Battle of the Studios: Winners

[Walt Disney]

A few months ago, the box office theory members voted on a series of matchups that pitted some of the biggest blockbusters of all-time against each other. I would like to thank all of the box office theory members that voted. Before I unveil the results, let me explain the methodology of how each matchup was created. When breaking down the top 200 domestic adjusted films of all-time by studio, I noticed that it was interesting to see where each movie fell on their respective studio's list and became curious about which studio had the best films quality wise in that specific position. Just because a film is a blockbuster, that doesn't necessarily make it good. So I created matchups pitting each studio's highest grossing domestic adjusted film against each other, their 2nd best film, 3rd best film, etc. I knew my own opinion, so I wanted to see how the box office theory member felt.

 

Obviously, each studio was not equally represented on the list. Disney has the most movies in the top 200 with 45. The next closest studio is Warner Bros. with 31. Therefore, I created 31 matchups. The last few are one on ones between Disney and WB. Paramount has 26 movies, Universal has 21, Fox has 20, and Sony has 14. Then, there were former majors MGM with 9, United Artists with 9, and RKO with 1. There were also smaller studios that had films on the list as well. The most successful smaller studio is Lucasfilm from its independent days with 5 independently filmed and financed Star Wars films (2 sequels and 3 prequels).

 

Unfortunately, the voting took up a lot of space in the Speakeasy, so the moderators consolidated the threads, while not understanding that if you do that you destroy the polls, so all of the data was destroyed. Luckily, I was keeping track of the results, so I have a 100% accurate list of which films won. I did not save the other data, so I do not know how close the voting was in these matchups. I decided that I would not make everyone vote again because that wasn't fair to those that participated. I was not sure how to proceed and spent weeks thinking of how to present the results, so this thread represents my ultimate decision.So the best I can do is with 100% accuracy tell you who won, but I can't tell you how close the voting was. I only voted in tie-breakers. I once again what to thank all of the box office theory members that voted, and give a special thank you to those member that voted in every (or almost every) matchup.

 

With no further delay, here are the winners of the Battle of the Studios.

Edited December 8, 2017 by Walt Disney

[Walt Disney]

Battle of the Studios winners by win percentage

 

1. Disney- 45.1% (14 out of 31)

2. Lucasfilm -20% (1 out of 5)

3 Warner Bros.- 16.1% (5 out of 31)

4. Paramount- 15.4% (4 out of 26)

5. UA -11.1% (1 out of 9)

6. MGM- 11.1% (1 out of 9)

7. Fox- 10% (2 out of 20)

8. Universal- 9.5% (1 out of 21)

9. Sony- 7.1% (1 out of 14)

Complete list of winners

1. Star Wars: Episode V- The Empire Strikes Back (Lucasfilm)

    

2. Jaws (Universal)

    

3. Raiders of the Lost Ark (Paramount)

    

4. The Godfather (Paramount)

    

5. Rocky (United Artists)

    

6. Lawrence of Arabia (Sony)

    

7. 2001: A Space Odyssey (MGM)

    

8. The Dark Knight Rises (Warner Bros.)

    

9. Back to the Future (Universal)

    

10. Pinocchio (Disney)

     

11. Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (Warner Bros.)

     

12. M.A.S.H.

     

13. Finding Nemo

     

14. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

     

15. Rear Window

     

16. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade

     

17. Finding Dory

     

18. Cast Away

     

19. Wonder Woman

     

20. Gremlins

     

21. Aladdin

     

22. Toy Story 3

     

23. Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl

     

24. Monsters, Inc.

     

25. Frozen

     

26. Iron Man 3

     

27. Toy Story 2

     

28. Captain America: Civil War

     

29. Peter Pan

     

30. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

     

31. Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End

Edited December 9, 2017 by Walt Disney

[Walt Disney]

 

Presents:

31.  Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End

 

This was a one on one matchup between Disney’s third installment in the Pirate’s of the Caribbean franchise starring Johnny Depp against Warner Bros. second installment in their Rush Hour 2 franchise starring Jackie Chan and Christ Tucker. The voters went with Captain Jack Sparrow in this one, giving Disney the win.

Edited December 8, 2017 by Walt Disney

[Walt Disney]

 

Presents:

 

30. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

This was a one on one matchup between Warner Bros. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban against Disney’s The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. In this battle, the boy wizard, Hermione, and Ron, in their third movie defeat the Pevensie children and Aslan the Lion, giving Warner Bros. the win.

[Walt Disney]

 

Presents:

29. Peter Pan

This was a matchup between Disney’s animated classic Peter Pan against Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. The voters gave this battle to Peter Pan, Tinkerbell and the Lost Boys. This gives Disney a win.

[Walt Disney]

 

and

 

 

 

Presents:

 

28. Captain America: Civil War

This one on one matchup was between Disney’s Captain America: Civil War against Warner Bros. Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me.  Captain America: Civil War is the 3^rd Marvel superhero film in the Captain America franchise featuring Captain America, Iron Man, Spider-Man, and many more Marvel superhero heroes battling each other. It was against New Line Cinema’s second Austin Powers film starring Mike Myers as both hero Austin Powers and villain Dr. Evil. In this battle, the superheroes were successful, giving the win to Disney.

[Walt Disney]

 

Presents:

 

27. Toy Story 2

This one on one matchup pitted Disney’s Toy Story 2 against Warner Bros. Bonnie and Clyde. Toy Story 2 is the second Toy Story film from director John Lasseter and the Pixar crew. Bonnie and Clyde is a very famous and gritty depiction of criminals Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker starring Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway. The voters gave this battle to Woody, Buzz Lightyear, and the gang, which gives Disney a win.

[Walt Disney]

 

and

 

 

Presents:

 

26. Iron Man 3

In this round, Disney put up superhero film Iron Man 3, while Warner Bros. countered with Batman Forever, and Paramount put Fatal Attraction. The voters gave this one to the Disney/Marvel superhero film, giving Disney a win.

[Walt Disney]

 

Presents:

 

25.  Frozen

This round featured Disney’s famous animated Frozen against Mission Impossible II from Paramount and Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix from Warner Bros. The fifth installment of Harry, Hermione and Ron, and the second installment of Tom Cruise as Ethan Hunt weren’t enough to overcome the power of Ice Queen Elsa. When it came to voting, the voters did Let It Go and chose Frozen. This is a win for Disney.

[Walt Disney]

 

Presents:

 

24.  Monster’s Inc.

The big 3 of Disney, Warner Bros. and Paramount did battle again here. This time, it was Disney’s Monsters, Inc. up against Warner Bros. American Sniper and Paramount’s For Whom the Bell Tolls. In the end, it was Pete Docter and the Pixar crew standing tall, as the voters went for Sulley, Mike Wazowski, and Boo by awarding the matchup to Monsters, Inc. This is a win for Disney.

 

[Walt Disney]

 

Presents:

 

23. Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl

In this matchup, Disney’s 23^rd greatest domestic adjusted film is Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl. Its competition from Warner Bros. was The Fugitive, while Paramount put up Saturday Night Fever. The voters gave this matchup to Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, which featured Johnny Depp in his first appearance as Captain Jack Sparrow. This is a win for Disney.

Edited December 8, 2017 by Walt Disney

[Walt Disney]

 

Presents:

 

22. Toy Story 3

This battle of the big 3 was between Disney/Pixar’s Toy Story 3, Warner Bros. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, and Paramount’s Mission Impossible. This is the 3^rd installment for Woody and Buzz against the 2^nd installment of Harry, Hermione, and Ron against the first installment of Tom Cruise’s Ethan Hunt. The voters gave this one to Woody and Buzz, by awarding the battle to the Pixar Crew and Toy Story 3. This is a win for Disney.

[Walt Disney]

 

Presents:

 

21. Aladdin

 This matchup is between Aladdin (Disney), An Officer and a Gentleman (Paramount), Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Warner Bros.) and Apollo 13 (Universal). The voters gave the matchup to the Disney renaissance film Aladdin. This is a win for Disney.

[Walt Disney]

 

Presents:

 

20. Gremlins

In this matchup, Warner Bros. classic horror film Gremlins battled Avengers: Age of Ultron (Disney), Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (Paramount), Patton (Fox), and Bruce Almighty (Universal). The voters went with Gremlins here, giving Warner Bros. the win.

[Walt Disney]

 

Presents:

19. Wonder Woman

This was a matchup between Wonder Woman (Warner Bros.), Swiss Family Robinson (Disney), Transformers: Dark of the Moon (Paramount), On Golden Pond (Universal), and Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (Fox). The voters chose Wonder Woman, directed by Patty Jenkins and starring Gal Gadot as the DC superheroine Wonder Woman. This is a win for Warner Bros.

[Walt Disney]

 

Presents:

 

18. Cast Away

This matchup was between Minions (Universal), Cast Away (Fox), Lady and the Tramp (Disney), The Matrix Reloaded (Warner Bros.) and Transformers (Paramount). The voters gave the battle to Cast Away starring Tom Hanks. That’s a win for Fox.

[Walt Disney]

 

Presents:

 

17.  Finding Dory

This was a victory for Finding Dory (Disney) as the voters gave the Finding Nemo sequel the win over  Furious 7 (Universal), Deadpool (Fox), This is the Army (Warner Bros.), and Top Gun (Paramount).

[Walt Disney]

 

Presents:

 

16. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade

In this matchup, Paramount put up the Steven Spielberg directed third film in the Indiana Jones franchise. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade won out with voters over the live action Beauty and the Beast (Disney) film from this year, Giant (Warner Bros.), which is the last film starring James Dean before his tragic death, Earthquake (Universal), and The Longest Day (Fox).

[Walt Disney]

 

Presents:

 

15. Rear Window

This matchup saw the voters give the win to the famous Alfred Hitchcock directed film Rear Window (Paramount) starring Jimmy Stewart. This classic Paramount film got the win over Disney’s animated Cinderella from 1950, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (Warner Bros.), Young Frankenstein (Fox), and The Secret Life of Pets (Universal).

[Walt Disney]

 

and

 

 

Presents:

 

14. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

A big win for Disney’s purchase of Lucasfilm, as Star Wars paid dividends in this round. The voters gave the win to Rogue One; A Star Wars Story (Disney) over Funny Girl (Sony), Samson and Delilah (Paramount), Meet the Fockers (Universal), South Pacific (Fox), and Sergeant York (Warner Bros.).