE!!!!!!!

[Eric Duncan]

Well, it's finally over. One more year, and we're finally complete. Tune in in just a wee bit, because this is gonna get crazy.

[Eric Duncan]

2020

So for the past few entries, I start things off with a recap of what happened this year. But this time, we’re gonna do things differently. The one big event from this year is one that is very heavily linked to the box office, as well as the future going forward that I feel I have to save for the end. Also, while I do try and add films that didn’t hit the top 10 domestically or worldwide, I’m gonna skip things here. Not because there aren’t good stories, but I just really want to get this thing over with. And again, what I have to say at the end takes up quite a bit of retail space. Sorry, but hopefully you’ll still like this.

 

First place for the year domestically and second worldwide was a throwback sequel that shocked everybody. Not just in how surprisingly good it was, but how much of a surprise box office success it was. This is Bad Boys for Life. Miami detectives Mike Lowery and Marcus Burnett are getting older. Marcus has even gone into retirement. But when a string of murders hit the city, all of them tied to Lowery’s troubled past, the two are back in the game, with the help of a new team of hip millennial specialists.

 

After the solid success of Bad Boys 1 and 2, as well as the superstardom of both Will Smith and Michael Bay, Bad Boys 3 was one of those things that was rumored for ages. Bay himself even expressed interest in directing a new movie as early as 2008. The biggest issue with a new Bad Boys however was the price. Will Smith is still one of the biggest names in Hollywood, and Michael Bay’s price tag skyrocketed after the success of the Transformers movies. So this meant Sony had to pay a fortune for this sequel. And it wasn't like Bad Boys II was that huge of a success to warrant such a price tag.

 

Bad Boys 3 lingered in development hell for several years onward, but in June 2014, Jerry Bruckheimer formally announced to the public a storyline for Bad Boys 3 was being written by Safe House writer David Guggenheim. And one year later, Joe Carnahan, best known for 2010’s The A-Team, attached himself to direct. But Sony had bold plans here with this title. Not only would there be a Bad Boys 3, but a Bad Boys 4 to go along with it. Bad Boys 3 was scheduled for February 2017, while Bad Boys 4 was slated for July 2019.

 

And then, a series of delays emerged, as it seemed like these Bad Boys sequels would never come to be. In early 2016, Bad Boys 3 was pushed to June 2017, while Bad Boys 4 was pulled out the schedule all together, showing there was a touch less confidence on the series here. With production planned to start in early 2017, as well as Wonder Woman slotted on the same day, Bad Boys 3, now titled Bad Boys for Life, was pushed yet again in January 2018. And in February 2017, the film was pushed one last time to November 2018. Ultimately, in March 2017, tragedy struck. Joe Carnahan had several scheduling conflicts, and with the film being pushed back so many times, Bad Boys for Life was abandoned and removed from the schedule. And it seemed like Burnett and Lowrey were no more.

 

But in February 2018, things got into motion finally. Belgian-Moroccan directors Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah signed on as director in place of Carnahan, while both Smith and Lawrence announced they would reprise their roles. And sure enough, Bad Boys for Life finally went into production in January 2019 with a January 17, 2020 release date. The film was projected to do solid business, with an estimated opening of $35-45 million. Yet what happened surprised just about every one.

 

 

After an incredibly strong $6.36 million Thursday preview day, alongside $23.5 million for the full opening day, Bad Boys for Life managed to debut with about $62.2 million for the 3-day and an astonishing $73.4 million for the four-day holiday weekend. Not only did this surge past all expectations, Bad Boys for Life saw the second-biggest MLK opening weekend, only behind American Sniper. And really, it’s technically #1 since Sniper opened in limited release. This massive opening wasn’t just because of positive reviews hailing it as the best in the series, but also thanks to the nostalgia factor. Bad Boys II was over a decade by this point, and the film plays into the ages of the main characters in a smart, humorous way. Marcus is now a retired family man, Mike's trying to race against his age, and the new recruits showcase the passage of time and how the police has evolved in terms of technology.

 

And after the holiday, Bad Boys was the prime destination for moviegoers. It stayed #1 the next two weekends, ultimately finishing with $206.3 million domestically and $426.5 million worldwide. This gross was a historic one, as Bad Boys for Life passed Paul Blart: Mall Cop to become the highest-grossing January release ever. Remember, American Sniper opened in December first.

 

Sure enough, this was a smash success for all parties, particularly behind the camera. Jerry Bruckheimer went through a severe dry spell after the debacles of G-Force/Sorcerer’s Apprentice/Lone Ranger. For a while, the only notable films Bruckheimer had his hands on, apart from Pirates 5, were some movies called Deliver Us from Evil and 12 Strong. But after Bad Boys for Life, Bruckheimer found incredible success for the first time in years, and his next film Top Gun: Maverick is also looking to be a decent success whenever that comes out. As for directors Adil & Bilall, they also found immense success. They are set to direct Beverly Hills Cop 4 for Netflix, with Bruckheimer also attached, and they are currently filming episodes for the upcoming Disney+ series Ms. Marvel. Writer Chris Bremner also found success, as he is currently attached on the screenplay for National Treasure 3.

 

And for Sony, they now have yet another hit franchise as the studio slowly rebuilds itself from the 2014 hack fiasco. Bad Boys 4 was immediately re-announced following the film’s opening weekend, and is likely a top priority for all parties involved. The film is also very notable for being the luckiest film in the history of the box office, as the final film to have little to no impact from the incoming pandemic, as well as coming out before people realized that reckless cops being goofy and funny wasn't such a good idea.

 

Second domestic and sixth worldwide we have the video game smash Sonic the Hedgehog. Sonic, an alien hedgehog gifted with incredible super speed, is stranded on Earth with no way to get back home. But soon Sonic finds himself in an incredible adventure where he is tasked to find his lost rings, makes friends with the town sheriff, and comes face to face with the evil mad scientist Dr. Robotnik, played by Jim Carrey.

 

Sonic the Hedgehog is one of those properties that needs no introduction. Ever since it launched on the Sega Genesis in 1991, Sonic has done just about everything. It’s the Mickey Mouse of video game company Sega, has a whole bunch of video games, has a hit comic book series, saw several television shows, sold a boatload of toys, and has one of the most passionate and...interesting fanbases in history. Sega has been looking to get a Hollywood movie as early as 1993. Sega of America CEO Tom Kalinske was wary about the film’s potential and how it could have damaged the brand. Remember, this was around the same time as the Super Mario Bros. movie and Street Fighter movie, so there's reason to be scared about the film's potential quality. But Sega went for it anyways and struck a deal with MGM in August 1994.

 

The script for this new Sonic movie, titled Sonic the Hedgehog: Wonders of the World, was written by Richard Jeffries, and was reportedly well-liked by both MGM and Sega executives. But by 1995, the project was canceled for unknown reasons. Jeffries theorized it was because Sega and MGM wanted a higher share of the profits, while executive producer Pen Densham stated it was due to creative differences. Ultimately, Sonic movie plans laid abandoned until 2013 when it was announced Sony acquired the film rights for the series. And in June 2014, Sony announced a live-action/CGI hybrid film was in the works, with Neal Moritz of Fast and the Furious fame as a producer (Ha!). In 2016, Tim Miller, fresh off Deadpool, signed on as a producer to the film with his production company Blur Studio. Director Jeff Fowler was also a member of Blur. This was also pretty coincidental, as Blur Studio animated the cutscenes for 2005’s Shadow the Hedgehog and the infamous disaster that was 2006’s Sonic the Hedgehog.

 

After Sony put the project into turnaround in 2017, Paramount picked up the film rights and began working on the movie. Casting followed shortly after, with care and importance given to who would play Sonic and Robotnik. Robotnik was chosen easily, with Jim Carrey in the part. But for Sonic, every actor you can think of was considered. Tom Holland, Josh Gad, Chris Pratt, Andy Samberg, Bill Hader, Will Forte, Jim Parsons, Charlie Day, Paul Rudd, and Adam DeVine. Ultimately Ben Schwartz, a huge Sonic fan, was given the part. Things seemed quiet for a while, as it was gearing up for a November 2019 release. But there was one thing that was kept in the dark: what did Sonic look like?

 

The advertising was very select on Sonic’s look. First there was the teaser poster in December 2018. Sonic was kept in the shadow, but his bizarre, muscular physique teased in that poster led to a lot of confusion and backlash. A second poster, showcasing Sonic’s legs, also saw mockery online. In March 2019, images leaked on Sonic’s design, and quickly saw backlash, including from Sonic co-creator Yuji Naka. But in May 2019, people finally got a look at the hedgehog. And it all came crashing down.

 

 

The first trailer released in time with Detective Pikachu and...it did not go over well. The design of Sonic was unveiled and it was pretty terrifying. The filmmakers tried to give Sonic a realistic appearance, with shrunken eyes, different running shoes, his Mickey Mouse gloves turning into white fur, and having a muscular physique. Why they decided to make a blue cartoon hedgehog look realistic is beyond me. This caused unanimous backlash from both kids and adults and it seemed like the film was yet another bomb in a sea of video game adaptation failures.

 

Yet in a surprise twist, about three days later, director Jeff Fowler announced that Sonic would be completely redesigned. Every single shot with Sonic would be remade with a look that was actually more in line with the game design everybody knows and loves. This was an unprecedented revision that resulted in the film getting delayed from November to February and Sonic artist Tyson Hesse being in charge of the redesign, resulting in bigger eyes, new sneakers, Mickey Mouse gloves, and a cartoonier look. It added $5 million to the production budget, and the redesign was finished in five months without any overtime.

 

 

A second trailer released in November 2019, showing off the redesign to the world. And it did...well. Really well. Incredibly well, in fact. Garnering over 500 million views worldwide, the second trailer was praised for its faithful redesign and cheesy comedy that Sonic was known for, ultimately earning the largest like-to-dislike ratio for a movie trailer on YouTube in the last three years. And this redesign was kind of the best marketing tactic. In a day and age where online fandoms reign supreme, this redesign made this film seem like something “for the fans”. Paramount listened to the harsh feedback they got, and rewarded the Sonic diehards with something that actually respected what they loved about the series. And this boosted this once-disaster to strong box office numbers.

 

Opening on February 14, Sonic managed an impressive debut of $58 million for the 3-Day and $70 million for the 4-Day holiday weekend. What was once headed for failure soon became the biggest opening ever for a video game movie, the fourth-best President’s Day weekend, and the second-best Jim Carrey opening. With little else in the way of competition (due to...circumstances), as well as decent reception, Sonic would finish things off with $149 million domestically, making it the biggest video game movie ever in US box office history, surpassing Detective Pikachu less than a year later. Worldwide gross was $319.7 million.

 

Sonic’s success was a godsend for Paramount, who have consistently struggled over the past few years and in 2019 became the first studio to not have a single movie reach $100 million domestically in years. The last time that happened was in 1995 with...Paramount. They really can’t catch a break, huh? The night is still young, but it seems like Sonic is set to be one of Paramount’s potential biggest franchises in the future. And just last January, Paramount formally announced that Sonic the Hedgehog 2, featuring Tails, will release in April 2022.

[Eric Duncan]

Third domestic was the DC Comics release Birds of Prey. Harley Quinn is back and just broke up from the Joker. And in this iteration, Harley is on a quest to save herself and a young girl named Cassandra Cain from the Gotham City crime lord Roman Sionis. Harley then inadvertently teams up with a group of vigilantes named The Huntress and Black Canary, as well as a cop named Renee Montoya, forming a group known as the Birds of Prey.

 

While Suicide Squad was a critical disaster, the one thing WB knew would land well with audiences was Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn. Sure enough, Warner had several Harley Quinn spin-off ideas announced to be in development with Robbie front and center. There was a Harley Quinn and Joker spin-off, focusing on Harley’s relationship with Jared Leto Joker with the directors being This is Us’ Glenn Ficarra and John Requa. There was also Gotham City Sirens, a Harley/Catwoman/Poison Ivy team-up directed by Suicide Squad’s David Ayer. However, the one that Robbie was really pushing for was a Birds of Prey film.

 

While Birds of Prey was a bit of an obscure team, Robbie wanted to focus on this group because she wanted to focus on the idea of Harley teaming up with DC heroines and how their clashes and moralities could conflict with each other. And because Batgirl was a big part of the team, this gave Harley a chance to interact with a pretty famous Batman hero. So this became the only Harley Quinn project Robbie was a producer for. Robbie envisioned the film as an R-rated girl gang movie, developed the project for about three years, and Warner Bros. finally greenlit it when they found a director named Cathy Yan. Yan’s involvement made her the first Asian woman to direct a superhero film.

 

Birds of Prey would be a unique piece in the DC Extended Universe, as it was a more graphic film produced on a smaller budget than previous DC titles. She also revealed who the Birds would be in this movie, including Huntress, Black Canary, Cassandra, and Renee. However, Batgirl was excluded from the lineup because DC Films was working on a solo Batgirl title that was written by Christina Hodson, who also wrote the screenplay for this. And so Robbie and Yan got the casting underway. Mary Elizabeth Winstead was Huntress, Jurnee Smollett-Bell as Black Canary, and Rosie Perez was Renee Montoya. Ewan McGregor also got the part of Black Mask, the villain of the piece.

 

 

Birds of Prey opened on February 7 with decent, if unspectacular hype. Projections for the film had it around $50-55 million, and with the popularity of Harley Quinn and Margot Robbie’s interpretation, surely this would be another hit for Warner Bros. and DC Comics. But when it finally opened, things were pretty lukewarm with a $33 million opening. While it did open to #1, it was the lowest DC Comics debut since Jonah Hex in 2010 and a 75% fall from Suicide Squad’s record opening. And immediately, people started to wonder why this film that had so much going for it failed to take off. Some argued it was because of the negative reception to Suicide Squad. Some say it was the R rating, limiting a lot of the teenage fanbase Harley Quinn drew. Others say it was because the title was too confusing. Others say that the heroes Harley interacted with were too obscure and uninteresting to general audiences. Even more will argue there wasn’t demand for a solo Harley Quinn movie in the first place.

 

Whatever reason you may have, it’s no secret that Birds of Prey failed to meet even the most pessimistic of expectations. And after a quick title change to Harley Quinn: Birds of Prey in a desperate attempt to reinvigorate ticket sales, the film finished with $84.2 million domestically and $201.9 million worldwide, meaning the film failed to meet the breakeven point of $250-300 million.

 

Ultimately the news wasn’t all bad. Birds of Prey earned solid reviews and still has an active fanbase today, and all the while Harley Quinn is far from over. This year Robbie will appear in the sequelboot thing The Suicide Squad, which already saw huge buzz after a character list and BTS featurette landed at DC FanDome. And the Harley Quinn animated series on HBO Max has been a critical and commercial hit, with a third season on the way very soon.

 

Fourth domestic and seventh worldwide we have the infamous disaster known as Dolittle. Robert Downey Jr. plays the famed director known for the gift of talking to the animals. Doctor Dolittle soon goes on an epic quest to find a magical cure for Queen Victoria, bringing a wide variety of animal friends with him.

 

Doctor Dolittle is one of those properties that was adapted several times for the silver screen with pretty much none of them amounting to anything good. There’s of course the 1967 musical starring Rex Harrison that was a production nightmare, a critical flop, and a massive box office failure that actually helped George Lucas make billions off of his Star Wars toys and merchandise (No really. Look it up). Then of course there’s the 1998 Eddie Murphy reboot, which saw mixed reviews but was a solid box office success, resulting in a theatrical sequel in 2001, and three direct-to-video sequels, because...somebody demanded them.

 

In 2017, Universal picked up the Dolittle rights and created a vehicle for Robert Downey, Jr. titled The Voyage of Doctor Dolittle from Syriana director Stephen Gaghan. This family adventure title became a pretty big deal, getting one of the biggest movie stars of the world. And with that came a massive voice cast for the animals, including Kumail Nanjiani, Octavia Spencer, John Cena, Rami Malek, Craig Robinson, Marion Cotillard, Ralph Fiennes and Selena Gomez. Production commenced in 2018 with plans for an April 2019 release date. But in October 2018, Voyage was delayed all the way to January 2020.

 

This far delay raised a lot of suspicion about the movie’s qualities which were seemingly confirmed in April 2019. It was announced that the film went through 21 days of reshoots with Wrath of the Titans director Jonathan Liebesman now in charge. The reason for these reshoots and director shifts was because the film was not shaping up as well as hoped, especially when it came to the comedy aspects. Universal in their infinite wisdom negotiated with Seth Rogen (yes really) and his Neighbors co-writer Brendan O’Brien to improve the comedy bits, but both dropped out of the project, failing to commit to the idea. Luckily, Lego Batman director Chris McKay was the one who wrote new material for this movie, creating new storyboard sequences and assembling different edits, though he also left the project to direct the Chris Pratt film The Tomorrow War. Lego Batman writer John Whittington also worked on some rewrites on the script, and even flew to London to meet Downey, where his script would get ripped up by good ol’ Tony Stark. Liebesman would then go on to take care of McKay’s prior duties and finally finished the film with Stephen Gaghan.

 

 

With so many cooks in the kitchen trying to make this weird big-budget Downey epic work, Dolittle was pretty much destined to bomb. Sure enough, the film was absolutely slaughtered by critics for being obnoxious, convoluted, and unfunny. The climax where Dolittle pulls a bagpipe out of a dragon’s butt and the dragon inducing a long fart on Dolittle also became a source of mockery towards the movie. These horrible reviews meant Dolittle had a huge uphill battle, as it boasted a massive $175 million production budget. So on January 17, Dolittle embarrassed itself with a $21.8 million 3-Day and $28.3 million 4-Day, ensuring this film would be a flop. And sure enough, the movie finished with $77 million domestically and $245.5 million worldwide, less than half of the $500 million break-even point. As such, Dolittle is estimated to have lost $50-100 million for Universal.

 

This was a pretty rough beginning for Downey’s post-MCU career, but that doesn’t mean he’s out yet. A Sherlock Holmes 3 is reportedly still in the works, and he is set to appear in the Jamie Foxx-directed title All-Star Weekend. And really, Downey has more money than God, so this bump doesn’t really matter at all. Hooray for wealth inequality!

 

Fifth place, we have Blumhouse’s The Invisible Man. Elisabeth Moss stars as a young woman who just got out of an abusive relationship with her rich ex-boyfriend. But despite running away from him, and her ex seemingly committed suicide, it seems there’s some sort of invisible presence in Moss’ life that could very well be the tormentive and horrific ex she wanted to leave behind.

 

Starting its cinematic life in 1933, The Invisible Man is one of the many Universal Monsters that defined horror films in the 1930s. And while there were attempts to bring back Invisible Man in 2006 by David S. Goyer, it wasn’t until the 2010s we really got the ball rolling here. Fresh off the massive success of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Universal decided they would take their classic monster IPs and create their own shared universe of action-adventure-horror releases. The idea was sound at the time, considering the 1930s Universal Monsters movies already did the shared universe decades prior.

 

While 2014’s Dracula Untold tried to start things off, it wasn’t first in our hearts. Labeled the Dark Universe, things were supposed to kick off with 2017’s The Mummy, starring Tom Cruise in the Brendan Fraser role and Sofia Boutella as the self-titled Mummy. The Universe would be spearheaded by Alex Kurtzman and Chris Morgan, and several casting choices were made that helped bring the franchise to life. Russell Crowe was Dr. Jekyll, Angelina Jolie was the Bride of Frankenstein, Javier Bardem was Frankenstein’s Monster, and the Invisible Man would be played by none other than Johnny Depp. All the while, films about Van Helsing, the Wolfman, Creature from the Black Lagoon, and many others were in consideration. And it seemed like nothing could go wrong.

 

Then everything went wrong. The Mummy was panned by critics and was a box office failure, estimated to have lost $95 million for Universal. So in just one movie, the shared universe went kaput and all projects were canceled. It’s a rare kind of failure you only see once every few years. But that didn’t mean Universal would give up on reviving the classic Monsters for a new generation. In January 2019, all future Universal Monster movies would be stand-alone adventures and at a smaller scale. And in the case of The Invisible Man, Blumhouse would be the producers. In a way, it’s surprising this wasn’t what Uni did first. Blumhouse made a name for making cheap, but consistently successful horror titles and they had a strong working relationship with Universal. Having them do Universal Monster titles just makes perfect sense.

 

 

So this new Invisible Man was directed by Leigh Whannell fresh off the critical and financial success of Upgrade. Johnny Depp would not appear and Whannell’s Invisible Man would not be like the 2017 Mummy film. Rather, this was a standard horror thriller with an emphasis on social commentary and tackling the heavy issue of abuse. It was not at all dissimilar to films like Split or Get Out, which combined horror tropes and scares with realistic depictions of sadly relatable topics. And on February 28, The Invisible Man debuted at #1 to a very strong $28.2 million. Being a Blumhouse title, this meant The Invisible Man was instantly profitable. Good thing too, as the film left theaters after three weeks due to the COVID-19 lockdowns, finishing with $70.4 million domestically and $143.1 million worldwide. It’s another one of those runs we sadly didn’t get to see more of, as the film’s critical acclaim meant it could have had a real strong run.

 

The film was available in digital stores not long after and the film's success resulted in Leigh Whannell getting a first-look deal with Universal. Jason Blum also had a new franchise to call his own. An Invisible Woman film is in development with Elizabeth Banks as director, writer, and star, while an Invisible Man sequel is in the works. At the same time, several more Universal Monster movies are in varying forms of development, with Whannell and Blum currently attached to direct a Wolf Man reboot with Ryan Gosling. Will Universal find their footing and bring the Monsters back to their former glory? Only time will tell.

 

Sixth place was a new adaptation of The Call of the Wild. Based on the Jack London novel, this follows a dog named Buck, stolen from his California home and thrust into the Yukon during the 1890s Klondike Gold Rush. There he befriends an elderly outdoorsman played by Harrison Ford and goes on an incredible adventure unlike anything else.

 

One of the numerous adaptations of the Jack London story, this iteration was announced in October 2017 with the film’s director being Chris Sanders. If that name sounds familiar, you may know him from his extensive career in animation, directing Lilo & Stitch, How to Train Your Dragon, and The Croods. This was not only the first time Sanders directed by himself, but this was also his first live-action piece.

 

But despite the jump to live-action, this Call of the Wild was very reliant on CGI technology and VFX wizardry. The film was not shot on location, but rather sets in Los Angeles with heavy green screen. And instead of using an actual dog for Buck, Sanders used motion capture technology, creating a digital dog. Terry Notary, a famed mo-cap performer, was in charge of the movements for Buck. This resulted in heavy criticism towards many, as the human-like features found in Buck created a weird, uncanny appearance that made the film hard to take seriously for some.

 

 

The Call of the Wild opened on February 24, after getting pushed back from a Christmas 2019 date to the recent Fox acquisition from Disney and both The Rise of Skywalker and Spies in Disguise releasing around that time. In fact, this film is notable because it was the first film to appear with the new 20th Century Studios name, done to differentiate Disney away from the Fox brand Rupert Murdoch still has. It’s pretty hilarious too, because 1935’s Call of the Wild was the last film to have the “20th Century Pictures” name before the company merged with Fox Film to create 20th Century Fox. It all comes full circle here.

 

Projected to open in the $15-20 million range, Call of the Wild opened to $24.8 million. And on paper that seemed like a good debut, as it overperformed from expectations. But this was merely a hollow victory, because the film had a pretty high price tag of $125-150 million. And with the incoming closures just a few weeks later, the film finished with just $62.3 million domestically and $110.8 million worldwide, with estimates the film will lose anywhere from $50-100 million for Disney. It’s a bit surprising Fox even greenlit an old-fashioned adventure film like this with such a huge price tag, and even without COVID, the film probably would have done mediocre. But hopefully Chris Sanders will get back on his feet pretty soon.

 

Seventh place was the tragic Pixar flop Onward. In a world where suburbia meets fantasy, two elf brothers are still dealing with the loss of their father. But as luck would have it, the duo find a magic staff and go out on a quest to find an artifact that will allow them to bring their father back from the dead temporarily. What follows is an adventure where they meet a shy manticore, a pixie biker gang, a sheriff dead set on getting them home, and keeping their father, currently nothing more than a pair of legs, in check.

 

This Pixar title was announced in July 2017 at the D23 Expo, and was an important project for Monsters University director Dan Scanlon. Scanlon’s father died when he and his brother were very young children, so he had little idea about who the man really was. But when Scanlon heard an audio recording of his father made years before he was born, this inspired a story all about two teenage brothers bringing their dad back to life while also understanding how the family you have can shape who you are.

 

The title was formally announced in December 2018, as well as the first lead cast members, including Tom Holland, Chris Pratt, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, and Octavia Spencer. Onward was also hyped up as Pixar’s grand return to original films. While praised in the 2000s for consistently doling out new, hip IPs, the 2010s had Pixar create sequels to their original hits. In fact, the last original Pixar title was 2017’s Coco. Alongside the launch of a Simpsons short playing just before it, it seemed poised to at least do okay. But sadly, Onward is the poster child of the films marred by the COVID-19 pandemic.

 

 

Opening on March 6, Onward was projected to open between $45-50 million, but ended up with about $39.1 million on its opening weekend, becoming the third-lowest Pixar opening ever. While it’s unfair to pin all the blame on the pandemic, the rising cases and inevitable lockdowns meant Onward was kneecapped considerably. And when lockdowns hit the following week, Onward fell 73%, grossing just $10.6 million. And with Europe already going into lockdowns, Onward concluded with $61.5 million domestically and $141.9 million worldwide, making it Pixar’s second box office bomb after 2015’s The Good Dinosaur.

 

It was a rough start to Pixar’s new decade, but that wasn’t the end of the Onward story. It later moved to digital stores on March 20, where it became the sixth-biggest movie on Amazon and the second-biggest movie on iTunes in its first week. And on April 3, Onward was available to stream on Disney+, where it quickly found a new audience, becoming the fourth most-popular movie on streaming according to Nielsen. So while Onward may still be a failure, it should at least earn a strong fan following amongst Pixar fans.

 

The studio is also still hard at work on a number of new titles. Soul debuted on Disney+ on Christmas and was an instant hit on the service and several new titles like Luca, Turning Red, and Lightyear all have strong potential. Alongside a launch of the Disney+ series Win or Lose, Onward will be nothing more than a slight bump in Pixar’s consistently strong track record.

[Eric Duncan]

Eighth place domestic and fifth worldwide we have Papa Nolan’s latest epic Tenet. John David Washington plays an unnamed Protagonist, a CIA agent recruited by an organization known as Tenet. Here the Protagonist learns how to manipulate the flow of time, preventing a deadly attack from the future that could annihilate the present.

 

Papa Nolan conceived the basic ideas for Tenet nearly 20 years ago, though the script wasn’t worked on until 2014. This spy film was a unique one, as Papa Nolan abstained from any influence of the spy genre, using Once Upon a Time in the West as his main inspiration. Theoretical physicist Kip Thorne was also brought in as a guide, especially over the subjects of time and quantum physics. Thorne was also a consultant for Interstellar. Pre-production began in late 2018, with production set to begin five months later.

 

The three leads were chosen due to their recent stints in other movies. John David Washington impressed Papa Nolan over his work in BlacKkKlansman, and was so devoted to the part he created diaries that expanded the Protagonist’s backstory. Robert Pattinson was picked for the part of Neil after producer Emma Thomas saw his work in Good Time. Pattinson used famed author Christopher Hitchens in terms of creating his character’s mannerisms. The role of Kat was set for an older woman, but the filmmakers saw Elizabeth Debicki’s performance in Widows and decided to rewrite the role completely.

 

 

Tenet was perhaps Papa Nolan’s ambitious, most globe-trotting piece yet. Aside from the heavy visual effects work, Tenet was shot in Los Angeles, Estonia, India, Italy, Norway, the UK, Mumbai, and much more. With $200 million in the bank, Tenet was Papa Nolan’s most expensive movie yet. So Warner put the film as a strong priority, beginning with a teaser in front of Hobbs and Shaw and an IMAX-exclusive prologue at The Rise of Skywalker. But Warner soon made this a priority for other reasons.

 

Tenet was supposed to release July 17, but COVID reasons led to the film being pushed back to August 26 internationally and September 3 in the United States. Tenet’s release was one of the most important ones in film history, as it was the first Hollywood tentpole after theaters were forced to shut down or were forced to play local/legacy content. The stakes were high, as it impacted the future for the upcoming fall slate and 2021 calendar. And...it didn’t work out.

 

While it did see a solid international debut of $53 million, the following domestic weekend, where 65% theaters were opened at 25-40% capacity, it earned $20.2 million...kind of. Because it opened in Canada a weekend prior and saw several preview days beforehand, it really only grossed $12 million for the 3-day weekend. Not much better than what Onward got the last weekend of box office reporting. And while some markets did do better than others, Tenet ultimately finished with $57.9 million domestically and $363.1 million worldwide. And because Papa Nolan received twenty percent of the first-dollar gross, as well as a supposed break-even point of $400 million, it is estimated that Tenet would lose anywhere from $50-100 million.

 

And since the film’s release, Papa Nolan’s relationship with Warner Bros. has reportedly not been very strong, especially after the recent decision for WB to place all their films on HBO Max. But Nolan is still far from out, and it’s certain his next film will be a smash success. John David Washington has also expressed interest in a sequel to Tenet, though we won’t know if we’ll ever get that.

 

Ninth place in the domestic charts we have the Dreamworks sequel The Croods: A New Age. Not long after the events of the first movie, the prehistoric family meet a new family known as the Bettermans, a family with incredible survival skills and have created their own home ecosystem. What follows is culture clashing, goofy action, and hilarious caveman jokes aplenty.

 

For those who don’t know, 2013’s The Croods was a Dreamworks animated film focusing on a family of cavemen trying to find a new home and the conflicts when the more evolved homo sapiens Guy makes the Croods family patriarch Grug less important. Starting out as a production from the UK animation studio Aardman, it was turned into a Dreamworks project that got How to Train Your Dragon director Chris Sanders on board shortly after leaving Disney. Space Chimps director Kirk DeMicco was a co-director here. And it was a pretty big hit when it came out, earning $587.2 million. This meant it was the second-biggest original Dreamworks release behind just Kung Fu Panda and earned a net profit of $106.5 million.

 

So in April 2013, a sequel was announced by Dreamworks with both Sanders and DeMicco returning. The original plan for this sequel was to focus on the matriarch of the Croods family Ugga and tell a story about motherhood, as well as have this sequel represent “the first chapter of society” after the last movie was “the last chapter of the cavemen.” And in June 2014, The Croods 2 was set for release in November 2017, before moving to December 2017 two months later. Things were quiet on the Croods front, apart from a Netflix television series in December 2015. Almost too quiet. In August 2016, after Universal acquired Dreamworks, the film was pulled from Fox’s schedule, with a new release date planned for 2018.

 

And on November 11, 2016, tragedy struck. Dreamworks announced production for Croods 2 would come to an end, with the project being canceled entirely. It may seem like it was hit due to the Universal buyout, but the film was going through production issues long before Universal was in the cards, and it was Dreamworks’ decision to cancel the film. And it seemed like the epic story of the Croods would be no more. Yet in September 2017, almost out of the blue, Dreamworks and Universal revealed that Croods 2 would go back into production with a new release date for September 18, 2020. DeMicco and Sanders were out while first-time director Joel Crawford was in.

 

 

A New Age was supposed to hit theaters in December 2020, but Universal surprisingly moved the film up a few weeks to November 25, Thanksgiving weekend. It seems strange to do this during a pandemic, but it was a calculated choice by Universal in what was a bold shift in their release strategy during these times. Essentially, The Croods would play exclusively in theaters for about 17 days, and then would be available on digital stores for a premium $20 rental, just in time for the Christmas holidays. We have no idea what the numbers are for these premium rentals, but we do know its box office, and it has done...okay. After a lukewarm $1.9 million opening day, the film somehow managed to boost itself to $2.7 million on Thanksgiving Thursday, a rarity for the holiday. This led to Croods grossing $9.7 million for the 3-Day and $14.3 million for the 5-Day, the best opening for 2020 since Tenet a few months ago. And despite the fact that the film is readily available to watch at home, the film is still a hot ticket option in theaters, with it even going back to #1 on its 12th and 13th weekend...just ignore the fact that nothing else is playing. It is currently at $52.8 million domestically and $156.6 million worldwide.

 

And while its PVOD sales are hidden, it’s been a consistent presence on the top 10 in Amazon and iTunes, so it should at least indicate that the film is doing decent on both accounts and one of the rare bright spots in the pandemic era of the box office.

 

Tenth place we have the highly-anticipated sequel Wonder Woman 1984. Taking place in the 1980s, Diana is still fighting the good fight and protecting the people. And in a new adventure focusing on an ancient artifact known as the Dreamstone, Diana is on another grand adventure, dealing with a shy, mousy geologist that turns into a horrifying cheetah lady, the surprise return of her beloved Steve Trevor, and an evil businessman named Maxwell Lord.

 

The record-breaking success of Wonder Woman meant a sequel was going to happen no matter what. What was concerning was whether Patty Jenkins would come back. Jenkins was only signed for one movie and if there’s anything Catherine Hardwicke, Phillida Lloyd, Sam Taylor-Johnson, and Susan Johnson can tell you, even a hit movie doesn’t mean you’ll come back for the next one. Hollywood is a sexist cesspool after all. But Warner knew they had a good thing on their hands and Jenkins was already working with Geoff Johns on a treatment for the sequel. And in Comic-Con 2017, it was formally announced that Jenkins would return as a director with Expendables writer David Callaham as a co-writer with Jenkins and Johns.

 

Jenkins envisioned this, as well as future Wonder Woman sequels, as less of a continuing narrative and more as stand-alone adventures. Think James Bond or Indiana Jones. This meant the film would be plopped in the 1980s, introducing a whole slew of new characters, yet somehow Steve Trevor still lived on after getting blown up in the first movie. Titled Wonder Woman 1984, another big selling point, at least in the pre-COVID days, was that the film was shot with IMAX cameras in select action sequences. A shame really most couldn’t experience that.

 

After wrapping up in December 2018, 1984 was supposed to release in December 2019, before being pushed forward to November 2019 due to Star Wars. But in a surprise twist of fate, the sequel found itself on June 5, 2020, the exact same weekend where the first film saw great success. This was reportedly to distance itself from both Joker the month prior and likely Frozen 2 a couple weeks later. And since the first movie did so well the same weekend, it only made sense for lightning to strike twice. And it was right here that Warner Bros. made the biggest mistake of their life.

 

 

Wonder Woman 1984 was one of the many, many titles forced into delay last year, with the film getting pushed from June to August to October, before finally moving to Christmas 2020. And it’s here Warner Bros. made a grand and bold experiment in terms of release distribution. This anticipated DC sequel was going to play in theaters, but it wasn’t exclusive. In the United States, subscribers to the Warner streaming service HBO Max could watch 1984 on Max absolutely free for a month. This was a game-changing strategy that allowed a chance for theatrical revenue to come in as well as boost HBO Max’s subscription numbers, a constant cash flow for AT&T, WarnerMedia’s parent company. This would cause a massive shift in WB’s future distribution plans into the new year, but I’m getting ahead of myself.

 

The question of course now is how well Wonder Woman 1984 actually did? Well in theaters it was a bit of a mixed bag. After a December 16 international release date, 1984 opened on Christmas Day in America to an opening weekend of $16.7 million, $2 million of which came from private screenings. It was obviously a huge drop from the first film’s opening due to outside circumstances, but it was the largest opening weekend for a movie releasing during the pandemic.

 

But the weeks ahead was where things became problematic. While its initial reviews were glowing, by the time release rolled around, and more and more critics saw the movie, things were far more negative, criticizing the tone and its dubious politics. And with the film available to stream for repeat viewers, 1984 tanked on its second weekend, dropping 67% for a $5.5 million second weekend, an almost unheard of fall for a Christmas release. The film did stabilize more in the weeks ahead, and as of this writing has grossed $43.6 million. Overseas isn’t much better, with the film failing to catch on even in healthier markets. And with incoming lockdowns in Europe, the film currently has just $161.3 million worldwide, with the needle unlikely to move much higher, as many markets are placing the movie on VOD services.

 

But what about HBO Max? Viewership data is very tight-lipped over at WarnerMedia, but third-party sources do indicate the film is performing much, much better. Screen Engine reports it was the most-watched straight-to-streaming title of the year and saw 2.25 billion minutes viewed on its first weekend according to Nielsen. This roughly shapes up to about 14.9 million plays of the movie, though obviously that doesn’t mean this number is an exact science. It did boost HBO Max subscriptions however, as the number of subscribers for the quarter 1984 came out ended with 17.2 million, a 36% jump from the previous report of 12.6 million.

 

Either way, 1984 on its own is still a loss, estimated for $100 million, though it is offset by the growing subscriber base of HBO Max. And WB is still hopeful for the future when it comes to Wonder Woman. A third Wonder Woman has been greenlit with Jenkins still on board and a spin-off film focusing on the Amazons of Themyscira is in development, though Patty Jenkins is just a producer. We’ll see how well the third film shakes up after the mixed reception of 1984.

[Eric Duncan]

And now, it’s time to move away from the Hollywood fare and into the Asian-produced hits of the year. #1 at the worldwide box office was The Eight Hundred. This historical war film from China focuses on 800 Chinese soldiers who fight under siege from a Shanghai warehouse while completely surrounded by the Japanese army.

 

Directed by Guan Hu, best known for the critically acclaimed crime movie Mr. Six, this was a notable feat for Chinese cinema. Mainly that this was the first Chinese film to be shot entirely on IMAX cameras, making this a grand epic that deserved to be seen on the big screen. This was further shown by the set, which included 68 buildings and 1.43 million square feet of land.

 

The film was actually set for release in June 2019 and premiere as the opening film for the Shanghai International Film Festival before getting pushed back to July and then pulled entirely. The reason was due to the depiction of the National Revolutionary Army. At a conference held by the Chinese Red Culture Research Association, attendees slammed this portrayal, citing that it failed to portray “the class oppression within the ranks of the Kuomintang army, the misdeeds of its officers and its evil oppression of the people". As such, the screening was canceled and was indefinitely delayed from its planned general release date.

 

 

But on August 21, 2020, The Eight Hundred saw a nationwide release, with 13 minutes cut from the planned 2019 Shanghai cut. And it did extremely well, grossing $116 million in China, and becoming the biggest opening weekend of the year up to that point. This led to a final tally of $472.6 million worldwide. This gross was a significant one, because as the #1 movie of the year, it was the first time since 2007 #1 wasn’t a billion-dollar grosser. And more importantly, The Eight Hundred was the first time in history a non-Hollywood film hit #1 for the year.

 

This was of course due to outside circumstances, but it was further showcasing of the absolute domination of the Chinese market and the thriving Chinese film production community.

 

Second place worldwide was My People, My Homeland. This was a comedy anthology series, detailing five short stories that each took place in a different location and had their own director and writers. It opened October 1 in China to the tune of $157.5 million and ultimately finished with $422.4 million worldwide. I have nothing else to add here.

 

Fourth worldwide takes us to Japan with the anime title Demon Slayer: Mugen Train. A direct sequel to the 2019 anime series, this follows a young demon slayer named Tanjiro Kamodo, who became a slayer after the murder of his family and the transformation of his sister into a demon. Tanjiro embarks on an epic journey aboard the Mugen Train where he tries to hunt a demon that killed 40 demon slayers on this very train.

 

This anime film was announced immediately following the airing of episode 26 of Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, and had the same cast and crew behind it as the television series behind it. The film immediately follows up the cliffhanger used from the series and in April 10, 2020, it was announced for a release in Japan on October 16 with an IMAX release in tow. This shows just how exciting and major this release was, especially to Demon Slayer fans. And as it turns out, there was a very active fandom here ready to eat the film up.

 

 

Demon Slayer debuted in Japan to $44 million, the biggest opening weekend in Japanese history. And this was at a time when seating was limited due to the pandemic, so it wasn’t like anybody could buy a seat. It passed $100 million in 10 days, the fastest film in the history of Japanese box office to do so, beating Spirited Away’s record of 25 days. And with zero competition, Demon Slayer had a record second weekend and stayed #1 for 15 weekends straight, a record for the nation. The film is still playing as of this writing, with an estimated box office of $357.9 million in Japan, the largest box office gross ever for the region, and $409 million worldwide. When you include merchandise sales, this leads to a combined gross of $480 million as of December 2020.

 

And the film is still not done. Distributors in the US, Europe, China, and elsewhere in the world are planning to roll out the film some time in 2021, which will only help boost Demon Slayer’s popularity with anime fans even further. A second season of Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba is also premiere in 2021, directly following the events of the movie.
 

Eighth worldwide, we have the CG animated film Jiang Ziya, an adaptation of the famed mythological figure of the same name. Based on the novel Investiture of the Gods, the claim to fame here is that this film is a direct follow-up to the 2019 smash hit Ne Zha. Ne Zha, also based on Investiture of the Gods, was a box office monster when it came out, becoming the biggest animated film in China, China’s second highest-grossing film of all time, and the only animated film to gross $700 million in a single market.

 

Jiang Ziya is the second chapter of what is the planned Fengshen Cinematic Universe and was set for release January 25 as one of the many major titles planned for Chinese New Year. Ultimately the film was delayed like all other CNY releases, debuting on October 1, National Day. The film’s box office wasn’t anywhere near as strong as Ne Zha, but it was still pretty good stuff, opening to $151.7 million and grossing $243.8 million. This will surely lead to more FCU titles in the years to come.

 

Ninth place is where we have A Little Red Flower. Directed by Han Yan, this focuses on a young man named Wei Yihang, a teenager that is in remission due to a brain tumor operation. Here Wei meets and falls in love with another brain tumor patient named Ma Xiaoyuan.

 

Han Yan’s previous film was 2015’s Go Away Mr. Tumor, a biopic on comic artist Xiong Dun. As such, A Little Red Flower came to be as a spiritual successor to Mr. Tumor in what is planned to be a “Trilogy of Life”. This is planned to be a set of films that serve as a look into people fighting cancer, with Flower showcasing how it impacts entire families dealing with this issue. What also emerged upon the film’s release was how similar the movie was to the 2014 film The Fault in Our Stars, based on the famous John Green book. Sure enough, information revealed Fox attempted to make a Chinese remake of Fault in Our Stars in 2016 with Han Yan as a producer. Ultimately the remake never came to be due to the Disney-Fox buyout, though Fox Star Studios would produce an Indian Fault in Our Stars remake called Dil Bechara that released in July 2020 on Disney+ Hotstar. Han did defend himself, as many scenes from the movie were reportedly based on real-life events he witnessed. And ultimately, this controversy did not matter.

 

Opening on December 31, A Little Red Flower, technically a 2020 release, would become the big new success story for China going into 2021, opening to $80.1 million and grossing $216 million. And after Detective Chinatown 3 saw a record box office opening, it more than cements China’s lead in the box office race for 2021 and the future to come.

 

And finally, we’ll end things off, at least box office numbers-wise, with the tenth-biggest film of 2020, Shock Wave 2. Despite the name and sharing the same lead actor Andy Lau, this is a standalone adventure from the first Shock Wave with an entirely new storyline and characters. In Shock Wave 2, Lau plays a former bomb disposal officer that falls into a coma after an awful explosion. And when he wakes up, he is suddenly the top suspect of a terrorist attack and fights his way to prove his innocence.

 

Shock Wave 2, a Hong Kong-China co-production was announced immediately after the success of the first movie in May 2017, with the sequel officially confirmed in March 2018 with a teaser poster. It was set for release in July 2020 but was ultimately delayed to December 2020 in China. It was also supposed to come out in Hong Kong by that time, yet the fourth wave of COVID in the region resulted in it being pushed to February 18. Shock Wave 2 opened to $63.2 million in China, with an increase on its second weekend to $67.1 million. It has currently grossed $219 million in China and the worldwide tally is about $225.5 million. And um....yeah that’s about it.

[Eric Duncan]

Of course, the one story people actually want to talk about when it comes to the 2020 box office is how the 2020 box office...died. First identified in December 2019 in Wuhan, China, the coronavirus has changed just about every facet of life and civilization. The movies are no exception. But for our purposes, let’s ignore the production issues and focus more on the distribution side of things.

 

Film was already impacted hard by lockdowns throughout China by the time Chinese New Year rolled around. Anticipated titles like Detective Chinatown 3 were postponed indefinitely and all movie theaters were completely shut down. With China being one of, if not the most important market for many blockbusters, things became tricky.  But as March rolled around, as the virus spread throughout Europe, South America, and North America, more and more markets closed down. Italy, France, the UK, Australia, New Zealand, the US. All of this led to open theaters but anemic attendance at best or complete closures at worst. And by mid-March, movie theaters were closed entirely.

 

So not only did films like Onward, The Invisible Man, Bloodshot, and many more get kneecapped in terms of box office numbers, but 99% of all movies got delayed. The first major one was the Bond title No Time to Die, an omen for things to come. Peter Rabbit 2 was the next to go, and the hits kept on coming. A Quiet Place Part II and Mulan, films that just had their world premieres and press tours completed, were delayed. And in the weeks ahead, more and more films got announced for a delay. Black Widow, Scoob!, In the Heights, Minions: The Rise of Gru, Candyman, F9, Ghostbusters: Afterlife, Morbius, the list goes on.

 

However, delaying movies wasn’t enough. With a huge revenue source like movie theaters gone completely, and a massive logjam of delayed titles pushed into the fall of 2020, 2021, and beyond, some of these movies had to get out there. They had to make money on these investments somehow and they had to do it fast. So some of the major studios got creative. It first started with all the January, February, and early March movies coming to digital stores mere weeks after releasing in theaters. And things kept ballooning from there.

 

 

Universal was one of the first to place their movies digitally, though with a heavy cost. If you wanted to watch The Invisible Man or Emma, you had to pay $20 just to rent it, in what was called Premium Video on Demand. This would soon lead to their biggest launch in this new PVOD format with the anticipated Dreamworks sequel Trolls World Tour. While it did play in a few drive-ins, most viewers, particularly families stuck at home together, watched the film at home, paying $20 to experience this brand new movie.

 

The actual rentals and revenue made through VOD is still unknown, but reports were made the film earned $40 million over the weekend from digital stores. Considering that studios get 80% of the revenue from digital stores compared to the 45-55% from theatrical plays, that meant Universal got what was already a pretty solid opening weekend and got more revenue from it in the process. It was estimated by Deadline the film needed to be rented 9-12 million times, or $200 million, in order for the film to see a profit, and aside from that first weekend, we only have vague guesstimates, with some believing the film reached $150-200 million or so in rentals. And some industry vets argue the film would never see a profit.

 

But perhaps the biggest controversy that came from World Tour’s release was the backlash from the major theater chains, AMC in particular. Because Universal completely abandoned the theatrical experience and AMC was particularly hurting during this virus, AMC formally announced they would not play any Universal films for the indefinite future, while Regal said they would not play movies that did not respect the theatrical window.

 

But despite all the backlash and concerns from the industry, it seemed like World Tour did good enough for Universal to continue with this kind of PVOD rollout. Films like The King of Staten Island, The High Note, You Should Have Left, and Irresistible all landed on the service in the months ahead, though the numbers made are even more hidden.

 

When theaters started to come back in late summer and early fall, Universal made a brand new deal with AMC and other theater chains that would allow their movies to play, but with very shortened theatrical windows. Basically, Universal movies would exclusively play in theaters, but only for about 17 days, before becoming $20 PVOD rentals. This strategy also meant AMC would get a share in the revenue from digital rentals. This would result in films like Come Play, Freaky, Let Him Go, and The Croods: A New Age all getting a run in theaters and a chance to make money on digital stores when the iron was red-hot. This was also further revised where if a film opens to more than $50 million, the Universal release has to play in theaters exclusively for 31 days. As I said before, things are still up in the air in terms of how beneficial this deal is, though Croods: A New Age seems to have been the strongest hit for both parties.

 

Disney was particularly hit the hardest when it came to the coronavirus, as their event tentpole strategy meant there was no way they could make a profit on their movies without a worldwide theatrical release...or at least that was the idea. The launch of Disney+ months before the lockdowns meant they had a platform that allowed them to launch new Disney movies and have a strong subscriber base that was interested and willing to check their movies out. So films like Onward were put on Disney+ early, while planned theatrical engagements like Hamilton, The One and Only Ivan and Soul were put onto Disney+ exclusively. But the big exciting headliner news was the debut of Mulan on Disney+.

 

But it wasn’t just a movie given to audiences for free. Rather, Mulan was placed into a tier known as Premier Access. On top of your Disney+ subscription, if you were willing to pay $30 extra, you can watch and enjoy Mulan three months early compared to when everybody else could watch it. This strategy earned heavy backlash in the run up to release, but Disney still soldiered on. The actual revenue made from Mulan, like with all streaming ventures, is still under wraps. Third-party sources believed the film failed to generate much traffic, with US revenue estimated to be $62-93 million according to 7Park Data, a far cry from the $200 million production budget Mulan generated in addition to the massive marketing budget spent prior to the COVID-19 lockdowns. This was of course not helped by Mulan being hit with major controversies after people discovered the film was shot in Xianjiang, a city known for their internment camps.

 

But while a lot of evidence does point towards Premier Access for Mulan doing poorly, it seems Disney is willing to try out this strategy again or that Mulan did better than people thought. Just today, Disney put their new animated release Raya and the Last Dragon on Disney+ Premier Access, with the same $30 price tag. But in a twist, Raya is available to watch in theaters on the exact same day. With the chance to watch it in theaters, as well as Raya’s positive reviews, it isn’t crazy to say Raya might do better with this new Premier Access strategy, but things are still very up in the air, though initial box office numbers in certain territories are pretty poor. Not helped of course by Disney's terms resulting in several chains refusing to play the movie. But if it does land, it’s not crazy to say films like Black Widow, Cruella, and the new Pixar film Luca will follow suit in the theater/Premier Access dual release, especially as Europe is still trying to deal with COVID vaccines.

 

Either way, another big shift from Disney in the COVID aftermath was a complete restructuring of Disney’s media and entertainment divisions, with the main emphasis now on streaming. Essentially, studio and network chiefs have greater power on what should go to Disney+ or what should go to movie theaters or traditional network/cable. All of this means there’s a greater emphasis on streaming exclusives that indicate the main driving factor is juicing up Disney+ and Hulu for the indefinite future. CEO Bob Chapek has also stated there are plans to shorten the theatrical window, as consumers want new movies to come quicker to the home.

 

Paramount would also announce that films like A Quiet Place Part II and Mission: Impossible 7 would also see a shortened window of 45 days and later appear on the Paramount+ service. But the biggest headliner, at least negatively, was Warner Bros. bold decision. While Scoob! would see a Trolls World Tour style PVOD release, the studio also planned to make a big splash in the world of streaming with the service HBO Max. Not only would this already have the iconic HBO legacy behind it, but it would also include other content from the other networks and brands under the WarnerMedia banner, such as DC Comics, Turner Classic Movies, and Cartoon Network.

 

HBO Max’s initial sign-ups were not very strong, largely due to brand confusion from all the other HBO services, ultimately finishing its first quarter of release with only 4.1 million subscribers, though technically they had 26.6 million since a lot of HBO subscribers get Max for free. A majority just haven't activated and upgraded to Max yet. Especially considering Disney+ launched with 10 million in one day, these numbers were considered disappointing.

 

Coupled with Tenet’s bad domestic numbers, it was clear Warner was in a bad situation. Their big streaming kick didn’t set the world on fire and all these potential hit movies they had were collecting dust indefinitely. So on December 3, 2020, Warner announced one of the boldest moves in the history of the industry. Wonder Woman 1984 wasn’t just the only movie that would do a dual release of theaters and HBO Max in the United States.

 

Instead, every single movie from Warner Bros. in 2021 will get this dual release. Whether they be small-scale films like The Little Things starring Denzel Washington or big-budget epics like The Suicide Squad and Denis Villenueve’s Dune. International viewers still have to see it in theaters or pay for it on VOD, but if you’re in America, if you get HBO Max, you can watch the movie absolutely free for a month or go to the theater if you are inclined.

 

This change did not go over well. Warner did not inform any of the production companies, talents, or movie theater owners about this strategy. The back-end for filmmakers and actors is now up in the air completely, movie theater owners will have fewer tickets to sell, and it means all these films are set for heavy losses as it’s basically available for free to most customers. Of course having said all that, as of this writing, the two biggest opening weekends in the current pandemic have been Wonder Woman 1984 and Tom & Jerry, two films that are doing the simultaneous Max/theatrical release. Go figure.

 

The biggest drawback with making a historical lookback series like this is that history is still happening. We’re still in a period where studios are throwing everything at the wall and seeing what sticks. And while a lot of people here on BOT like to pretend that they know exactly what is happening, nobody knows what’s going to happen next year, let alone 10 or so years from now. It may be a while before we really see how these new strategies that emphasize streaming and at-home viewing will impact the box office, the exhibitors, and the studios.

 

But if I can at least predict what could possibly happen, though I have no idea, 2020 has accelerated something that was likely going to happen years from now anyway. As much as I infused this lookback with positivity and celebrating box office giants and moneymakers, the sad truth is that theatergoing has been on the decline for a few years now. Attendance has been dropping every year, masked by the increase in ticket prices and stuff like Marvel making a lot of money. And as time has gone on, the industry has shifted to the point where only very few movies make any significant cash. In 2019, only one movie grossed in the $200 million range, while 10 movies went above $300 million, and everything was sub-$200 million. This is not a sustainable or healthy market, and it shows that people treat moviegoing more as an occasional pastime rather than a frequent event. Helped also by the influx of premium screens, recliner seats, and dining options, it only further treats cinemagoing as an expensive outing and not the most sustainable one nowadays.

 

 

And at the same time, studios only got about half of a movie’s box office because they had to share it with a middle man. The reason why the theatrical window has gotten smaller and smaller over the years is because DVD and digital sales give the studios more revenue, about 80% or so. And for stuff like Disney+ or HBO Max, studios get all the money and there’s no middleman to pay.

 

These quarantine lockdowns, the money troubles plaguing AMC and Cineworld, the shortened theatrical windows, and the day-and-date releases of movies all point to the idea that cinemas and theatrical moviegoing are not the big exclusive benefactor for a movie’s success. Rather, they could become a vinyl-style equivalent to renting a premium movie on digital or checking it out on Netflix. They will come out on the same day or at best a couple weeks before it’s available at home. And maybe these strategies will go away once this pandemic is over. But that won’t be easy, as people start getting used to or even appreciate these shorter windows and emphasis on streaming.

 

And yeah, that’s kind of a bummer note to end things on. The idea that the thing we all follow and study is becoming less important in a business where subscriber numbers and vague digital sales reports become the main source for these studios and their profits. But this isn’t the end of amazing box office stories. There’s always going to be an audience for theatrical experiences. It may not be as exclusive, grand, or exciting as before. It may not be as long-lasting. It may not be as big a push to the major movie studios compared to the likes of HBO Max or Paramount+. But we’ll always have really fun box office stories to tell. We’ll always have exciting franchises doing their thing. We’ll always see trends come and go in movie theaters.

 

I’m not going to say things will be perfectly back to normal. I’m not really going to say anything. I feel like 2020 should tell us that things are unpredictable. So in this instance, just know we will still have the box office and anything could happen, whether good or bad. Might as well just ride it out, and wait and see what happens down the road. Nobody predicted that Star Wars would make so much money in 1977. Nobody thought Independence Day would break opening weekend records. Nobody thought the MCU would become the dominant force in pop culture. So the best way to put it is to hope for the best and see what's on the horizon. You never know what the future holds.

[Eric Duncan]

And with that, I will call THABOS to a close. Yeah, this wasn't the sexiest way to end things, but I feel like ending on 2020 was a nice concluding piece. This year was one full of surprises, so I think it's nice that we're at a point where we can't really say what's destined to happen. Hopefully things will be for the best.

 

Most importantly, I just wanted to say thank you. Thank you to everybody who replied and shared their love for this series. You have no idea how special this stuff is to me. Without the positive feedback and discussion, this probably would have been abandoned. Thank you to everybody who liked my posts or just casually read them, thank you to everybody who gave their input on the box office, and super-duper extra huge thank you to @baumer the original architect who so kindly allowed me to complete this series and give it the true, proper ending it deserves. Bro, this wouldn't have happened without you.

 

As always, stay at home whenever possible, wash your hands, wear a mask, appreciate your loved ones, trans rights are human rights, all cops are bastards and Black Lives Matter. Here's to a great 2021 at the box office!

[excel1]

BIG WILLY STYLE once again the Domestic box office champion. Truly one of the all-time great movie stars and box office draws. One of the most likable and charismatic performers in any form of entertainment. Represents all that was great about the 1990s and early 2000s.

Edited March 6, 2021 by excel1

[Webslinger]

Though the reason why is glaringly obvious, the fact that Birds of Prey outgrossed Wonder Woman 1984 will never not break my brain whenever I remember it. It also kinda breaks my brain that within the same calendar year, we had Bad Boys for Life breaking out as heavily as it did and a feeling that seeing any movie cross $50 million domestically was a miracle. But then again, brain-breaking is totally on-brand for 2020. 

 

And of course, great work as always! These write-ups were lots of fun to read.

[Brainbug]

Demon Slayer Mugen Train is probably for me even more crazy than Endgames run. To gross nearly 360 Million just in Japan is mind-boggling and since October, following that films insane staying power even with this much money already earned its probably a once-in-a lifetime-run.